Nicko McBrain Reflects on the End of Touring with Iron Maiden: “I Wish I Had My Full Fitness”
The metal world was shocked at the end of last year when Iron Maiden‘s Nicko McBrain announced at the end of the band’s ‘The Future Past’ tour that he was done plying his trade all over the world as a touring musician. Sadly, age and health issues had finally caught up to the 72-year-old drummer, who’d been with the band since 1982.
Now that we’re a few months removed from that announcement, McBrain’s had some time to reflect on the reality of his decision and the career he’s enjoyed all these years. In an exclusive sit down with Chaoszine (as transcribed by Blabbermouth), the madman behind the kit discussed what went into his decision to stop touring and how he feels about life afterwards.
“Mixed emotions, obviously. Making the decision to step back from touring has been — it was easy at the time, going towards the end of the tour. I kind of made my mind up when we got to North America and talked to the boys about it, mainly Steve [Harris, Iron Maiden bassist] and then the management. And everybody went, ‘Okay. If that’s what you wanna do, we understand,’ having my handicap, since my stroke and stuff like that. So having said that, I get up some days and I’m, like, ‘I’m gonna miss the next tour and I’m not gonna be able to go out on the road.’
“It was an easy decision, but I wish I could still play with the guys. I wish I had my full fitness.”
That realization, that he’s no longer going to be touring with the guys he’d played countless gigs with had to be a heavy one. Sure, it’s one thing to retire from a job or career that wore you down and you hated, but to end something you genuinely lived for and loved, despite how difficult it was, has to be a hard decision to make.
During the interview, he was asked if his final tour with the band ‘The Future Past’ was particularly difficult, given the fact he was in his 70s, had suffered a stroke that slightly hampered his ability to play, and that he’d silently beaten laryngeal cancer.
“It was. This one, we kept the kind of same schedule, like gig, travel day, gig, travel day, gig, two days off or a day off, travel day, that sort of thing. And it was just — it just got to me.
“It was good the year before last, in ’23. And it was still good [in 2024], but I felt that I couldn’t give it a hundred percent, certainly on ‘Trooper’ and other songs. And we made do, we got through it okay, but I felt that I was not being able to drive the band like I wanted to, although I had a personal trainer out on the road towards the end of the North American tour… We didn’t have any rest days. If we did two shows in a row, we’d have a travel day and then a full day off. It was working out nice for me. I was enjoying getting that physical side of training. I wasn’t doing so much weight; it was a lot of kind of yoga stretches, a lot of things like that, trying to get my mental agility back with coordinating. There were a lot of things that we did together to improve the synapses in the brain to get working again. And it was coming on nice, but it was just a struggle for me. And I thought, ‘You know, at my age, I’m gonna step back and let somebody else take a the reins.’”
Regardless of how it all ended, McBrain will easily go down as one of the most iconic drummers in rock and metal music, hands down. Though we’re sad to see him no longer on tour with Iron Maiden, it’s good to know that the man can finally relax and enjoy running his other businesses. It should go without saying, but he’s earned the relaxation.
