Its a sad day for a legion of Iron Maiden fans as drummer supremo Nicko McBrain has announced his retirement from touring.
The 72-year-old musician, who has been a pathbreaker and defined an era of spectacular drumming as part of Iron Maiden for more than four decades, revealed his decision to “step back” from being on the road on December 7 in a statement on the band’s official web site and his social media.
Nicko McBrain wrote: “After much consideration, it is with both sorrow and joy, I announce my decision to take a step back from the grind of the extensive touring lifestyle. Today, Saturday, December 7th, Sao Paulo will be my final gig with IRON MAIDEN. I wish the band much success moving forward.
“I will, however, remain firmly part of the IRON MAIDEN family working on a variety of projects, my long time managers, Rod Smallwood and Andy Taylor, have in mind for me. I’ll also be working on a variety of different personal projects and focusing on my existing businesses and ventures, including The British Drum Company, Nicko McBrain’s Drum One, TITANIUM TART, and of course, Rock-N-Roll Ribs!
“What can I say? Touring with MAIDEN the last 42 years has been an incredible journey! To my devoted fan base, you made it all worthwhile and I love you! To my devoted wife, Rebecca, you made it infinitely easier and I love you! To my kids, Justin and Nicholas, thank you for understanding the absences and I love you! To my friends that are always there for me, I love you! To my bandmates, you made it a dream come true and I love you!
“I look into the future with much excitement and great hope! I’ll be seeing you soon, may God bless you all, and, of course, ‘Up the Irons!'”
MAIDEN’s longtime manager Rod Smallwood of Phantom Music Management commented: “Nicko, and we all love you too!! Thank you for being an irrepressible force behind the drum kit for MAIDEN for 42 years and my friend for even longer. I speak on behalf of all the band when I say we will miss you immensely!
“Ever since Rock In Rio in 1985 we have had a special relationship with Brazil so to bow out of touring in front of 90,000 fans here in Sao Paulo over 2 nights is poetic and you are deserving of all the accolades I am sure these marvellous fans will give you on this last show.
“Phantom look forward to many more years of working with you on the projects you mentioned and I am sure we can find a few more special ones around the MAIDEN family and FC!
“The band and I all have a thousand great memories of the past 42 years, great gigs, copious platinum and gold discs and awards, love from the fans and one beer too many on too many occasions! Such a bond is forever! And, as Steve Harris says, ‘Nicko is and will always be part of the MAIDEN family’.
“P.S. MAIDEN always get their man and our already chosen new drummer will be announced very shortly.”
In January 2023, Nicko McBrain was at his home in Boca Raton when he suffered a stroke with partial paralysis. That was the beginning of a challenging journey of physical rehabilitation that followed rapid and precise treatment by stroke specialists at Marcus Neuroscience Institute at Boca Raton, Florida’s Boca Raton Regional Hospital, part of Baptist Health.
Four years ago, Nicko McBrain was diagnosed with stage 1 laryngeal cancer and opened up about it in a single interview in 2021 but otherwise kept it mostly under wraps. The musician received his cancer diagnosis after undergoing an endoscopy at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of the University Of Miami Health System and the Miller School of Medicine. Within a week, McBrain’s cancer was surgically removed and he now gets check-ups every few months to make sure the cancer hasn’t returned.
McBrain, who had the cancer in a part of his vocal cords, isn’t the first member of MAIDEN to beat cancer. Back in late 2014, IRON MAIDEN’s Bruce Dickinson was diagnosed with throat cancer. The singer, who had a golf gall-size tumor on his tongue and another in the lymph node on the right side of his neck, got the all-clear in May 2015 after radiation and nine weeks of chemotherapy.
McBrain, who is a dedicated Christian, continued: “I’ve got to be honest, I did question his mortality at one point and thankfully that didn’t last long. Honestly, I got down on my knees and said a prayer, picked my thoughts up and got positive about it all, thinking to myself, ‘If anyone can beat this, it’s Bruce.’ He’s so positive about everything he’s ever done in his life, or whatever he is about to do. Basically, I prayed for him and my prayers were answered, as well as everybody else that knows and cares for him.”