Photos: IRON MAIDEN's BRUCE DICKINSON And NICKO MCBRAIN Reunite At 'Son Of Monsterpalooza' In Burbank

IRON MAIDEN drummer Nicko McBrain joined MAIDEN frontman Bruce Dickinson this past weekend at horror film convention Son Of Monsterpalooza at the Marriott Burbank Convention Center in Burbank, California.

McBrain attended on Saturday, October 11 and Sunday, October 12 only, while Dickinson attended on Saturday, October 11 only.

Photos with Nicko at Son Of Monsterpalooza were made available for purchase for $80.00 (plus a $3.50 service fee),while photos with both Bruce and Nicko were available for $185.00 (plus a $3.50 service fee) for October 11 only via photography company Celeb Photo Ops. No table selfies were allowed. When at Nicko's autograph table, autographs were sold.

Tickets to Son Of Monsterpalooza were required to participate and are sold separately, followed by the purchase of the photo package from Celeb Photo Ops.

Founded in 2008, Monsterpalooza is the world's premiere horror and special FX makeup convention. In 2012, after high demand, Monsterpalooza launched a fall off-shoot convention dubbed Son Of Monsterpalooza.

Son Of Monsterpalooza features over 150 exhibitors, ranging from makeup and special effects products, to collectible statues, vinyl toys, paintings and much more.

McBrain played the last of four 2025 shows in Florida with his TITANIUM TART project on July 26 at OCC Road House & Museum in Clearwater, Florida. Joining Nicko in TITANIUM TART are Rob Stokes on bass, Eldad Kira on keyboards, Mike Rivera and Mitch Tanne on guitar, and Paolo Velazquez on vocals.

The now-73-year-old British musician, whose real name is Michael Henry McBrain, announced his retirement on December 7, 2024 in a statement on MAIDEN's web site and social media. He also said that night's concert at Allianz Parque in São Paulo, Brazil would mark his final show with the legendary rock band. He has since been replaced by Simon Dawson, a former session drummer and MAIDEN bassist Steve Harris's longtime bandmate in BRITISH LION.

In January 2023, Nicko was at his home in Boca Raton when he suffered a stroke with partial paralysis.

When Nicko first went public with his stroke in August 2023, the drummer said in a statement that the episode left him "paralyzed" down one side of his body and "worried" that his career with the band was over.

Five years ago, 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 was born in Hackney, East London, on June 5, 1952. His first experience of music came via his father's love of traditional jazz. Young Nicko's hero was Joe Morello, the late, great drummer with the legendary THE DAVE BRUBECK QUARTET. Nicko would often take to the kitchen, using forks and knives to beat on anything he could find at home. Fed up with him bashing up the kitchen utensils, his parents finally bought him his first drum kit when he was 12.

By the time he left school at 15, he was already a veteran of several part-time pub groups. Musically, however, his tastes had broadened to include more contemporary sixties sounds from THE SHADOWS, THE ANIMALS, THE BEATLES and THE ROLLING STONES. On the recommendation of another drummer he knew, he began to take on session work, playing on countless different recordings.

In 1975, Nicko joined STREETWALKERS, the band formed by ex-FAMILY members, vocalist Roger Chapman and guitarist Charlie Whitney. From the late seventies until 1982 when he joined IRON MAIDEN, Nicko had spent his time in session work, most memorably with the PAT TRAVERS BAND on their 1976 "Makin' Magic" album, and also appeared in the band MCKITTY in the early 1980s. It was during a MCKITTY gig in Belgium that he first met Harris.

He officially joined IRON MAIDEN in December 1982 for the 1983 "Piece Of Mind" album and tour, replacing Clive Burr, after McBrain's previous band TRUST had supported IRON MAIDEN during the U.K. leg of the "Killers" tour in 1981. McBrain brought a degree of finesse and technicality that was largely missing from IRON MAIDEN's early output. Whereas Burr was often lauded for his heavy-handed, punk-oriented style, McBrain was largely the opposite, playing with a degree of dexterity and flair that helped primary songwriter Harris take MAIDEN down more adventurous paths. He eventually became the third longest-tenured member of MAIDEN, behind Harris and guitarist Dave Murray.