Paul Di’Anno Doesn’t Wanna Play Iron Maiden Songs Anymore, Doesn’t Mind Being in a Band Named After an Iron Maiden Album
The photo above is not of Rob Halford after putting on some Thanksgiving bloat, although I can totally see why your mind would go there. But it’s actually a picture of former Iron Maiden vocalist and gay rights activist Paul Di’Anno, who announced his retirement last year via the following statement:
“I am gonna be ‘Pulling The Plug’ next year 2013, and making it my ‘Farewell Tour’… it was good whilst it lasted.”
Since then, however, it has dawned on Mr. Di’Anno that with his government benefits now dried up, if that he stops touring, he’ll have to work for a living. And so, in a new interview, Di’Anno attempts to make it seem as though he never really meant that he was retiring when used phrases like “farewell tour” and “pulling the plug.” According to Classic Rock, Di’Anno tells with Metal XS —
“‘It’s not an actual retirement retirement. All I’m doing is retiring the Iron Maiden shit. I’m sick of it. I’m fucking done, mate.
“‘It was a nice gesture to say thank you on the anniversary of the Maiden albums and it got out of control.’
“He says he’s become fed up of promoters thinking ‘We can get a covers band with Paul Di’Anno singing,’ saying:’You can go fuck yourself – that ain’t going to happen. So it’s all over.’
“Instead, the vocalist is aiming to reform his 1990s band Killers alongside co-founder Cliff Evans. ‘We’ll see what happens,” he says. ‘It’s quite exciting – it means I can be in a whole band again, not just me with different members.’”
So, to review: Di’Anno is going to stop performing Iron Maiden songs because doesn’t want promoters thinking they can get a cheap Iron Maiden cover band, and he will now, instead, focus on a band named after his most famous release with Iron Maiden. Sure. That should clear all the confusion right the fuck up.
It’s the psychology of this kind of thing that really fascinates me. Does Di’Anno not hear himself when he says this shit out loud? Or does he think his fan base will evaporate if he just says “I changed my mind”? I guarantee you, his fan base gives zero shits. They are just happy to be drunk in a room where a guy who used to be in an awesome band is currently performing and protesting homosexuality by dressing as though he were on his way to The Blue Oyster Bar. Half of them probably didn’t even know he was retiring in the first place, and the other half can’t remember why they came in this room, so whatever, you can just tell the truth, bruh.
