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, guitarists Dave Murray and Dennis Stratton 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; not touring since 2024, replaced live by Simon Dawson from British Lion) and guitarist Janick Gers (since 1990).

History The band's 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. Tony Parsons was the bands next guitarist, joining in September 1979, before being dismissed in December 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, but would remain a member of the band. The following day, Simon Dawson of Harris's band British Lion was announced as the band's new touring drummer.

Members

Current ImageNameYears activeInstrumentsRelease contributionsSteve Harris1975–presentall Iron Maiden releasesDave MurrayAdrian SmithBruce DickinsonNicko McBrain1982–present all Iron Maiden releases from Piece of Mind (1983) to presentJanick Gers1990–presentguitarsall Iron Maiden releases from No Prayer for the Dying (1990) to present

Former ImageNameYears activeInstrumentsRelease contributionsRon (Rebel) Matthews1975–1977drumsnoneTerry Rance1975–1976guitarsDave SullivanPaul Mario Day1975–1976lead vocalsDennis Wilcock1976–1978Bob Sawyer 1977guitarsTerry Wapram1977–1978Thunderstick drumsTony Moore1977keyboardsDoug Sampson1978–1979drumsPaul Di'Anno1978–1981lead vocalsPaul Cairns 1978–1979guitarsPaul Todd1979noneTony ParsonsBBC Archives (2002)Clive Burr1979–1982drumsDennis Stratton1979–1980Blaze Bayley1994–1999lead vocals

Touring and session ImageNameYears activeInstrumentsNotesMichael Kenney1988–2022keyboardsSince 1980, Kenney was employed by the band as Harris' bass technician. Following Iron Maiden's Seventh 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". Following this tour Kenney provided keyboards on their next four studio albums after which Harris took over playing keys with Kenney assisting. He continued to provide the band's live keyboards, although unlike the Seventh Tour of a Seventh Tour during which he performed on a forklift, Kenney would later play the keys backstage. For the Maiden England World Tour 2012–2013, Kenney reprised his role as "The Count" during performances of the song "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son". On 9 September 2022, he announced on Facebook that he had retired from Iron Maiden.Brent Diamond2022–present From 2022, he replaced Michael Kenney as Steve Harris' bass technician, and as keyboard player during concerts.Simon Dawson2024–presentdrumsDawson, 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.

Timeline

Line-ups PeriodMembersReleasesDecember 1975 – October 1976Steve Harris – bass, backing vocals Ron Matthews – drums Terry Rance – guitars Dave Sullivan – guitars Paul Mario Day – lead vocals none October 1976 – November 1976Steve Harris – bass, backing vocals Ron Matthews – drums Terry Rance – guitars Dave Sullivan – guitars Dennis Wilcock – lead vocalsDecember 1976 – mid-1977Steve Harris – bass, backing vocals Ron Matthews – drums Dennis Wilcock – lead vocals Dave Murray – guitars Bob Sawyer – guitarsMid-1977 – November 1977Steve Harris – bass, backing vocals Dennis Wilcock – lead vocals Thunderstick – drums Terry Wapram – guitars Tony Moore – keyboardsNovember 1977 – early 1978Steve Harris – bass, backing vocals Dennis Wilcock – lead vocals Thunderstick – drums Terry Wapram – guitars none March 1978 – April 1978Steve Harris – bass, backing vocals Dennis Wilcock – lead vocals Thunderstick – drums Dave Murray – guitarsEarly 1978 – November 1978Steve Harris – bass, backing vocals Dave Murray – guitars Doug Sampson – drumsNovember 1978 – early 1979 Paul Cairns – guitars Steve Harris – bass, backing vocals Dave Murray – guitars Doug Sampson – drums Paul Di'Anno – lead vocalsThe Soundhouse Tapes (1979)June 1979Steve Harris – bass, backing vocals Dave Murray – guitars Doug Sampson – drums Paul Di'Anno – lead vocals Paul Todd – guitarsnone September – December 1979Steve Harris – bass, backing vocals Dave Murray – guitars Doug Sampson – drums Paul Di'Anno – lead vocals Tony Parsons – guitarsnone December 1979 – November 1980Steve Harris – bass, backing vocals Dave Murray – guitars Paul Di'Anno – lead vocals Clive Burr – drums Dennis Stratton – guitars, backing vocalsIron Maiden (1980)November 1980 – September 1981Steve Harris – bass, backing vocals Dave Murray – guitars Paul Di'Anno – lead vocals Clive Burr – drums Adrian Smith – guitars, backing vocalsKillers (1981)September 1981 – December 1982Steve Harris – bass, backing vocals Dave Murray – guitars Clive Burr – drums Adrian Smith – guitars, backing vocals Bruce Dickinson – lead vocalsThe Number of the Beast (1982)December 1982 – June 1990Steve Harris – bass, backing vocals, synthesiser (1986–1988) Dave Murray – guitars, guitar synthesiser (1986) Adrian Smith – guitars, backing vocals, synthesiser (1986–1988) Bruce Dickinson – lead vocals, additional guitars (1983–1985) Nicko McBrain – drums, percussionPiece of Mind (1983) Powerslave (1984) Somewhere in Time (1986) Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (1988)June 1990 – August 1993Steve Harris – bass, backing vocals Dave Murray – guitars Bruce Dickinson – lead vocals Nicko McBrain – drums, percussion Janick Gers – guitarsNo Prayer for the Dying (1990) Fear of the Dark (1992)January 1994 – January 1999Steve Harris – bass, backing vocals, keyboards Dave Murray – guitars Nicko McBrain – drums, percussion Janick Gers – guitars Blaze Bayley – lead vocalsThe X Factor (1995) Virtual XI (1998)January 1999 – presentSteve Harris – bass, backing vocals, keyboards Dave Murray – guitars Nicko McBrain – drums, percussion Janick Gers – guitars Adrian Smith – guitars, backing vocals, synthesiser (2006) Bruce Dickinson – lead vocals, piano (2014) Brave New World (2000) Dance of Death (2003) A Matter of Life and Death (2006) The Final Frontier (2010) The Book of Souls (2015) Senjutsu (2021)

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