Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in 1975 by bassist Steve Harris. After several lineup changes prior to their recording career, they settled on Harris, vocalist Paul Di'Anno, guitarist Dave Murray and drummer Doug Sampson. The band currently consists of Harris and Murray with guitarist Adrian Smith (who first joined in 1980), vocalist Bruce Dickinson (who first joined in 1981), drummer Nicko McBrain (since 1982) and guitarist Janick Gers (since 1990).
The bands original line-up in December 1975, included Harris with singer Paul Mario Day, guitarists Terry Rance and Dave Sulivan and drummer Ron Matthews. Day left in October 1976 due to not having enough stage charisma, he was replaced by Dennis Wilcock. Harris temporarily disbanded Iron Maiden in December 1976 so he could replace Rance and Sulivan with guitarists Dave Murray and Bob Sawyer, while retaining Wilcock and Matthews. By mid-1977, Matthews, Murray and Sawyer were all fired after conflicts with either Wilcock or Harris, and replaced by guitarist Terry Wapram and keyboardist Tony Moore and drummer Thunderstick (real name Barry Purkis). This line-up only lasted one show before Moore was fired by Harris, as he felt that keyboards didn't fit in to Iron Maiden's music at the time.
Murray was reinstated in March 1978, after which Wapram left. Wilcock and Thunderstick also left shortly afterwards. The band were quickly joined by Doug Sampson on drums, who Harris had played with before forming Iron Maiden, and began auditioned new singers, settling on Paul Di'Anno joined in November. The band were also joined by second guitarist Paul Cairns in Winter 1978, who played on their 1979 demo The Soundhouse Tapes. Cairns stayed for three months before being dismissed due to not fitting in.
The band were joined by guitarist Paul Todd in June 1979, however he left after a week, not playing any shows due to his girlfriend not letting him. Todd would later join Paul Mario Day's post Iron Maiden band More.[1] Tony Parsons was the bands next guitarist, joining in September 1979, before being dismissed in December[1] due to having less technical ability than Murray, just before the band signed to EMI. He later joined Dennis Wilcock's band Gibraltar.
The band hired Dennis Stratton (guitar, backing vocals). Doug Sampson amicably left the band as he was unable to cope with the touring schedule. At the suggestion of Stratton, Sampson was replaced by Clive Burr, with whom the band recorded their self-titled debut album in 1980. Later that year, Stratton was replaced by Adrian Smith (the band's original choice), due to musical and personal differences brought about by Stratton choosing to travel with the road crew instead of the band on tour.
During the tour supporting their second studio album, Di'Anno was fired from the band after drug and alcohol abuse affected his live performance. Vocalist Bruce Dickinson left his previous band, Samson, which had also included Burr, to audition for Iron Maiden in September 1981 and joined shortly afterwards. After the release of their third album, The Number of the Beast, drummer Nicko McBrain (of support act Trust) replaced Burr, who left due to personal and scheduling problems on the subsequent Beast on the Road tour. This is considered by many as their quintessential lineup, with which they released a series of high-impact works.
In 1990, prior to the recording of their eighth studio album, Smith was asked to leave the band due to a lack of enthusiasm, brought about by the "stripped-down" musical direction they were taking, which Smith considered "a step backwards" from the progressive direction they had been taking. Janick Gers, an old friend of Dickinson's who performed on his debut solo album, became the new guitarist. This formation recorded one more album before Dickinson departed in 1993, in order to pursue his solo career further.
The band listened to hundreds of tapes submitted by vocalists before asking Blaze Bayley to audition, with whom they would go on to release two studio albums, after which Bayley left the band by mutual consent in January 1999. At that point, the band were in talks with Dickinson, who, after a meeting with Steve Harris and Rod Smallwood (the group's manager) in Brighton, agreed to rejoin along with Adrian Smith, who was telephoned a few hours later. Iron Maiden thus became a six-piece band and have gone on to make six further studio releases. This lineup is now the longest and most stable in the band's history.
On 7 December 2024, McBrain announced he was retiring from touring due to health issues following the band's show on that day,[2] but would remain a member of the band.[3] The following day, Simon Dawson of Harris's band British Lion was announced as the band's new touring drummer.[4]
| Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steve Harris | 1975–present | all Iron Maiden releases | ||
| Dave Murray | guitars | |||
| Adrian Smith |