RIP Clem Burke, the pounding drummer of Blondie. He was 70.

Clem Burke, the drummer for Blondie since their inception back in 1974. He died Sunday (April 6) at the age of 70 after a fight with cancer. Not only was he the heartbeat of Blondie, but he was considered to be one of NYC’s punk and New Wave scene’s best drummer. The guy could play anything. Straight ahead rock (“Hangin’ on the Telephone” and “One Way or Another”), disco (“Heart of Glass”), reggae (“Tide is High”), and punkiness (“Atomic”).

He was in demand, too. He played with Iggy Pop, The Ramones, Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols, International Swingers (with Glen Matlock of the Pistols), Bob Geldof, Eurythmics, and even Bob Dylan, Pete Townshend, and –get this–The Go-Go’s. He was also in The Romantics for a while. Since their 1999 reformation, he was behind the kit for Blondie.

The man was a student of the drums. He established the Clem Burke Drumming Project in 2008 which devoted energies to studying the physical effort (and toll) it took to be a professional drummer. Studies by the Project showed that being a drummer carried the same effort as being a professional athlete. Burke’s work earned him an honorary doctorate from the University of Gloucestershire in 2011. So, yeah, it was DOCTOR Burke.

Next to Deborah Harry, this probably made Clem the best-known member of Blondie.