Latest news with #ClemBurke
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Debbie Harry reveals poignant birthday plans following the death of her Blondie bandmate
Debbie Harry wants to remember her Blondie bandmate Clem Burke on her 80th birthday, just months after his own death.
Perth Now
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Debbie Harry reveals poignant birthday plans following the death of her Blondie bandmate
Debbie Harry wants spent her 80th birthday remembering her Blondie bandmate Clem Burke. The 79-year-old rock star shot to fame as the lead singer of the 'One Way Or Another' hitmakers in the 1970s alongside drummer Clem - who died in April at the age of 70 - and wants to keep things relatively simple as she celebrates the life of her late co-star. She told People: "I hope to be with my friends and to celebrate the life of my drummer, Clem Burke, who recently passed, and celebrate my own life." Clem died following a "a private battle with cancer" and at the time of his death, the band noted that his "influence extended far beyond" that of the band. Debbie hasn't let thoughts of her upcoming birthday consume her but admitted recently that she often still feels as if she is 25. She added: "I don't walk around thinking every minute, oh my God, I'm going be 80 — but that's sort of how I feel. My mother used to say in her head she was 25 and I'm the same." However, Debbie doesn't want her life now to look like it did when she was 25 years old and instead has found a kind of "beauty" in the passage of time. She said: "But thinking about it all the time could be your downfall. And I don't really want the same kind of life I did when I was younger. I've done that! That's the beauty of ageing — you know what it's about. You have it in your heart and soul and your memory bank … or does that sound like an excuse? Should I go out and party every night Meanwhile, Debbie revealed that has kept "everything" from her time in Blondie and is hoping all her clothes and memorabilia from her heyday in an exhibition one day. She said: "I have everything. I have everything, and I hope to put on a little exhibition at some point!"
Yahoo
12-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
In Pictures: The week in Culture
Beyond the devastating implications of the Trump administration's policies, protesters have gotten to showcase their creativity during recent "Hands Off" protests. Oh, and penguins started protesting Trump also... Find out why and how here. Clem Burke, whose versatile drumming propelled the iconic rock group Blondie during its decades performing everything from new-wave punk to disco-infused tunes, died this week aged 70. Each year, Meltdown chooses a different musical act to direct the festival's programme. 2025 is Little Simz's year, and her curation of the 30th edition at London's Southbank Centre - which will take place from 12-22 June - is looking very promising. Sustainable retailer Awesome Books has put together a list of the most Instagrammable bookstores around the world, ranking based on the number of posts tagged with the store's name. The list is mighty pretty. The grave marker of director David Lynch was revealed by his daughter Jennifer, and it bears a cryptic epitaph that couldn't be more Lynchian. We unlocked the mystery behind "Night Blooming Jasmine." A high court in Colombia ruled this week that the song '+57', recorded last year by urban music stars J Balvin and Karol G, violated the rights of children because its lyrics sexualized minors. Tennis legend Billie Jean King became the first woman to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the new sports entertainment category. Fans and countrymen shared their remembrances of Dominican Republic music icon Rubby Pérez, who was among the scores of people killed this week after the roof at the Jet Set club in Santo Domingo collapsed. He was 69. His wake took place at the Eduardo Brito National Theater in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. For the first time ever, London's National Gallery is offering one lucky person an overnight stay among some of the most iconic paintings in history. Read all about it here. We're getting a new Patti Smith book this year... And we're all sorts of excited. The line-up for the upcoming 78th edition of the Cannes Film Festival was announced this week - and the selection looks fantastic. However, it coincided with a special committee report on sexist and sexual abuse in the world of French culture - something which may end up overshadowing this year's festival... Read the full story here. Pete Best, the drummer who performed with the Beatles before Ringo Starr, confirmed his retirement this week. The 83-year-old's brother announced the news on social media, writing that the drummer would no longer be performing with his band, the Pete Best Band. Ready to dive back into the world of The Last Of Us? Well, the celebrated zombie show is back on your screens on Sunday. We loved Season One, so fingers crossed the return will bring the goods... See you next week and stay tuned to for all your cultural news.
CBC
08-04-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
How Blondie's Clem Burke altered the course of Fred Armisen's life
From the moment Fred Armisen first laid eyes on Clem Burke — rocking out on Saturday Night Live with his Beatles haircut and big, red drums — his life was forever changed. Burke, the iconic Blondie drummer, has died at the age of 70 after what his band called "a private battle with cancer." Unlike many other drummers of his time, Armisen says Burke was larger than life, never taking a backseat to his bandmates. Armisen — an actor, comedian and, of course, drummer — says Burke was not only his idol, but also his friend. Here is part of his conversation with As It Happens host Nil Kӧksal. When you close your eyes and you think of Clem Burke behind that kit, what do you see? I see him at a more recent concert, a Blondie show I saw at the Greek Theatre [in Los Angeles], where I got to sit on the side of the stage, so I had a sort of side angle focused on him. And he was playing with such fervour that he almost looked like he was dancing as he was playing the drums. On your social media post, you called it "relentlessly exciting," his kind of drumming. Yeah, he never hung back and just sort of disappeared away from the song. Like, it really felt relentless. It felt like the drums were, like, right in front of you. When did he first enter your life? In 1979, when I was a kid, I saw him on Saturday Night Live.... They do the song Dreaming, and the camera pulls out from his kick drum. As opposed to, with a lot of bands, you just get a sort of wide shot of everyone in the band. The rest of the band are, of course, you know, incredible, and Debbie Harry, of course, is the lead vocal. But there was something about that messaging. It's almost like the camera person was saying, like, "OK, but check out the drums." For me, as a kid … there's something about his red drum kit and the way he was dressed and the way he was moving that was brand new to me. Even though it was like an echo, to him, of the '60s, I didn't know what that meant. I was like, what is this fashion? … Like, what is this version of drumming? It really set me off to wanting to be a drummer. It was really like: Aw man, that's exactly what I want to be. You wrote that you used his signature sticks at the SNL 50 show. What does it feel like to use those signature sticks and play? Because he had health issues, Blondie couldn't play. But Blondie is, to me, such a huge part of SNL. So I was like, OK, Clem Burke should be here. I was, like, what if I use his signature sticks? There's a version, you know, where it's like at least he's represented. I took a picture of the sticks and I sent it to him to be like, "Hey, just so you know, I used your sticks." He answered back, and that was really meaningful for me. I wanted him to know that he was there. And what did he say, if you're comfortable sharing? He was really, really happy. And then as I was telling people that, like, "Hey, I did that," they knew because he showed them the photo. So that made me happy. It really did. He was like a walking, excited encyclopedia of pop and punk. It was the best. What was he like to hang out with? Aw, man! He was the best! He was, like, everything you wanted from a person because he was a music nerd. He was a fan. And so you couldn't talk about anything without him having more details about it — about records, about what records were hits. Like, he really kept track. He was like a walking, excited encyclopedia of pop and punk. It was the best. I got to play with him, too. I did some shows as this character I did from SNL doing British punk, and he was the drummer, so I got to play music with him. Were you flipping out? Were you nervous? I mean, you know how to keep cool. You perform. You're a seasoned live performer. But, I mean, this is Clem Burke. It's the weirdest thing. It's actually like a mix of knowing somebody so well without him realizing it. Like, I knew his drumming so well that it made perfect sense to me. So it felt natural. And he was just out to have drumming fun. Like, he wanted to be a part of it, you know, just to be a part of it. Now if you look online, everyone is writing all these beautiful things about him — about his drumming or about his fashion sense — and I love that. He's not one of those people who it's like, "Oh, he was underrated." He was in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He was celebrated. Everyone knew it. And the way that they featured him on records and TV, the way that Blondie featured him, they appreciated it and celebrated it. How nice for him that it wasn't like, "I wish more people knew about him." No. All the greats bowed down to him. All the greats celebrated him. And isn't that great, that in his lifetime, he knew how loved he was? There's so many wonderful songs, is there one that you would like us to play? Union City Blue is the masterpiece. Masterpiece of drumming. Because, yes, Dreaming is the best, you know, it's the most well-known. But Union City Blue... it's like a tornado. It's like you're being sucked up into a tornado of drumming ... up into heaven.
MTV Lebanon
08-04-2025
- Entertainment
- MTV Lebanon
Clem Burke, multifaceted drummer of iconic rock group Blondie, has died
Clem Burke, whose versatile drumming propelled the iconic rock group Blondie during its decades performing everything from new-wave punk to disco-infused tunes, has died. He was 70. The band said in a statement on its website Monday that he died from cancer but no additional details were provided. 'Clem was not just a drummer; he was the heartbeat of Blondie,' the band said in a statement. 'His talent, energy, and passion for music were unmatched, and his contributions to our sound and success are immeasurable.' The self-proclaimed 'rock & roll survivalist' started playing the drums when he was 14 in his school orchestra but was kicked out for playing too loud, according to Blondie's website. In the 1970's, he answered a band's ad in the Village Voice seeking a 'freak energy' rock drummer, kicking off his decades-long career with lead singer Debbie Harry and the rest of his Blondie bandmates. The band recorded its first album in 1976 and by the following year was touring with such icons as Iggy Pop and David Bowie. It became known as the most commercially successful band to emerge from a fertile New York rock scene that also produced Talking Heads and the Ramones. In 2006 Burke and the other original members of Blondie were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame after selling more than 42 million records, according to Blondie's website. During the late 1970s and early '80s, the band had eight Top 40 hits, including four No. 1s: 'Heart of Glass,' 'Call Me,' 'The Tide Is High' and 'Rapture,' which is regarded as the first No. 1 hit to feature rap. There's also a five-track 1975 album demo that includes 'Platinum Blonde,' a sort of band mission statement. But Burke's mark was especially solidified with his rapid, powerful drumming at the start of 'Dreaming' in 1979. In 2022, after unearthing a New Wave treasure trove of reel-to-reel tapes, cassettes and records, the band created the box set 'Blondie: Against the Odds, 1974-1982,' with 124 tracks and 36 previously unissued recordings, demos, outtakes and remixed versions of Blondie's initial six studio albums. Burke reflected on the discovery in an Associated Press article: 'We never would have thought that we would still be here today. Looking back at our archives, it's pretty amazing.' The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame described Burke in a post Monday on the social platform X as 'a versatile and distinctive drummer who played exactly what each song required – and, when called for, let loose with blistering punk rock energy.'
