BLAZE BAYLEY Says It's A 'Struggle' To Organize A U.S. Tour

In a new interview with Jeff Gaudiosi of MisplacedStraws.com, former IRON MAIDEN singer Blaze Bayley spoke about his recently launched tour in support of his latest solo album, "Circle Of Stone". He said: "If you look on [my web site] BlazeBayley.net and look at the tour dates, you'll see that some shows say [they are celebrating the] 30th anniversary [of my time with MAIDEN] and some shows are [in support of] 'Circle Of Stone'. So what we start next week is the 'Circle Of Stone' tour, which is playing quite a few songs off the new album and at different parts of the year, on festivals and in Sweden, then we do the 30th-anniversary shows. So it's nice to go back. We just did Spain and Ireland with the 30th anniversary, and now we go back to Europe with 'Circle Of Stone', and there'll be a couple of festivals of 30th-anniversary MAIDEN set."

He continued: "It's nice to sing those old [MAIDEN] songs with the voice I have now. I did my best back in the studio in my thirties and, but now my voice has more depth and character than it had back then. So I feel the lyrics, the melodies come to life in a different way. And we're a little bit cheeky about what we do. We're never trying to make the album version. That's the song from the album; this is the song live by Blaze Bayley. And there are a couple of places we think, you know what? On the album, it doesn't have a harmony. And we're a little bit cheeky. We go, 'Let's put that harmony in there.' And no one ever complains. So it's fun to do it. And we just feel that the way that we look at things, my morals, the things that I use to keep me going, I'm not trying to replicate the studio album. I'm playing the song live, because I'm looking you in the eye and I'm singing and my energy and my being is trying to bring that song to life — not replicate it, not copy it, trying to say, 'Look, here's my idea. Now, let me show you my idea.'"

Asked if there are any plans for him to tour the U.S. in the not-too-distant future, Blaze said: "Well, we just struggle to get over there. We're trying all of the time. We talked to different promoters. It's just a challenge to get there. I have a lot of fans in the U.S. The last tour was a long time ago. We really wanna come back. We love touring there —we absolutely love it — but it's just tough to get there. That's all. It's a vast country. You need a lot of resources to even start thinking about a tour. But we would love to return. And I wanna thank all my fans in USA for all the support they give me, even though they don't get to see me that often."

"Circle Of Stone" came out on February 23. The LP's title track, "Circle Of Stone", features a guest appearance by Niklas Stålvind of the Swedish metal band WOLF.

The 60-year-old Bayley fronted IRON MAIDEN from 1994 until 1999. The two MAIDEN albums he appeared on, "The X Factor" and "Virtual XI", sold considerably less than the band's prior releases and were their lowest-charting titles in the group's home country since 1981's "Killers".

Since leaving IRON MAIDEN in 1999, Bayley has released a number of albums, including several under the moniker BLAZE and more than a handful under his own name. He also appeared on 2012's "Wolfsbane Saves The World", the first album of new material by WOLFSBANE since the group's self-titled 1994 effort, and a follow-up LP, 2022's "Genius".

Blaze's previous studio album, "War Within Me", came out in April 2021. The LP was recorded during 2020 with work split between Blaze's studio at home in the West Midlands and Christopher Appleton's studio in Greater Manchester.

In March 2023, Blaze underwent a quadruple bypass surgery following a heart attack. He later shared details of the massive outpouring of well-wishes he received after his heart attack, including messages from his former MAIDEN bandmates.

Image courtesy of Metal Addiction