# 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 members

| Name | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions |
| Steve Harris | 1975–present | bassbacking vocalsstudio keyboards (1988, 1997–present) | all Iron Maiden releases |
| Dave Murray | 1976–19771978–present | guitars | all Iron Maiden releases |
| Adrian Smith | 1980–19901999–present | guitarsbacking and occasional lead vocalsstudio keyboards (1988) | all Iron Maiden releases from Killers (1981) to Maiden England (1989), then from Brave New World (2000) to present |
| Bruce Dickinson | 1981–19931999–present | lead vocalsadditional guitars (1983–1985)piano (2015) | all Iron Maiden releases from The Number of the Beast (1982) to Raising Hell (1994)then from Brave New World (2000) to present |
| Nicko McBrain | 1982–present (inactive from touring as of 2024) | drumspercussion | all Iron Maiden releases from Piece of Mind (1983) to present |
| Janick Gers | 1990–present | guitars | all Iron Maiden releases from No Prayer for the Dying (1990) to present |

### Former members

| Name | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions |
| Ron (Rebel) Matthews | 1975–1977 | drums | none |
| Terry Rance | 1975–1976 | guitars | none |
| Dave Sullivan | 1975–1976 | guitars | none |
| Paul Mario Day | 1975–1976 | vocals | none |
| Dennis Wilcock | 1976–1978 | vocals | none |
| Bob Sawyer (later Rob Angelo) | 1977 | guitars | none |
| Terry Wapram | 1977–1978 | guitars | none |
| Thunderstick (Barry Purkis) | 1977–1978 | drums | none |
| Tony Moore | 1977 | keyboards | none |
| Doug Sampson | 1978–1979 | drums | The Soundhouse Tapes (1979 demo)BBC Archives (four songs from 1979) |
| Paul Di'Anno | 1978–1981 (died 2024) | vocals | all Iron Maiden releases from The Soundhouse Tapes (1979 demo) to Maiden Japan (1981 live) |
| Paul Cairns (a.k.a. "Mad Mac") | 1978–1979 | guitars | The Soundhouse Tapes (1979 demo) |
| Paul Todd | 1979 | guitars | none |
| Tony Parsons | 1979 | guitars | 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) |
| Dennis Stratton | 1979–1980 | guitarsbacking vocals | Iron Maiden (1980)Live!! +one (1980 live) |
| Blaze Bayley | 1994–1999 | vocals | The X Factor (1995)Best of the Beast (1996 – compilation, two new tracks)Virtual XI (1998) |

### Touring/session musicians

| 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.all Iron Maiden studio releases from No Prayer for the Dying (1990) to Virtual XI (1998)all live releases from Maiden England (1989) to Nights of the Dead (2020) |
| Brent Diamond | 2022–present | keyboards | From 2022, he replaced Michael Kenney as Steve Harris' bass technician, and as a keyboard player during concerts. |
| 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. |

## Line-ups

| Period | Members | Releases |
| December 1975 – October 1976 | Paul Mario Day – lead vocals Terry Rance – guitars Dave Sullivan – guitars Steve Harris – bass, backing vocals Ron Matthews – drums | none – live performances only |
| October 1976 – November 1976 | Terry Rance – guitars Dave Sullivan – guitars Steve Harris – bass, backing vocals Ron Matthews – drums Dennis Wilcock – lead vocals | none – live performances only |
| 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 | none – live performances only |
| Mid-1977 – November 1977 | Steve Harris – bass, backing vocals Dennis Wilcock – lead vocals Terry Wapram – guitars Thunderstick – drums Tony Moore – keyboards | none – live performances only |
| 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 | none – rehearsals only |
| Early 1978 – November 1978 | Steve Harris – bass, backing vocals Dave Murray – guitars Doug Sampson – drums | none – rehearsals only |
| 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, keyboards (1988) Dave Murray – guitars Adrian Smith – guitars, backing vocals, keyboards (1988) Bruce Dickinson – lead vocals Nicko McBrain – drums | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 Janick Gers – guitars Adrian Smith – guitars, backing vocals Nicko McBrain – drums (retired from touring) Bruce Dickinson – lead vocals Simon Dawson – drums (touring) | |