List of Iron Maiden band members

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, guitarist Dave Murray 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) and guitarist Janick Gers (since 1990).

History

The bands 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

Image	Name	Years active	Instruments	Release contributions
Steve Harris Costa Rica.jpg	Steve Harris	1975–present	Template:Hlist	all Iron Maiden releases
Davemurray.jpg	Dave Murray	Template:Hlist	Template:Hlist
Iron_Maiden_en_Costa_Rica_(3041791993).jpg	Adrian Smith	Template:Hlist	Template:Hlist	all Iron Maiden releases from Killers (1981) to Maiden England (1989), then from Brave New World (2000) to present
Iron_Maiden_en_Costa_Rica_Bruce.jpg	Bruce Dickinson	Template:Hlist	Template:Hlist	Template:Hlist
Iron Maiden en Costa RicaNicko.jpg	Nicko McBrain	1982–present (inactive from touring as of 2024)	Template:Hlist	all Iron Maiden releases from Piece of Mind (1983) to present
Janick_Gers_1.jpg	Janick Gers	1990–present	guitars	all Iron Maiden releases from No Prayer for the Dying (1990) to present

Former

Image	Name	Years active	Instruments	Release contributions
	Ron (Rebel) MatthewsTemplate:Efn	1975–1977	drums	none
	Terry RanceTemplate:Efn	1975–1976	guitars
	Dave SullivanTemplate:Efn
	Paul Mario DayTemplate:Efn		lead vocals
	Dennis WilcockTemplate:Efn	1976–1978
	Bob Sawyer (later Rob Angelo)Template:Efn	1977	guitars
	Terry WapramTemplate:Efn	1977–1978
Thunderstick.png	Thunderstick (Barry Purkis)		drums
Tony_Moore_(Bogotá,_Colombia,_2024).jpg	Tony Moore	1977	keyboards
	Doug Sampson	1978–1979	drums	Template:Hlist
Paul Di' Anno (2445625480).jpg	Paul Di'Anno	1978–1981 (died 2024)	lead vocals	Template:Hlist
	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 from Iron Maiden (1980) to The Number of the Beast (1982)
Maiden United (46917571485).jpg	Dennis Stratton	1979–1980	Template:Hlist	Template:Hlist
Blaze Bayley en 2018 (cropped).jpg	Blaze Bayley	1994–1999	lead vocals	Template:Hlist

Touring and session

Image	Name	Years active	Instruments	Notes
	Michael Kenney	1988–2022	keyboards	Since 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.Template:Hlist
	Brent Diamond	2022–present		From 2022, he replaced Michael Kenney as Steve Harris' bass technician, and as a keyboard player during concerts.
British Lion, Simon Dawson (Bogotá, Colombia. 2024).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.

Timeline

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Colors =

id:Lvocals  value:red         legend:Lead_vocals
id:Bvocals  value:pink        legend:Backing_vocals
id:Guitars  value:green       legend:Guitars
id:Bass     value:blue        legend:Bass
id:Drums    value:orange      legend:Drums
id:Keys     value:purple      legend:Keyboards,_synthesisers
id:Tour     value:yellow      legend:Touring_members
id:Studio   value:black       legend:Studio_album
id:Live     value:gray(0.75)  legend:Live_album
id:bars     value:gray(0.93)

BackgroundColors = bars:bars

LineData =

layer:back color:Studio
at:14/04/1980
at:02/02/1981
at:22/03/1982
at:16/05/1983
at:03/09/1984
at:29/09/1986
at:11/04/1988
at:01/10/1990
at:11/05/1992
at:02/10/1995
at:23/03/1998
at:29/05/2000
at:08/09/2003
at:28/08/2006
at:16/08/2010
at:04/09/2015
at:03/09/2021
layer:back color:Live
at:14/10/1985
at:22/03/1995
at:18/10/1993
at:08/11/1993
at:25/03/2002
at:04/11/2002
at:29/08/2005
at:25/05/2009
at:26/03/2012
at:25/03/2013
at:17/11/2017
at:20/11/2020

BarData =

bar:Day          text:"Paul Day"
bar:Wilcock      text:"Dennis Wilcock"
bar:DiAnno       text:"Paul Di'Anno"
bar:Dickinson    text:"Bruce Dickinson"
bar:Bayley       text:"Blaze Bayley"
bar:Sullivan     text:"Dave Sullivan"
bar:Rance        text:"Terry Rance"
bar:Murray       text:"Dave Murray"
bar:Sawyer       text:"Bob Sawyer"
bar:Wapram       text:"Terry Wapram"
bar:Cairns       text:"Paul Cairns"
bar:Todd         text:"Paul Todd"
bar:Parsons      text:"Tony Parsons"
bar:Stratton     text:"Dennis Stratton"
bar:Smith        text:"Adrian Smith"
bar:Gers         text:"Janick Gers"
bar:Harris       text:"Steve Harris"
bar:Matthews     text:"Ron Matthews"
bar:Thunderstick text:"Thunderstick"
bar:Sampson      text:"Doug Sampson"
bar:Burr         text:"Clive Burr"
bar:McBrain      text:"Nicko McBrain"
bar:Dawson       text:"Simon Dawson"
bar:Moore        text:"Tony Moore"
bar:Kenney       text:"Michael Kenney"
bar:Diamond      text:"Brent Diamond"

PlotData=

width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4)
bar:Day          from:25/12/1975 till:01/07/1976 color:Lvocals
bar:Wilcock      from:02/07/1976 till:01/03/1978 color:Lvocals
bar:DiAnno       from:01/11/1978 till:01/10/1981 color:Lvocals
bar:Dickinson    from:01/10/1981 till:28/08/1993 color:Lvocals
bar:Bayley       from:01/01/1994 till:02/01/1999 color:Lvocals
bar:Dickinson    from:02/01/1999 till:end        color:Lvocals
bar:Dickinson    from:01/09/2014 till:31/12/2014 color:Keys    width:3
bar:Dickinson    from:02/05/1983 till:05/07/1985 color:Guitars width:3
bar:Sullivan     from:25/12/1975 till:01/12/1976 color:Guitars
bar:Rance        from:25/12/1975 till:01/12/1976 color:Guitars
bar:Murray       from:01/12/1976 till:01/06/1977 color:Guitars
bar:Murray       from:01/03/1978 till:end        color:Guitars
bar:Murray       from:01/01/1986 till:30/06/1986 color:Keys    width:3
bar:Sawyer       from:01/01/1977 till:01/06/1977 color:Guitars
bar:Wapram       from:01/07/1977 till:01/03/1978 color:Guitars
bar:Cairns       from:01/12/1978 till:01/03/1979 color:Guitars
bar:Todd         from:23/06/1979 till:30/06/1979 color:Guitars
bar:Parsons      from:01/09/1979 till:15/11/1979 color:Guitars
bar:Stratton     from:20/12/1979 till:01/11/1980 color:Guitars
bar:Stratton     from:20/12/1979 till:01/11/1980 color:Bvocals width:3
bar:Smith        from:05/11/1980 till:01/01/1990 color:Guitars
bar:Smith        from:05/11/1980 till:01/01/1990 color:Bvocals width:3
bar:Smith        from:01/02/1999 till:end        color:Guitars
bar:Smith        from:01/02/1999 till:end        color:Bvocals width:3
bar:Smith        from:01/01/1986 till:31/03/1988 color:Keys    width:7
bar:Gers         from:01/02/1990 till:end        color:Guitars
bar:Harris       from:25/12/1975 till:end        color:Bass
bar:Harris       from:25/12/1975 till:end        color:Bvocals width:3
bar:Harris       from:01/01/1986 till:31/03/1988 color:Keys    width:7
bar:Harris       from:01/08/1997 till:end        color:Keys    width:7
bar:Matthews     from:25/12/1975 till:01/06/1977 color:Drums
bar:Thunderstick from:01/09/1977 till:08/04/1978 color:Drums
bar:Sampson      from:09/04/1978 till:23/12/1979 color:Drums
bar:Burr         from:26/12/1979 till:01/11/1982 color:Drums
bar:McBrain      from:01/12/1982 till:07/12/2024 color:Drums
bar:McBrain      from:07/12/2024 till:end        color:Drums   width:3
bar:Moore        from:01/09/1977 till:01/11/1977 color:Keys
bar:Dawson       from:07/12/2024 till:end        color:Drums
bar:Dawson       from:07/12/2024 till:end        color:Tour    width:3
bar:Kenney       from:28/04/1988 till:09/09/2022 color:Keys
bar:Kenney       from:28/04/1988 till:09/09/2022 color:Tour    width:3
bar:Diamond      from:09/09/2022 till:end        color:Keys
bar:Diamond      from:09/09/2022 till:end        color:Tour    width:3

</timeline>

Line-ups

Period	Members	Releases
December 1975 – October 1976	Steve Harris – bass, backing vocals Ron Matthews – drums Terry Rance – guitars Dave Sullivan – guitars Paul Mario Day – lead vocals	none – live performances only
October 1976 – November 1976	Steve Harris – bass, backing vocals Ron Matthews – drums Terry Rance – guitars Dave Sullivan – guitars Dennis Wilcock – lead vocals
December 1976 – mid-1977	Steve Harris – bass, backing vocals Ron Matthews – drums Dennis Wilcock – lead vocals Dave Murray – guitars Bob Sawyer (a.k.a. Rob Angelo) – guitars
Mid-1977 – November 1977	Steve Harris – bass, backing vocals Dennis Wilcock – lead vocals Thunderstick – drums Terry Wapram – guitars Tony Moore – keyboards
November 1977 – early 1978	Steve Harris – bass, backing vocals Dennis Wilcock – lead vocals Thunderstick – drums Terry Wapram – guitars	none – rehearsals only
March 1978 – April 1978	Steve Harris – bass, backing vocals Dennis Wilcock – lead vocals Thunderstick – drums Dave Murray – guitars
Early 1978 – November 1978Template:Efn	Steve Harris – bass, backing vocals Dave Murray – guitars Doug Sampson – drums
November 1978 – early 1979	Steve Harris – bass, backing vocals Dave Murray – guitars Doug Sampson – drums Paul Di'Anno – lead vocals Paul Cairns (a.k.a. "Mad Mac") – guitars	The Soundhouse Tapes (1979)
June 1979	Steve Harris – bass, backing vocals Dave Murray – guitars Doug Sampson – drums Paul Di'Anno – lead vocals Paul Todd – guitars	none – rehearsals only
September – December 1980	Steve Harris – bass, backing vocals Dave Murray – guitars Doug Sampson – drums Paul Di'Anno – lead vocals Tony Parsons – guitars	none – live performances only
December 1979 – November 1980	Steve Harris – bass, backing vocals Dave Murray – guitars Paul Di'Anno – lead vocals Clive Burr – drums Dennis Stratton – guitars, backing vocals	Iron Maiden (1980)
November 1980 – September 1981	Steve Harris – bass, backing vocals Dave Murray – guitars Paul Di'Anno – lead vocals Clive Burr – drums Adrian Smith – guitars, backing vocals	Killers (1981)
September 1981 – December 1982	Steve Harris – bass, backing vocals Dave Murray – guitars Clive Burr – drums Adrian Smith – guitars, backing vocals Bruce Dickinson – lead vocals	The Number of the Beast (1982)
December 1982 – June 1990	Steve Harris – bass, backing vocals, synthesisers (1986-1988) Dave Murray – guitars, synthesisers (1986) Adrian Smith – guitars, backing vocals, synthesisers (1986-1988) Bruce Dickinson – lead vocals, additional guitars (1983-1985) Nicko McBrain – drums Michael Kenney – keyboards (touring; 1988-onward)	Piece of Mind (1983) Powerslave (1984) Somewhere in Time (1986) Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (1988)
June 1990 – August 1993	Steve Harris – bass, backing vocals Dave Murray – guitars Bruce Dickinson – lead vocals Nicko McBrain – drums Janick Gers – guitars Michael Kenney – keyboards (touring)	No Prayer for the Dying (1990) Fear of the Dark (1992)
January 1994 – January 1999	Steve Harris – bass, backing vocals, keyboards Dave Murray – guitars Nicko McBrain – drums Janick Gers – guitars Blaze Bayley – lead vocals Michael Kenney – keyboards (touring)	The X Factor (1995) Virtual XI (1998)
January 1999 – December 2024	Steve Harris – bass, backing vocals, keyboards Dave Murray – guitars Nicko McBrain – drums Janick Gers – guitars Adrian Smith – guitars, backing vocals Bruce Dickinson – lead vocals Michael Kenney – keyboards (touring; 1999–2022) Brett Diamond – keyboards (touring; 2022–onwards)	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)
December 2024 – present	Steve Harris – bass, backing vocals, keyboards Dave Murray – guitars Nicko McBrain – drums (retired from touring) Janick Gers – guitars Adrian Smith – guitars, backing vocals Bruce Dickinson – lead vocals Simon Dawson – drums (touring) Brett Diamond – keyboards (touring)

References

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