Saturday, February 10th would have been late Metallica bassist Cliff Burton's 56th birthday; he was tragically killed in a tour bus accident in 1986 in Sweden at age 24.

February 10th, 2018 saw Metallica play a sold out show at the Pala Alpitour in Turin, Italy. To honour their original bassist, Metallica began the evening's encore with "Orion", an instrumental song co-written by Cliff Burton that appears on the Master Of Puppers album. Drummer Lars Ulrich has uploaded the following 60-second clip to his Twitter page:

Threw in Orion tonight for Cliff.. the first time in almost a year. A very special moment. Thank you Turin for your generosity and warm vibes. 🇮🇹 #wanna #metinturin #cliffburton pic.twitter.com/v0HjEZ2atT

— Lars Ulrich (@larsulrich) February 11, 2018

Stateside, February 10th was proclaimed Cliff Burton Day in Castro Valley, California. "As many of you know, Cliff was born and raised in Castro Valley and was the reason we high-tailed it to the Bay Area back in ’83," said Metallica. "Thanks to all of the fans who got behind this initiative and we’d like to send our appreciation and respect to all of you who continue to honor Cliff in your own personal ways. We love that he remains so revered."

A photo of the official proclamation, courtesy of Castro Valley News can be seen below:

Cliff Burton's family issued the following statement: "It’s official! February 10th is now Cliff Burton Day in Castro Valley! Thank you to Roberto Souza for starting this petition and following it through to the end. Thank you to all of the fans from the Bay Area and around the world who voted. We are honored."