Longtime Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain discussed his decision to retire from touring and how he felt watching the band continue without him for the first time in 42 years, told Talk Is Jericho.
McBrain explained that he and founding bassist Steve Harris made the choice together during the band’s 2024 North American tour. The discussion focused on his health and his ability to perform the band’s material at the level he felt was needed.
McBrain said the physical demands of the role had become too much. “Apart from the fact that my old body at 72 then, I was doing a two-hour show every night — or not every night; four or five nights a week — and it just wasn’t kicking back in time. And I was aching, and I was going on stage feeling like I’d done the show already.”
He explained that the decision also came from his concern about his playing. “It was a team decision. Steve [Harris, Maiden’s founding bassist] and I sat in California in ’24 when we were on the North American tour. And we discussed my health issues and my playing handicap, because I wasn’t being able to play and do the songs, the old songs — I couldn’t do them justice. And that was part of the decision as well.”
Watching his replacement, Simon Dawson, take over the role proved difficult for McBrain. “Yeah, it was difficult. I deliberately didn’t look at any of the… I did glimpse [at some online videos] a couple of times, just to see, just to keep an eye on how Simon was doing. The rest of the guys, it’s like driving a bike. They do the same stuff every day. There’s not a lot of improvisation in Iron Maiden.”
He described what he saw when he did watch. “Maybe a solo’s slightly different here and there, but they’re pretty much note perfect every night. And when I had actually looked, I thought, ‘Now, what are you doing? You know you miss them.’ I miss the brothers even now as we’re talking. I do miss that two hours on stage.”
McBrain reflected on what he still felt capable of doing behind the kit. “Here’s the thing. I had the stamina. I could still drive the band. Although my right hand was weaker, I wasn’t giving it that kind of movement. It was a little more jazzy movement. But [the left hand] was working, and so I did a lot more left-hand fills, starting with the left side. And I could still drive the band for two hours. I still miss that.”
McBrain made his decision to step away from touring with Iron Maiden after more than four decades with the band. The experience of watching the band tour without him for the first time has left him with complicated feelings about the end of that chapter.
McBrain’s retirement from the road came after a stroke in January 2023 left him with lingering effects on his right side. Though the stroke was minor, referred to as a TIA (transient ischemic attack), McBrain underwent 10 weeks of therapy before rehearsals began for the 2023 tour. The lasting impact of his recovery made him question whether he could still meet his own standards as Iron Maiden’s drummer.
McBrain announced his retirement on December 7, 2024, with his final performance taking place in São Paulo that same day. Iron Maiden chose Simon Dawson as the band’s new touring drummer just one day after McBrain’s announcement. Dawson was a session drummer and longtime bandmate of Steve Harris in the British Lion, a band he had played in since 2012.
The Run For Your Lives tour marked 50 years since Steve Harris formed Maiden in late 1975 and kicked off on May 27, 2025 in Budapest, Hungary. It was the first tour since 1983 not to feature Nicko McBrain and the first to feature Simon Dawson as the touring drummer. The first thirty-two shows for the European leg in 2025 sold over a million tickets.
McBrain remains a member of Iron Maiden for studio projects. Following his retirement from live performances, he completed his memoir titled Hello Boys and Girls!
