NICKO MCBRAIN Reveals The Moment He Knew He Needed To Retire From IRON MAIDEN

On December 7, 2024, Nicko McBrain officially announced his retirement from touring with Iron Maiden, marking the end of an era for one of heavy metal’s most iconic drummers.

The announcement came shortly after what would be his final live performance with the band that same day in São Paulo, Brazil. Despite stepping away from the road, McBrain remains a cherished member of the Iron Maiden family, with frontman Bruce Dickinson affirming that his role within the band continues offstage. To fill McBrain‘s formidable shoes on tour, Iron Maiden confirmed that Simon Dawson, drummer for Steve Harris‘ side project British Lion, would take over live drumming duties moving forward.

In a candid reflection to Eddie Trunk on SiriusXM’s Trunk Nation, McBrain opened up about the pivotal moment that sparked his thoughts on retirement. Speaking about a specific show in Australia, he shared: “There was a second night in Sydney, Australia, where I might, it was probably one of the worst performance, personally for me. I thought it was a really bad performance.

“And I remember saying to Bruce, walking back to the dressing room, or I think we did a runner, actually, we were walking back to the cars. I said, ‘Oh, mate.’ I said, ‘I’m really struggling up there tonight.’ He said, ‘Yeah.’ And he looked at it, he said, ‘You looked like you were struggling.’ And actually he said, ‘I was worried about your health.'”

The emotional weight of that night in Sydney wasn’t just about one performance – it came during a difficult personal time for McBrain. He elaborated further: “And that was another issue that I had to contend with because in these early days of those, you know, the Asia and far East gigs, because we started in Australia, you know, and it was early days, but I also had lost one of my very best friends. He drowned, the week we were, just at the end of the rehearsal week. And we had two weeks, actually two and a half weeks of rehearsal. And that really, really affected me. So I had a lot of stress going on in my life…”

Dealing with grief and the pressures of touring created a mental burden that made McBrain pause and reconsider his future on the road.

“For me, I went with a depression with it, and so I’m not making excuses for myself, but that was the time when I thought, ‘Hmm, maybe it’s time. I’ll finish the tour and I’ll think I’m gonna hang it up.’ And that was the mental side of it, you know, in my mind. So, yeah, I’d say it was the second night of Sydney.”

While McBrain may no longer be a regular on the road with Iron Maiden, he remains deeply rooted in the band’s universe. In another recent interview, he addressed his current status with the group: “Yeah, I’m not touring. There isn’t any plans that I know of to do a record. I mean, we did speak about possibly doing a new album a couple of years ago and it was nixed then, but now with, I dunno that, you know, everybody’s got that much older, we all lost about a year and a half, two years of fricking, you know, from that stupid pandemic. You know, that affected everybody’s psyche as well.”

Still, he reassures fans that his bond with Iron Maiden is far from broken: “So basically I am still part of the family. I’m still involved with, I’m doing a lot of work with the fan club, and there’s some books. I’ve got a book in the, you know, I’m writing a book, actually, I’ve been writing a book for 10 freaking years. It’s about time I finished it, you know?”

The drummer’s autobiography promises to be a treasure trove for metal fans: “Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. I’ve got 21 chapters, and that’s one chapter per year of my life, so gonna be a marathon book. I’m only up to when I went pro… I had a ghost writer I sat with, but I’m not sure whether I’m gonna go over that. I prefer to do it myself.”

Though he’s stepped off the main stage, McBrain hints at the possibility of surprise appearances: “It’s a possibility that when they come over here, you know, I might end up doing a show with them, you know, just getting up and doing a song or two, or just being there. If there is a new album in the pipeline, it’s a possibility I’ll do a couple of tracks off the album. You know, not on the album. Yeah, who knows? It’s you know, we are still, we’re all still part of the family, although I’m not playing the shows.”