List of Iron Maiden band members

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Iron Maiden

Iron Maiden live in Barcelona, 30 November 2006. (l-r) Steve Harris, Dave Murray, Janick Gers, and Adrian Smith.
Background information
Origin Leyton, London, England
Genres Heavy metal
Years active 1975–present
Labels EMI, Universal, Sanctuary, Epic, Columbia, Portrait, Capitol
Website ironmaiden.com
Members
Steve Harris
Dave Murray
Adrian Smith
Bruce Dickinson
Nicko McBrain
Janick Gers
Past members
Former members

Iron Maiden are a British heavy metal band formed in 1975 by bassist Steve Harris. After several lineup changes prior to their recording career, they settled on vocalist Paul Di'Anno, guitarist Dave Murray and drummer Doug Sampson. The band released an EP as a four piece, before hiring guitarist Dennis Stratton in 1979. Doug Sampson was dismissed from the band as he was unable to cope with the touring schedule and, at the suggestion of Stratton, replaced him with Clive Burr, with whom the band recorded their self-titled debut album in 1980.[1] Later that year, Stratton was replaced by guitarist Adrian Smith, due to musical and personal differences brought about by choosing not to travel with the band when supporting Kiss on the European leg of their Unmasked Tour.[2] During the tour supporting their second studio effort, Di'Anno was fired from the band after drug and alcohol abuse affected his live performance.[3] Vocalist Bruce Dickinson left his previous band, Samson, 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 replaced Burr, who left due to personal and scheduling problems on the subsequent "Beast on the Road" tour.[4] This is considered by many as their quintessential lineup,[5] with which they released a series of high-impact works.[6]

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."[7] Janick Gers, an old friend of Dickinson's who played on his debut solo album, became the new guitarist. This formation recorded one more album before Dickinson departed in 1993, in order to further pursue his solo career.[8] The band listened to hundreds of tapes submitted by vocalists before asking Blaze Bayley to audition,[9] with whom they would go on to release two studio albums, after which Bayley left the band by mutual consent in January 1999.[10] At that point, the band were in talks with Dickinson,[10] who, after a meeting with Steve Harris and Rod Smallwood (the group's manager) in Brighton,[11] agreed to rejoin along with Adrian Smith, who was telephoned a few hours later.[12] Iron Maiden therefore became a six-piece band and have gone on to make four further studio releases. The current lineup is now the longest and most stable in the band's history.

Contents

[edit] Current members

Image Name Years active Instruments Release contributions
Steve Harris Steve Harris Active: 1975–present bass
backing vocals		 all Iron Maiden releases
Dave Murray Dave Murray 1976–1977, 1978–present lead and rhythm guitars all Iron Maiden releases
Adrian Smith Adrian Smith 1980–1990, 1999–present lead and rhythm guitars
backing vocals		 all Iron Maiden releases from Killers (1981) to Maiden England (1989), then from Brave New World (2000) to present
Bruce Dickinson Bruce Dickinson 1981–1993, 1999–present lead vocals all Iron Maiden releases from The Number of the Beast (1982) to Live at Donington (1993), then from Brave New World (2000) to present
Nicko McBrain Nicko McBrain 1982–present drums all Iron Maiden releases from Piece of Mind (1983) to present
Janick Gers Janick Gers 1990–present lead and rhythm guitars all Iron Maiden releases from No Prayer for the Dying (1990) to present

[edit] Former members

Image Name Years active Instruments Release contributions
Paul Day 1975–1976 vocals none
Terry Rance 1975–1976 guitars none
Dave Sullivan 1975–1976 guitars none
Ron Matthews 1975–1977 drums none
Dennis Wilcock 1976–1978 vocals none
Bob Sawyer (later Rob Angelo) 1977 guitars none
Terry Wapram 1977-1978 guitars none
Thunderstick (Barry Purkis) 1977 drums none
Tony Moore 1977 keyboards none
Doug Sampson 1977–1979 drums The Soundhouse Tapes (1979 demo),
BBC Archives (four songs from 1979)
Paul Di'Anno Paul Di'Anno 1978–1981 vocals all Iron Maiden releases from
The Soundhouse Tapes (1979 demo) to Maiden Japan (1981 live)
Paul Cairns (AKA "Mad Mac") 1979 guitars none
Paul Todd 1979 guitars none
Tony Parsons 1979 guitars BBC Archives (four songs from 1979)
Dennis Stratton Dennis Stratton 1979–1980 guitars
backing vocals		 Iron Maiden (1980), Live!! +one (1980 live)
Clive Burr 1979–1982 drums all Iron Maiden releases from Iron Maiden (1980) to The Number of the Beast (1982)
Blaze Bayley Blaze Bayley 1994–1999 vocals The X Factor (1995), The Best of the Beast (1996 compilation, two new tracks), Virtual XI (1998)

[edit] Touring musicians

Name Years active Instruments Release contributions
Michael Kenney 1988–present keyboards all Iron Maiden studio releases from Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (1988) to Virtual XI (1998), all live releases from Maiden England (1989) to present

[edit] Timeline


[edit] Recording timeline

Role Album
Iron Maiden
(1980)		 Killers
(1981)		 The Number of the Beast
(1982)		 Piece of Mind
(1983)		 Powerslave
(1984)		 Somewhere in Time
(1986)		 Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
(1988)		 No Prayer for the Dying
(1990)		 Fear of the Dark
(1992)		 The X Factor
(1995)		 Virtual XI
(1998)		 Brave New World
(2000)		 Dance of Death
(2003)		 A Matter of Life and Death
(2006)		 The Final Frontier
(2010)
Lead vocals Paul Di'Anno Bruce Dickinson Blaze Bayley Bruce Dickinson
Lead & Rhythm guitar Dave Murray
Lead & Rhythm guitar Dennis Stratton Adrian Smith Janick Gers
Lead & Rhythm guitar N/A Adrian Smith
Bass Steve Harris
Drums Clive Burr Nicko McBrain
Keyboards N/A Michael Kenney Michael Kenney & Steve Harris Steve Harris

[edit] Band lineups

Personnel Studio albums Notable singles
December 1975[13]– December 1976[14] — —
December 1976[15]– Mid 1977[16]
  • Dennis Wilcock – vocals
  • Dave Murray – guitar
  • Bob Sawyer (AKA Rob Angelo) – guitar
  • Steve Harris – bass
  • Ron Matthews – drums
 — —
Mid 1977[16]– November 1977[17] — —
November 1977[17]– Spring 1978[18]
  • Dennis Wilcock – vocals
  • Terry Wapram – guitar
  • Steve Harris – bass, vocals
  • Doug Sampson – drums
 — —
Spring 1978[19]– November 1978[20][note 1]
  • Dave Murray – guitar
  • Steve Harris – bass, vocals
  • Doug Sampson – drums
 — —
November 1978[20]– December 1979[21]
  • Paul Di'Anno – lead vocals
  • Dave Murray – guitar
  • Paul Cairns (AKA "Mad Mac")/ Paul Todd/ Tony Parsons – guitar
  • Steve Harris – bass, vocals
  • Doug Sampson – drums
 —
December 1979[22]– November 1980[23]
November 1980[23]– September 1981[24]
  • Paul Di'Anno – vocals
  • Dave Murray – guitar
  • Adrian Smith – guitar
  • Steve Harris – bass
  • Clive Burr – drums
September 1981[24]– December 1982[25]
  • Bruce Dickinson – vocals
  • Dave Murray – guitar
  • Adrian Smith – guitar
  • Steve Harris – bass
  • Clive Burr – drums
December 1982[26]– June 1990[27]
  • Bruce Dickinson – vocals
  • Dave Murray – guitar
  • Adrian Smith – guitar
  • Steve Harris – bass
  • Nicko McBrain – drums
June 1990[27]– August 1993[28]
  • Bruce Dickinson – vocals
  • Dave Murray – guitar
  • Janick Gers – guitar
  • Steve Harris – bass
  • Nicko McBrain – drums
January 1994[9]– January 1999[11]
  • Blaze Bayley – vocals
  • Dave Murray – guitar
  • Janick Gers – guitar
  • Steve Harris – bass
  • Nicko McBrain – drums
January 1999[11]– present
  • Bruce Dickinson – vocals
  • Dave Murray – guitar
  • Janick Gers – guitar
  • Adrian Smith – guitar
  • Steve Harris – bass
  • Nicko McBrain – drums
  1. ^ Mick Wall reports that, following Dennis Wilcock's departure, the band spent six months rehearsing as a three piece whilst looking for a new lead vocalist.
  2. ^ EP, recorded with Dave Murray alone on guitar

[edit] Further details

Year Name Instrument Details
1975–76 Paul Day Vocals Paul Day was the band's original lead vocalist, but was the first to leave the band because, according to Harris, "he didn't really have enough energy or charisma onstage."[29]
Dave Sullivan Guitars Original guitarists Sullivan and Rance disagreed on Dave Murray's entrance in the band. Steve Harris then temporarily disbanded Iron Maiden, reforming it to allow Murray to join.[14]
Terry Rance
1975–77 Ron Matthews Drums According to Matthews, he was expelled from the band by Dennis Wilcock.[30]
1976–78 Dennis Wilcock Vocals Iron Maiden's second singer, who used special effects onstage, such as fake blood (placed in his mouth as he'd run a sword across it) and face paint.[29] Wilcock convinced Harris to sack most of the band, including Murray following a row they had after a show at the Bridgehouse pub, Canning Town in 1977.[16] It was also claimed on The Early Days DVD that Wilcock disliked Murray's girlfriend.[30] Eventually, Wilcock decided he'd had enough with the group and left to form his own band, "V1".[18]
1977 Bob Sawyer Guitars Bob Sawyer (who would later go by the name of "Rob Angelo")[30] would always try to upstage Murray, resulting in a confrontation with Harris (and expulsion from the group) after pretending to play guitar with his teeth when the audience could see that it was a trick.[31]
Thunderstick Drums Thunderstick's stint in the band was left notoriously short, lasting just the one show at the Bridgehouse in 1977. According to Harris, he performed poorly throughout the gig, including a particularly bad solo, during which he shouted obscenities at the audience. Thunderstick would later claim that his bad performance was caused by a row with his wife.[17]
Tony Moore Keyboards With both Murray and Sawyer expelled from the band, Harris decided to try a keyboardist. After one show with Moore (the same played with Thunderstick on drums), Harris scrapped the idea.[17]
1977-78 Terry Wapram Guitars Having only played in Iron Maiden as the sole guitarist, Wapram was sacked after expressing that he was not content with Dave Murray's reinstatement following Wilcock's departure.[30]
1979 Paul Cairns (AKA "Mad Mac") Guitars According to Doug Sampson, Paul Cairns (also known as "Mad Mac") did not fit in the band properly and left after three months.[32]
Paul Todd Paul Todd joined the band but never performed with them live as, according to Harris, "his girlfriend wouldn't let him".[32] Todd was only in the band for a week[30] in June 1979.[33]
Tony Parsons Tony Parsons joined in September 1979 and stayed in the band for just over two months as he was reportedly unable to match Murray's ability, but did perform with the band on the BBC's Friday Rock Show (later included on the BBC Archives album).[32] Parsons left just a few weeks before the band signed their contract with EMI in December 1979.[34]

[edit] Notes

Portal icon Iron Maiden portal
  1. ^ Wall 2004, pp. 122–124.
  2. ^ Wall 2004, pp. 160–163.
  3. ^ Wall 2004, pp. 194–195.
  4. ^ Wall 2004, pp. 232–234.
  5. ^ Prato, Greg. "Piece of Mind > Review". Allmusic. Macrovision Corporation. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r9912. Retrieved 3 November 2008. 
  6. ^ "The Greatest Metal Bands of All Time". MTV News. MTV Networks. http://www.mtv.com/bands/m/metal/greatest_metal_bands/071406/index5.jhtml. Retrieved 8 November 2008. 
  7. ^ Wall 2004, pp. 283–284.
  8. ^ Wall 2004, p. 293.
  9. ^ a b Wall 2004, p. 301.
  10. ^ a b Wall 2004, p. 324.
  11. ^ a b c Wall 2004, p. 329.
  12. ^ Wall 2004, pp. 330–331.
  13. ^ Wall 2004, p. 27.
  14. ^ a b Wall 2004, p. 33.
  15. ^ Wall 2004, p. 43.
  16. ^ a b c Wall 2004, p. 46.
  17. ^ a b c d Wall 2004, p. 48.
  18. ^ a b Wall 2004, p. 50.
  19. ^ Wall 2004, p. 52.
  20. ^ a b Wall 2004, p. 54.
  21. ^ Wall 2004, p. 123.
  22. ^ Wall 2004, p. 124.
  23. ^ a b Wall 2004, p. 162.
  24. ^ a b Wall 2004, p. 216.
  25. ^ Wall 2004, p. 235.
  26. ^ Wall 2004, p. 241.
  27. ^ a b Wall 2004, p. 285.
  28. ^ Wall 2004, p. 298.
  29. ^ a b Wall 2004, p. 32.
  30. ^ a b c d e The History Of Iron Maiden – Pt. 1: The Early Days (DVD). Sony. 23 November 2004. 
  31. ^ Wall 2004, p. 44.
  32. ^ a b c Wall 2004, p. 64.
  33. ^ Bushell, Garry; Halfin, Ross (1985). Running Free, The Official Story of Iron Maiden (2 ed.). Zomba Books. p. 26. ISBN 0-946391-84-X. 
  34. ^ Wall 2004, p. 108.

[edit] References

  • Wall, Mick (2004). Iron Maiden: Run to the Hills, the Authorised Biography (third ed.). Sanctuary Publishing. ISBN 1-86074-542-3 


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