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Iron Maiden are an Englishheavy metal band formed in 1975 by bassistSteve Harris. After several lineup changes prior to their recording career, they settled on Harris, vocalistPaul Di'Anno, guitaristDave Murray and drummerDoug Sampson. The band currently consists of Harris and Murray with guitaristAdrian Smith (who first joined in 1980), vocalistBruce Dickinson (who first joined in 1981), drummerNicko McBrain (since 1982) and guitaristJanick Gers (since 1990).
The bands original line-up in December 1975, included Harris with singerPaul Mario Day, guitarists Terry Rance and Dave Sulivan and drummer Ron Matthews.[1] Day left in October 1976 due to not having enough stage charisma, he was replaced by Dennis Wilcock.[2] Harris temporarily disbanded Iron Maiden in December 1976 so he could replace Rance and Sulivan with guitaristsDave Murray and Bob Sawyer, while retaining Wilcock and Matthews.[3] By mid-1977, Matthews, Murray and Sawyer were all fired after conflicts with either Wilcock or Harris,[4] and replaced by guitarist Terry Wapram and keyboardistTony Moore and drummerThunderstick (real name Barry Purkis).[4] 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.[5]
Murray was reinstated in March 1978,[6] after which Wapram left.[7] Wilcock and Thunderstick also left shortly afterwards.[6] The band were quickly joined by Doug Sampson on drums,[8] who Harris had played with before forming Iron Maiden,[9] and began auditioned new singers, settling onPaul Di'Anno joined in November.[10] The band were also joined by second guitarist Paul Cairns in Winter 1978,[11] who played on their 1979 demoThe Soundhouse Tapes.[12][13] Cairns stayed for three months before being dismissed due to not fitting in.[12][11]
The band were joined by guitarist Paul Todd in June 1979,[14] however he left after a week,[7] not playing any shows due to his girlfriend not letting him.[11] Todd would later join Paul Mario Day's post Iron Maiden bandMore.[15] Tony Parsons was the bands next guitarist, joining in September 1979, before being dismissed in December[15] due to having less technical ability than Murray,[11] just before the band signed toEMI.[16] He later joined Dennis Wilcock's band Gibraltar.[15]
The band hiredDennis Stratton (guitar, backing vocals). Doug Sampson amicably left the band as he was unable to cope with the touring schedule.[17] At the suggestion of Stratton, Sampson was replaced byClive Burr, with whom the band recorded theirself-titled debut album in 1980.[18] Later that year, Stratton was replaced byAdrian 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.[19]
Duringthe tour supporting theirsecond studio album, Di'Anno was fired from the band after drug and alcohol abuse affected his live performance.[20] VocalistBruce 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, drummerNicko McBrain (of support actTrust) replaced Burr, who left due to personal and scheduling problems on the subsequentBeast on the Road tour.[21] This is considered by many as their quintessential lineup,[22] with which they released a series of high-impact works.[23]
In 1990, prior to the recording of theireighth 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 theprogressive direction they had been taking.[24]Janick Gers, an old friend of Dickinson's who performed onhis debut solo album, became the new guitarist. This formation recordedone more album before Dickinson departed in 1993, in order to pursue his solo career further.[25]
The band listened to hundreds of tapes submitted by vocalists before askingBlaze Bayley to audition,[26] with whom they would go on to release two studio albums, after which Bayley left the band by mutual consent in January 1999.[27] At that point, the band were in talks with Dickinson,[27] who, after a meeting with Steve Harris andRod Smallwood (the group's manager) in Brighton,[28] agreed to rejoin along with Adrian Smith, who was telephoned a few hours later.[29] 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,[30] but would remain a member of the band.[31] The following day, Simon Dawson of Harris's bandBritish Lion was announced as the band's new touring drummer.[32]
| Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Steve Harris | 1975–present |
| all Iron Maiden releases |
 | Dave Murray |
| guitars | |
.jpg) | Adrian Smith |
|
| all Iron Maiden releases fromKillers (1981) toMaiden England (1989), then fromBrave New World (2000) to present |
 | Bruce Dickinson |
|
|
|
 | Nicko McBrain | 1982–present(inactive from touring as of 2024) |
| all Iron Maiden releases fromPiece of Mind (1983) to present |
 | Janick Gers | 1990–present | guitars | all Iron Maiden releases fromNo Prayer for the Dying (1990) to present |
| Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ron (Rebel) Matthews[a] | 1975–1977 | drums | none | |
| Terry Rance[b] | 1975–1976 | guitars | ||
| Dave Sullivan[c] | ||||
| Paul Mario Day[d] | vocals | |||
| Dennis Wilcock[e] | 1976–1978 | |||
| Bob Sawyer(later Rob Angelo)[f] | 1977 | guitars | ||
| Terry Wapram[g] | 1977–1978 | |||
 | Thunderstick(Barry Purkis) | drums | ||
.jpg) | Tony Moore | 1977 | keyboards | |
| Doug Sampson | 1978–1979 | drums |
| |
.jpg) | Paul Di'Anno | 1978–1981 (died 2024) | vocals |
|
| Paul Cairns(a.k.a. "Mad Mac") | 1978–1979 | guitars | The Soundhouse Tapes (1979 demo) | |
| Paul Todd | 1979 | none | ||
| Tony Parsons | BBC Archives (four songs from 1979) | |||
| Clive Burr | 1979–1982 (died 2013) | drums | all Iron Maiden releases fromIron Maiden (1980) toThe Number of the Beast (1982) | |
.jpg) | Dennis Stratton | 1979–1980 |
|
|
.jpg) | Blaze Bayley | 1994–1999 | vocals |
|
| Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Kenney | 1988–2022 | keyboards | Since 1980, Kenney was employed by the band as Harris' bass technician.[37] Following Iron Maiden'sSeventh Son of a Seventh Son album, in which the band used keyboards for the first time, Harris insisted that Kenney perform the keyboard parts live under the alias of "The Count".[38] Following this tour Kenney provided keyboards on their next four studio albums after which Harris took over playing keys with Kenney assisting.[39] He continued to provide the band's live keyboards, although unlike theSeventh Tour of a Seventh Tour during which he performed on a forklift, Kenney would later play the keys backstage.[39] For theMaiden England World Tour 2012–2013, Kenney reprised his role as "The Count" during performances of the song "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son".[40] On 9 September 2022, he announced on Facebook that he had retired from Iron Maiden.
| |
| Brent Diamond | 2022–present | From 2022, he replaced Michael Kenney as Steve Harris' bass technician, and as a keyboard player during concerts.[41] | ||
.jpg) | Simon Dawson | 2024–present | drums | Dawson, who also known as a drummer for Harris's side-project,British Lion, was announced taking McBrain's place for the band's upcoming tours.[42] |
| Period | Members | Releases |
|---|---|---|
| December 1975[1] – October 1976[2] |
| none– live performances only |
| October 1976 – November 1976 |
| |
| December 1976[43] – mid-1977[4] |
| |
| Mid-1977[4] – November 1977[5] |
| |
| November 1977[5] – early 1978[6] |
| none– rehearsals only |
| March 1978 – April 1978 |
| |
| Early 1978[44] – November 1978[45][h] |
| |
| November 1978[11] – early 1979[12] |
|
|
| June 1979[14][7] |
| none– rehearsals only |
| September – December 1980[16] |
| none– live performances only |
| December 1979[46] – November 1980[47] |
|
|
| November 1980[47] – September 1981[48] |
|
|
| September 1981[48] – December 1982[49] |
|
|
| December 1982[50] – June 1990[51] |
|
|
| June 1990[51] – August 1993[52] |
|
|
| January 1994[26] – January 1999[28] |
|
|
| January 1999[28] – December 2024[30] |
|
|
| December 2024[32] – present |
|
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link):22 was invoked but never defined (see thehelp page).... an organist who looked like a medieval witch rose up and played with the band.
