Anthony Burger
Anthony Burger was a quiet man whose energy could make a piano talk. It’s been 19 years since the 44-year-old Cleveland musician died suddenly of a massive heart attack while on a Caribbean cruise with Bill Gaither and his homecoming friends.
It was almost midnight on Feb. 22, 2006, when this writer’s phone rang. It was Millie Freeman, sister of the late Vestal Goodman, informing me of Anthony’s death. Ms. Freeman said Anthony was playing a song and his hands froze; he was rushed off stage but a doctor's life-saving measures were unsuccessful.
Mr. Burger's ability to play the piano was a true miracle from God. At eight months old, he was at his parents’ home learning to walk when he got stuck in a floor furnace and his walker turned over. Doctors said he’d never move his severely burned hands that required three medicated baths a day.
This writer was able to visit with Mr. Burger while on a dinner cruise aboard the Southern Belle at Ross’s Landing. He said, “I still can’t move them, HE (God) does. The Lord healed my hands because he had a job for me to do.” That same evening Mr. Burger was called on to play a couple of his songs for the Riverboat audience.
When Mr. Burger was three, he came home from church and surprised his family by playing the “Old Rugged Cross” on the piano.
At five years old, his parents enrolled him at Cadek Conservatory of music in Chattanooga and a year later the youngster performed his first recital. Mr. Burger holds the distinction of being the youngest student ever to attend Cadek Conservatory of Music on the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga campus.
At 16, the young Burger quit high school and started playing piano for the popular Kingsmen Quartet, one of the top Southern Gospel groups at that time. He was tutored and finished high school while playing concerts with the quartet.
Former Cleveland Mayor Tom Rowland and broadcaster knew the Burger family well as they operated a music store in downtown Cleveland. He said he and young Anthony were the best of friends.
The morning after Mr. Burger’s death, Mr. Rowland told this writer, “I was shocked to wake up this morning and hear that Anthony had suffered a massive heart attack. Anthony could speak throught his piano; he trained himself and had an amazing talent. He’s meant so much to so many over the years. Anthony had friends all across the United States.”
Mr. Rowland said the family related to him, Anthony told someone before playing he wasn’t feeling well but went to his piano anyway. Mr. Rowland said, “Anthony looked at his wife, LuAnne, at the side of the stage and collapsed.”
As a former broadcaster, Mr. Rowland said, “I put Anthony on the radio at three years of age for a March of Dimes benefit and he came back year after year before joining the Kingsmen Quartet.”
Mr. Rowland said while hosting “Tom’s Clock Show” every morning on WCLE radio, Mr. Burger would come to the studio and play the piano for the listeners.
Mayor Rowland said, “Anthony recorded his “Masterpiece Project” in Cleveland and I was honored to be at that recording session. That day, I was able to present him a trophy signifying his 25 years as a professional musician.”
Mayor Rowland said, “Anthony came by to see me before he joined the Gaither Homecoming Friends in 1994. He was so excited to play piano for Mr. Gaither and, before his death, appeared on dozens of the homecoming videos. He sent me a copy of one of his first videos.”
Mayor Rowland said, “Later in his career, Anthony would come by my office for a visit and stare at my picture of Nipper the dog, given to me by RCA Victor records. I knew how much that picture meant to Anthony. We declared Anthony Burger day in 1996 when he played a concert at the Life Care of Cleveland. I presented him my picture of Nipper that he hung on his office wall in Brentwood, Tn.”
Mr. Rowland said Anthony Burger was responsible for bringing Gospel groups to Cleveland like the Speer Family and J.D. Sumner and the Stamps.
Mayor Rowland said, “Anthony Burger loved his hometown of Cleveland and never forgot us. I will miss one of my best friends.”
Celebrations of life were held at Christ Church in Brentwood and Clingan Ridge Baptist Church in Cleveland. His final resting place was Sunset Memorial Gardens in Cleveland.
Mr. Burger spent 11 years as Gaither Homecoming pianist, while also doing solo work. He played at several Billy Graham crusades and performed for Presidents Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush. He was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2000.
Anthony Burger began his music career with “The Old Rugged Cross" and ended his career with a final solo, “We Shall Behold Him".
Bill Gaither said, “Anthony’s life was a testament of his work through music of bringing people to Christ, so that they could join him one day in heaven.”
Anthony Burger