Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain has explained how physical limitations following his 2023 stroke influenced his decision to retire from touring, speaking on Star FM.
McBrain was asked whether adapting his drumming would be a creative challenge or a limitation. He described how he had already made compromises during two tours with the band after his stroke.
“It’s a challenge because I had to do that for two years,” McBrain said. “From when I had the stroke in ’23, I went off and did two tours with the band. And I had to compromise some of the songs, like the intro to ‘The Trooper’. I couldn’t play that fill. My hand just wouldn’t allow me to do the speed of that drum fill. So I had to compromise.”
“I did more triplets, just taking a fill from in the song, in the verse song, I actually put that fill at the intro. But it wasn’t the big iconic, classic Nicko drum fill for that particular song, and various other ones. So I had to compromise it, and I had to come up with a different part.”
McBrain noted that his bandmates were supportive during this period. “And the band were okay. They were very supportive of me, and they were, like, ‘No, we don’t really notice much difference, but you still sound good, Nick. You’re still rocking us.’ But this new tour [‘Run For Your Lives’ 2025 and 2026 world tour], I just wouldn’t have been able to play a lot of those songs. And that helped in my decision to actually take the retirement. ‘Cause I just couldn’t play those [songs]. I couldn’t do ‘Murders In The Rue Morgue.’ And that was the opening song.”
McBrain’s comments were made as part of a broader discussion about how his stroke had shaped his choice to step back from touring with Iron Maiden. The Run For Your Lives tour was set to include several songs that had become physically impossible for him to perform at the required level.
McBrain suffered a stroke in January 2023, which he described as a minor transient ischemic attack. He was left temporarily paralyzed on one side of his body and went through ten weeks of therapy before rehearsals began. By the time he spoke on SiriusXM’s Trunk Nation Power Trip Special, McBrain said he was “85 to 90 percent back to strength,” but he found he could not play fast 16-note rolls into 32nd-note rolls anymore because his hand would wobble from left to right instead of moving up and down.
The drummer performed on Iron Maiden’s The Future Past Tour in 2023 and returned for a second part in 2024. During these tours, his bandmates remained supportive as McBrain worked through his physical recovery. The camaraderie in the band allowed him to continue performing despite the limitations caused by his stroke.
McBrain’s final show with Iron Maiden took place on December 7, 2024, in São Paulo. Simon Dawson, a former session drummer and Steve Harris’s rhythm section partner for the past 12 years with British Lion, took over as the drummer for the Run for Your Lives tour. McBrain remains a member of Iron Maiden for studio projects.
