What was Clem Burke's Net Worth? A look into the legendary Blondie drummer’s earnings throughout his career

Clem Burke, who rose to fame as the drummer of American band Blondie, passed away on April 7 at the age of 70.

According to a statement released by the band on their social media pages, the legendary drummer succumbed to cancer. The band’s statement read:

“It is with profound sadness that we relay news of the passing of our beloved friend and bandmate Clem Burke following a private battle with cancer."

At the time of his death, Clem Burke’s total net worth was $3 million, as per Distractify. Burke was also listed in the 80s Kids’ list of 40 wealthiest drummers.

Clem Burke’s financial ups and downs explored

Born to a working-class family in New Jersey, Clem Burke made his wealth through his musical talent. Most of his earnings came through album sales and music tours in which the percussionist performed along with his band members.

Burke was primarily part of two bands, Blondie and Eurythmics, during his career. Burke had joined Blondie in 1975. However, after the band members decided to go their own ways in 1982, Burke, along with David Stewart and Annie Lennox, formed another band called the Eurythmics.

According to an interview with The Telegraph, Burke’s new band regularly toured for a decade. As per Burke, it was during this time that he could steadily earn a good amount of money for the first time.

During the Telegraph interview, Clem Burke spoke about his financial situation prior to his career with Eurythmics. During his time with Blondie, Burke’s financial situation had been dire. The band, according to Burke, was in debt for a million dollars. This was a result of a contract the band had entered into to launch their albums through a record label.

However, Blondie—whose members, including Burke, were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006—found financial success after the release of their hit album Parallel Lines. According to a report by New Idea, after the success of Parallel Lines, the band’s financial manager advised the musicians to buy a five-storey property in Manhattan. However, as per the same report, the band’s lead singer, Debbie Harry, recalled in her memoir, Face It, that unbeknownst to them, the band had failed to pay taxes for two years. As a result, they lost the property, which had to be sold to pay off the penalties.

New Idea reported that, according to the memoir, Blondie had millions of album sales in a period of seven years, despite which the band members were broke due to financial mismanagement.

In 1997, 15 years after the band had disbanded, the members of Blondie decided to reunite. Fortunately, this time around, the band members found commercial success. According to Clem Burke, his decision to reunite with the band was the best business decision he had ever made, reported The Telegraph.

For the next twenty-five years, the band toured extensively and released numerous albums, which contributed steadily towards the members’ financial earnings.

Apart from his music career, Clem Burke had been an investor too. Burke used the savings from his music career to buy properties.

In his 2017 interview with The Telegraph, Burke reminisced about a number of investments in which he lost some money and a few where he did make a profit. Burke noted that, upon receiving advice from his financial manager, he had bought four properties in which he lost a lot of money. However, he spoke about making money while reselling a house he had bought for his father.

Burke had sold the house after his father passed away, and according to the drummer, the prices had increased by the time he sold the property, as a result of which he made a lot of profit. As per the same interview, Burke regretted his decision to put off buying a property in a prime location in London, which, according to him, would have increased his wealth as the property prices in the location exponentially increased in the years that followed. According to Burke, he was good at spending money on others but struggled when it came to spending on himself.

Clem Burke, ranked among the 100 Greatest Drummers of All Time by Rolling Stone in 2016, will be fondly remembered by his fans as the drummer who could effortlessly transition between different genres.