STEVE HARRIS On IRON MAIDEN's Split With NICKO MCBRAIN: 'We Didn't Really Have A Choice'

When IRON MAIDEN leader Steve Harris got together with long-term acquaintance Rock Candy magazine editor Howard Johnson, there was much catching up to do. During the in-depth chat, Steve gave his views on many topics, including the recent departure of drummer Nicko McBrain, MAIDEN's first lineup change in 25 years.

"To be honest, we didn't really have a choice and had to make the change after Nicko suffered his health issues," Harris said, referencing McBrain's 2023 stroke. "It was what it was, and we had a decision to make as to whether we wanted to carry on or not. Obviously we had a tour booked at the time that it happened, and the rest of us all wanted to continue. But ultimately, after we got through all that, it was Nick's decision to step away and we all respected the fact that he'd decided to do that."

He also explained his thinking about any changes MAIDEN are making to still be a massive band playing huge venues. "In general we haven't done much at all," he said. "And yet all the same, nowadays we're seeing a lot of younger people coming to gigs, which means that it's happened naturally. I presume it's because people pass down their musical tastes to their sons and daughters - or even their grandsons and granddaughters! We're lucky that we're able to pull people of all different ages."

The Steve Harris interview is part of a 24-page IRON MAIDEN special in issue 52 of Rock Candy magazine, which also features interviews with Paul Rodgers and Simon Kirke of BAD COMPANY, Don Barnes of 38 SPECIAL, Don Felder, Vernon Reid of LIVING COLOUR, a reappraisal of the THIN LIZZY classic "Black Rose", LED ZEPPELIN frozen in time in '75 and many other fascinating contents created with love and devotion.

Rock Candy is a 100 page, full-color bi-monthly rock magazine, created in the U.K. It covers the sights, sounds and smells from the greatest era in hard rock, the '70s, '80s and early '90s. It is the brainchild of respected U.K. rock journalists Derek Oliver, Howard Johnson and Malcolm Dome — all frontline writers for the legendary Kerrang! magazine in the golden era.

McBrain announced his retirement on December 7, 2024 in a statement on MAIDEN's web site and social media. The now-73-year-old musician 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 He has since been replaced by Simon Dawson, a former session drummer and Harris's longtime bandmate in BRITISH LION.

This past July, Nicko told "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" about his exit from MAIDEN: "I had my health issues, which was one of the primary reasons that I decided to hang it up with the guys. And I wasn't doing the songs justice because of the handicap that I had. And it wasn't fair on everybody else either in the band. They supported me 100% through the 'The Future Past Tour', and that was fantastic. I couldn't have asked for a better bunch of brothers to support me through my darkest hour."

Elaborating on the physical ailments which contributed to his decision to retire from touring with IRON MAIDEN, Nicko said: "Primarily, I was fed up with touring in terms of the travel and not having days to recoup my body… I wasn't so much slowing down, although we did play the songs that… I got told off at rehearsals last year because I was playing the songs too fast, 'cause I'd been playing with [my Florida-based side project] TITANIUM TART [which plays MAIDEN songs] before I went off and did the rehearsals in Australia with MAIDEN. And I actually got told off for playing too quick. So it wasn't a question of not being able to drive the band. It was just not being able to drive the band with the drum fills that I'd been used to playing for 42 years. So the question mark was raised about the performance side. And that's quite right…So that was part of the decision that I made."

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.

McBrain 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.

Photo by: John McMurtrie