October 21, 2024. A couple of hours ago. We received the sad news of Paul Di’Anno’s passing at age 66.
The early frontman of Iron Maiden battled for years many health problems for a long time, which also led him to be in a wheelchair.
Paul, whose real name was Paul Andrews, joined Iron Maiden in 1978 and recorded their two first albums, the masterpieces Iron Maiden and Killers – some of the best Maiden albums, and absolute heavy metal classics.
Paul added a mix between rawness and punk. A dangerous mix that followed him offstage, keeping him on a crazy drug and alcohol rollercoaster that lasted throughout his life.
He was fired and replaced with Maiden’s current singer, Bruce Dickinson.
After Iron Maiden, he also formed his bands Battlezone and Killers.
Lately, he had some friendly encounters with Iron Maiden’s Steve Harris and Bruce Dickinson.
I saw Paul three times, playing live in Chile. He always seemed a troubled person, besides his addiction and health problems, one can tell he held resentment towards Maiden. So I was happy when I read this year that he was on better terms with them. I had hoped that maybe Iron Maiden in their final tour would invite him to sing some of his era songs, as well as with Blaze Bayley (something similar to what Helloween recently has done). But of course that won’t be possible now.
It’s sad how we’re going to see our music heroes die. That’s life. But at least we have their music to continue enjoying it and remembering them always.