![]() Iron Maiden's eponymous 1980 release made number 4 in the UK Albums Chart in its first week of release, and the group became one of the leading proponents of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement. In December 1979, the band landed a major record deal with EMI. Drummer Doug Sampson was also replaced by Clive Burr (who was brought into the band by Stratton). Initially, the band wanted to hire Dave Murray's childhood friend Adrian Smith, but Smith was busy with his own band, Urchin. Several other guitarists were temporarily hired until the band finally settled on Dennis Stratton. Shortly before going into the studio, Cairns left the band. Their first appearance on an album was on the compilation Metal for Muthas (released on 15 February 1980) with two early versions of " Sanctuary" and "Wrathchild".įrom late 1977 to 1978, Murray was the sole guitarist in the band until Paul Cairns joined in 1979. One track found on the demo, " Prowler", went to number one on Neal Kay's Heavy Metal Soundhouse charts in Sounds magazine. Featuring only three songs, the band sold all five thousand copies within weeks. On New Year's Eve 1978, the band recorded a demo, The Soundhouse Tapes. Iron Maiden had been playing for three years, but had never recorded any of their music. Steve Harris has stated, "There's sort of a quality in Paul's voice, a raspiness in his voice, or whatever you want to call it, that just gave it this great edge." Dave Murray was reinstated and Doug Sampson was hired as drummer.Ī chance meeting at the Red Lion pub in Leytonstone evolved into a successful audition for vocalist Paul Di'Anno. A poor gig at the Bridgehouse in November 1977, with a makeshift line-up including Tony Moore on keyboards, Terry Wapram on guitar, and drummer Barry Purkis resulted in Harris firing the entire band. Iron Maiden recruited another guitarist in 1977, Bob Sawyer, who caused a rift between Murray and Wilcock, prompting Harris to fire both Murray and Sawyer. This fueled Harris to temporarily split the band in 1976, though the group reformed soon after with Murray as the sole guitarist. Wilcock's friend, Dave Murray, was invited to join, to the frustration of guitarists Dave Sullivan and Terry Rance. He was replaced by Dennis Wilcock, a Kiss fan who utilised fire, make-up and fake blood during live performances. Original vocalist Paul Day was fired as he lacked "energy or charisma onstage". ![]() Steve Harris and guitarist Dave Murray remain the longest-surviving members of Iron Maiden. Harris attributes the band name to a movie adaptation of The Man in the Iron Mask from the novel by Alexandre Dumas, and starring Patrick McGoohan (who also starred in the 1960s series The Prisoner) which he saw around that time, and so the group was christened after the purported torture device. Iron Maiden were formed on Christmas Day 1975, by bassist Steve Harris, shortly after he left his previous group, Smiler. 1.9 The Final Frontier and Maiden England World Tour (2010–14).1.8 A Matter of Life and Death to Flight 666 (2006–09).Their influences include Thin Lizzy, UFO, Deep Purple, Uriah Heep, Nektar, Black Sabbath and early Genesis. The band won the Ivor Novello Awards for international achievement in 2002 and were also inducted into the Hollywood RockWalk in Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, California during their tour in the United States in 2005. Iron Maiden released their newest studio effort in 2021 entitled Senjutsu, with the album peaking at number three on the Billboard 200.Īs one of the most commercially successful heavy metal bands of all time, Iron Maiden have sold more than 100 million albums worldwide, without significant mainstream or radio support. These include the US platinum-selling landmark The Number of the Beast in 1982 and the follow up Piece of Mind in 1983. Iron Maiden - Somewhere Back In Time (2009 - fourth leg)Īs a pioneer of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement, Iron Maiden rose to fame in the early 1980s, and after several lineup changes, they went on to release a string of platinum and gold albums. Since forming in 1975 they have released seventeen studio albums, thirteen live albums, four EPs and eight compilations. Iron Maiden are led by founder, bassist and songwriter Steve Harris.
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