Iron Maiden

Iron Maiden started in Leyton, in London's East End, on Christmas Day 1975, and from the first rehearsal it was Steve Harris's band: the bassist, main songwriter and the man who kept it running while singers, guitarists and drummers cycled through at a dizzying clip in the early years. By the time Paul Di'Anno was growling up front, Dave Murray was on guitar and Clive Burr was on drums, Maiden had become one of the spearheads of the new wave of British heavy metal, and EMI came calling.

The self-titled debut in 1980 and Killers in 1981, with "Wrathchild", were fast, lean and streetwise, more punk in their snarl than the old guard of metal ever was. Then Bruce Dickinson replaced Di'Anno in 1981, and everything went widescreen. The Number of the Beast, in 1982, was his first album with them and the turning point of their career: "Run to the Hills" gallops like a cavalry charge, the title track is pure theatrical menace, and "Hallowed Be Thy Name" builds into an epic worthy of the name. It has sold almost 20 million copies. From there came Piece of Mind, Somewhere in Time, and Seventh Son of a Seventh Son with "Can I Play with Madness?", plus war horses like "The Trooper", "Flight of Icarus", "Aces High" and "2 Minutes to Midnight".

What sets them apart is ambition. Harris and company write about history, war, literature, mythology, dark fantasy, science fiction and religion, and they wrap it all up with their mascot, Eddie, who has turned up on the covers of almost all their releases. The title track of Fear of the Dark in 1992 is one of their great slow-burn builds, and it proved there was still fire in the band even as the '90s turned rough. Dickinson and guitarist Adrian Smith came back in 1999, joining Harris, Murray, drummer Nicko McBrain and guitarist Janick Gers, and a second golden age began with Brave New World and "The Wicker Man".

The Final Frontier, The Book of Souls and Senjutsu all went to number one in more than 25 countries. Maiden won the Grammy for Best Metal Performance in 2011, have sold over 130 million albums and had racked up 2,500 live shows by 2019. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted them in 2026. On rock radio's countdowns, "Fear of the Dark" and "The Number of the Beast" still bring the house down.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.