Iron Maiden are a British heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. Although fluid in the early years of the band, the line-up for most of the band's history has consisted of Harris, lead vocalist Bruce Dickinson, drummer Nicko McBrain, and guitarists Dave Murray, Adrian Smith and Janick Gers. As pioneers of the new wave of British heavy metal movement, Iron Maiden released a series of UK and US Platinum and Gold albums, including 1980's debut album, 1981's Killers, and 1982's The Number of the Beast – its first album with Bruce Dickinson, who replaced Paul Di'Anno as lead singer. The addition of Dickinson was a turning point in their career, establishing them as one of heavy metal's most important bands ever. The Number of the Beast is among the most popular heavy metal albums of all time, having sold almost 20 million copies worldwide.
The X Factor is the tenth studio album by English heavy metal band Iron Maiden, released on 2 October 1995 through EMI Records. CMC International released the album in North America. It is the first of two albums by the band to include Blaze Bayley, formerly of Wolfsbane, as vocalist, replacing Bruce Dickinson who left the band following their previous tour to pursue a solo career. It also saw the departure of the band's longtime producer Martin Birch, who retired shortly after the release of their previous album, Fear of the Dark (1992). The album takes a darker tone than the band's first nine releases, due to the lyrics being based on personal issues surrounding Steve Harris at the time, who was in the midst of a divorce. This is reflected in the cover artwork, which graphically depicts the band's mascot, Eddie, being vivisected by a machine.
Fear of the Dark is the ninth studio album by English heavy metal band Iron Maiden. Released on 11 May 1992, it was their third studio release to top the UK Albums Chart, and the last to feature Bruce Dickinson as the group's lead vocalist until his return in 1999.
Blaze Bayley is an English heavy metal singer. He was the lead singer of Wolfsbane from 1984 to 1994. He was also the lead singer of Iron Maiden during Bruce Dickinson's absence from 1994 to 1999. Since then, he has pursued a solo career and has released ten studio albums. Blaze was voted number 67 in Sweden Rock magazine's top 100 singers of all time.
Virtual XI is the eleventh studio album by English heavy metal band Iron Maiden, released on 23 March 1998. It is the band's second and final album with Blaze Bayley on vocals. It also marks the first album to utilise a slightly modified logo, with the letters R, M, and N the same size as the other letters as opposed to them being extended. This goes on for the next few albums, until The Final Frontier, in 2010.
Eddie is the mascot for the English heavy metal band Iron Maiden. He is a perennial fixture of the group's artwork, appearing in all of their album covers and in their merchandise, which includes T-shirts, posters and action figures. On top of this, Eddie features in all of the band's concerts, as well as in the first-person shooter video game, Ed Hunter, the mobile game, Iron Maiden: Legacy of the Beast and a pinball game with the same name in 2018.
"Man on the Edge" is a single from the Iron Maiden album The X Factor released in 1995. The song is based on the film Falling Down, starring Michael Douglas. It was the first single the band released with Blaze Bayley on vocals.
"Virus" is a single from Iron Maiden, released in 1996. It is the first single since 1980's "Women in Uniform" that does not appear on any official Iron Maiden studio album. It was, however, featured as a brand new track on the band's first ever career retrospective – 1996's double-disc Best of the Beast. It is the only Iron Maiden song to be credited to both of the band's guitarists. It has never been performed live by Iron Maiden, but Blaze Bayley performed it several times in his solo career. Lyrically, the song warns of rising business and government corruption in an increasingly Internet-dependent world.
"The Angel and the Gambler" is a single from the Iron Maiden album Virtual XI, released in 1998. It preceded the release of Virtual XI by two weeks.
Somewhere Back in Time World Tour was a concert tour by the heavy metal band Iron Maiden in 2008 and 2009, focused on the band's 1980s material, in particular songs from Powerslave, Somewhere in Time and Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. The tour tied in with the second part of the DVD series, entitled "The History of Iron Maiden", and prompted the release of a new greatest hits compilation, Somewhere Back in Time.
The Dance of Death World Tour was a concert tour by heavy metal band Iron Maiden in support of their thirteenth studio album, Dance of Death. The group's eighth live record, Death on the Road, was recorded in Dortmund.
Seventh Tour of a Seventh Tour was a world tour conducted by English heavy metal band Iron Maiden in 1988, in support of their seventh studio album, Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. It was their last tour to feature the World Piece Tour-era lineup until 2000's Brave New World Tour with guitarist Adrian Smith leaving the band in January 1990 and their first to include Michael Kenney on keyboards.
The Real Live Tour was a concert tour by the heavy metal band Iron Maiden from 25 March 1993 to 28 August 1993.
The Fear of the Dark Tour was a concert tour by the heavy metal band Iron Maiden from 3 June 1992 to 4 November 1992.
The Brave New World Tour by Iron Maiden began on 2 June 2000 and ended on 19 January 2001. It supported their 2000 album Brave New World that marked the return of vocalist Bruce Dickinson and guitarist Adrian Smith. In Europe, the tour was called Metal 2000. The initial batch of dates included just one in Iron Maiden's homeland. "Everybody in the band would like to do a thirty-date tour of 1,500-2,000-seaters," maintained Bruce Dickinson, "but we've got a tour booked in Europe this summer and we will be playing to over two million people in two months. Newbridge Memorial Hall will have to wait for a while!"
From Fear to Eternity: The Best of 1990–2010 is a compilation album by English heavy metal band Iron Maiden, containing a selection of songs originally released on the eight studio albums from No Prayer for the Dying to The Final Frontier. The title is lifted from the 1992 single, "From Here to Eternity", although it is not featured in this release.
The Maiden England World Tour was a concert tour by Iron Maiden, which began on 21 June 2012 in Charlotte, North Carolina and ended on 5 July 2014 with a performance at the Sonisphere Festival at Knebworth, UK. The tour's setlist was largely based on the original 1989 concert video of the same name, shot during the Seventh Tour of a Seventh Tour in 1988, which was re-released in 2013. Because of this, the tour's setlist consisted almost entirely of the band's 1980s material, with a particular focus on their 1988 album, Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. The stage show was also based on the original tour and featured numerous pyrotechnic effects in addition to multiple appearances by the band's mascot, Eddie. Following 2005's Eddie Rips Up the World Tour and 2008–2009's Somewhere Back in Time World Tour, this was the group's third tour inspired by a particular period of their history.
The Legacy of the Beast World Tour was a concert tour by English heavy metal band Iron Maiden, named after the comic and mobile game released by the band in 2017. Described as a "history/hits tour", Iron Maiden manager Rod Smallwood has revealed that the concerts and stage design will feature "a number of different but interlocking ‘worlds’ with a setlist covering a large selection of 80s material with a handful of surprises from later albums."
