Cliff Burton's Dawn of the Dead shirt is home for the holidays. The sleeveless tee that the late Metallica bassist rocked onstage and in various photo ops prior to his tragic death in 1986 has been returned to his family estate by none other than Faith No More drummer Mike Bordin.
In a post shared on the Burton family Instagram, the metal pioneer's relatives wrote, "A huge thank you to Mike 'Puffy' Bordin for bringing Cliff's original Dawn of the Dead shirt back home where it belongs. It's been a roller coaster of emotions and we appreciate Mike and the person who kept it safe for us for 30 plus years. Our only regret is Ray isn't here to see it."
The Ray they're referring to is Cliff's father, Ray Burton, who died in January 2020 at the age of 94. The unnamed "person who kept it safe" is the big mystery. It appears that although Bordin was able to track the shirt down and safely bring it back to its rightful owners, it's unclear who was in possession of it for the last three decades.
Beyond the novelty of it belonging to Burton, George Romero's Dawn of the Dead is one of the most heralded horror flicks of all time, and the extremely badass logo tee would likely be considered valuable to collectors and fans of the foundational zombie franchise. Nevertheless, Burton's treasured garment is now in the hands of his loved ones, which is pretty amazing considering the number of years that have gone by since they last saw it in person.
