Iron Maiden Supporting Former Drummer Suffering From MS

Posted on Aug 23rd 2012 6:00PM by Amy Sciarretto Comments

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Iron Maiden have been aiding former drummer Clive Burr (seen above, second on the left, in a 1981 photo), who suffers from multiple sclerosis, by setting up a fund to help him defray medical costs. The fund has been in existence for a decade. Maiden founded the Clive Burr Trust back in 2002 in order to assist Burr, who manned the kit from 1979 to 1983, after his diagnosis became known. Ten years later, Maiden have kept the trust going strong.

Bassist Steve Harris revealed that the band has chosen to keep this and other charitable efforts quiet for the most part. He spoke out about the fund in perhaps an effort to spread the word about the debilitating nature of MS.

"We have been involved with stuff over the years," Harris told Samaritanmag.com. "A lot of people make a big publicity thing out of it and we don't...One of the things I can talk about because we started it off is our old drummer, Clive has MS, so we started The Clive Burr Trust. Another friend of mine (Ralph) also has got it. He's in a wheelchair. We went to school with him, my oldest friend since I was five years old, so we helped him, but we don't normally talk too much about it..."

He confirmed that the fans know about and donate to the fund, but the band also takes up its instruments to help the cause, albeit on the QT. He said, "Every now and again we'll do a show and just donate all the money. When we need to top it up, we do something... Some of them get (MS) very mildly, but unfortunately the friend I was talking about (Ralph) has it really really bad. He's in a wheelchair for a long time and Clive is getting worse."

Listen to a Clive Burr Drum Solo from 1981

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