Iron Maiden Pay Tribute to Nicko McBrain with Video Recap of His Final Gig with the Band
Over the weekend, iconic heavy metal band Iron Maiden was forced to face the harsh reality of time, as 72-year-old drummer Nicko McBrain announced that he was done touring with the band. After more than 40 years playing live shows as the rhythmic backbone of Iron Maiden, he took his final bow on December 7 after their show in São Paulo, Brazil.
In a statement posted online, McBrain said it was time for him to hang it up and focus on other aspects of his life. Mind you, he’s not out of the band entirely, he’s just done dealing with the physical stresses and effort that goes into touring the world multiple times over.
“After much consideration, it is with both sorrow and joy, I announce my decision to take a step back from the grind of the extensive touring lifestyle. Today, Saturday, December 7th, Sao Paulo will be my final gig with Iron Maiden. I wish the band much success moving forward.
“I will, however, remain firmly part of the Iron Maiden family working on a variety of projects, my long time managers, Rod Smallwood and Andy Taylor, have in mind for me. I’ll also be working on a variety of different personal projects and focusing on my existing businesses and ventures, including The British Drum Company, Nicko McBrain’s Drum One, Titanium Tart, and of course, Rock-N-Roll Ribs!
“What can I say? Touring with Maiden the last 42 years has been an incredible journey! To my devoted fan base, you made it all worthwhile and I love you! To my devoted wife, Rebecca, you made it infinitely easier and I love you! To my kids, Justin and Nicholas, thank you for understanding the absences and I love you! To my friends that are always there for me, I love you! To my bandmates, you made it a dream come true and I love you!”
News of McBrain’s retirement made the rounds earlier in the day, so those working around Iron Maiden and fans at the show were able to say their goodbyes to McBrain. From all accounts, it was an emotional night, to say the least. And the emotions likely were kicked into overdrive when vocalist Bruce Dickinson addressed the news from the stage:
“Tonight is a very special night, as some of you, I think probably all of you, will know, because this morning we announced, Nicko announced that he was stepping back for playing live drums with Iron Maiden. For 42 years Nicko’s been in this band. He was a drummer before I was a singer, he was a pilot before I was a pilot, and now he’s not leaving the band, but he’s just not playing live with us anymore.
“So, we have a lot more music to get to tonight, and I want the rest of the night to be a celebration of Nick, a celebration of the joy that he’s brought to everybody around the world, not just here in Brazil. All right? And with that, on we go!”
Good for Nicko, man. He played hard, he played clean, and at the end of the day, he’s riding off into the sunset to do other things he enjoys. If only we all could be as lucky.
