Paul Di’Anno, Iron Maiden’s singer on their first two albums, has died at age 66. The vocalist had been suffering from a myriad of health issues in recent years.
The sad news was reported by Di’Anno’s record label, Conquest Music, which issued the following statement:
“On behalf of his family, Conquest Music are sad to confirm the death of Paul Andrews, professionally known as Paul Di’Anno. Paul passed away at his home in Salisbury at the age of 66. Born in Chingford, East London on 17th May 1958, Paul first came to prominence as lead singer of English Heavy Metal band, Iron Maiden between 1978 and 1981. He sang on their groundbreaking debut album Iron Maiden, and the influential follow up release, Killers. Since leaving Iron Maiden, Paul Di’Anno had a long and eventful recording career with Battlezone and Killers as well as numerous solo releases and guest appearances. Despite being troubled by severe health issues in recent years that restricted him to performing in a wheelchair, Paul continued to entertain his fans around the world, racking up well over 100 shows since 2023. His first career retrospective album, The Book of the Beast was released in September 2024 and featured highlights of his recordings since leaving Iron Maiden. Conquest Music are proud to have had Paul Di’Anno in our artist family and ask his legion of fans to raise a glass in his memory.”
Following brief stints as Iron Maiden’s singer by Paul Day and Dennis Wilcock, Di’Anno took over as the band’s frontman in 1978. As mentioned in the statement above, Di’Anno handled vocals on Maiden’s first two albums, 1980’s self-titled LP and 1981’s Killers, helping to establish the band as leaders of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. He was fired from the band in 1981 due to his drug and alcohol use, and was replaced by Bruce Dickinson, who would go on to become the definitive singer of Iron Maiden.
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