{"id":623353,"date":"2026-09-13T11:42:15","date_gmt":"2026-09-13T11:42:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/623353\/"},"modified":"2026-09-13T11:42:15","modified_gmt":"2026-09-13T11:42:15","slug":"nicko-mcbrain-would-be-delighted-to-drum-on-iron-maidens-next-album-on-one-condition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/623353\/","title":{"rendered":"Nicko McBrain would be \u201cdelighted\u201d to drum on Iron Maiden\u2019s next album \u2013 on one condition"},"content":{"rendered":"

Semi-retired Iron Maiden<\/a> drummer Nicko McBrain wants to record with the band again, despite stepping down from their live lineup in December 2024<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The 74-year-old, who joined Maiden in 1982, retired from the UK heavy metal<\/a> legends\u2019 touring cycle at the last show of their 18-month-long Future Past run, after suffering a transient ischaemic attack (TIA, or mini-stroke) in January 2023 which continues to limit his movement.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Even though McBrain\u2019s been replaced onstage by Simon Dawson, he\u2019s still officially Maiden\u2019s drummer. Talking exclusively to Metal Hammer, he confirms that, should the band enter the studio to make another album after 2021\u2019s Senjutsu<\/a>, he\u2019d be \u201cdelighted\u201d to contribute. However, the effects of his mini-stroke mean the songs would have to be easier to play.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIf Iron Maiden went into the studio, I\u2019d be delighted to get back on with them,\u201d he tells us. \u201cBut it\u2019d have to be something more simple really.\u201d<\/p>\n

He then names the anthemic singles Stranger In A Strange Land and Wasted Years, both from 1986\u2019s Somewhere In Time<\/a>: \u201cThat kind of song. I\u2019d love to do something like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elsewhere in the interview, McBrain reveals that he was due to undergo cataract surgery on the day he suffered his mini-stroke. \u201cThe miracle was that I had the stroke in the morning, rather than while I was under the twilight anaesthetic,\u201d he recalls.<\/p>\n

He adds that he could only feel \u201c70 percent\u201d of his hand during the Future Past shows: \u201cIt was incredible to get any use back out of it at all \u2026 Like, I couldn\u2019t do the drum fill in the intro of [1983 single] The Trooper, so I had to adapt it. Steve [Harris, bassist\/bandleader] and the band were so supportive, but my body just wasn\u2019t bouncing back.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Talking to Loudwire in 2024, Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson<\/a> called McBrain his \u201chero\u201d for touring despite his condition.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was paralysed in his left side entirely,\u201d Dickinson said. \u201cIn May [2023], we\u2019re supposed to be rehearsing for this big tour, and he\u2019s not even sure if he can play drums. He couldn\u2019t hold a fork. Three months after that, he\u2019s on tour \u2026 Can you imagine how hard that is for a drummer of Nick\u2019s calibre, in front of 10,000 people?\u201d<\/p>\n

McBrain will release his autobiography, Hello Boys And Girls, on October 22 via Harper NonFiction. The publisher calls it \u201ca thrilling, hilarious and deeply personal autobiography\u201d that \u201ctakes readers behind the scenes of one of Britain\u2019s biggest-ever bands\u201d. He\u2019s currently touring the US with his Maiden cover band Titanium Tart.<\/p>\n

Maiden are also in the States, continuing their 50th-anniversary Run For Your Lives world tour. The setlist features songs from their first nine albums, 1980\u2019s Iron Maiden up to 1992\u2019s UK chart-topping Fear Of The Dark. They\u2019re reissuing the same albums in a vinyl box set on December 11.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Semi-retired Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain wants to record with the band again, despite stepping down from their…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":623354,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[93,61,60,278],"class_list":["post-623353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=623353"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623353\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/623354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=623353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=623353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=623353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}