Nicko McBrain bid farewell over the weekend to the last crowd of metalheads he will ever perform for as a touring member of Iron Maiden.
McBrain, 72, who has served as the British heavy metal band’s drummer for more than 40 years, announced his retirement from touring hours before the band’s Saturday show in Sao Paulo, Brazil — the closer of the Future Past Tour.
“After much consideration, it is with both sorrow and joy, I announce my decision to take a step back from the grind of the extensive touring lifestyle,” the London-born musician wrote in a statement on the band’s website, adding that Saturday’s show would be his “final gig” with the band.
While he will “remain firmly part of the Iron Maiden family,” McBrain said he will now dedicate himself to “different personal projects” and “existing business and ventures” — including the British Drum Co., for which he serves as its international ambassador, his percussion shop Nicko McBrain’s Drum One, his Iron Maiden cover band Titanium Tart and his Florida BBQ joint Rock-N-Roll Ribs.
“I look into the future with much excitement and great hope!” he said.
Iron Maiden’s co-manager Rod Smallwood followed McBrain’s announcement with a statement on behalf of the band and its other co-manager, Andy Taylor.
“Thank you for being an irrepressible force behind the drum kit for Maiden for 42 years and my friend for even longer,” Smallwood said, adding that he and the band’s remaining members will miss McBrain “immensely!”
“Such a bond is forever,” Smallwood said.
Iron Maiden’s Friday and Saturday performances in Sao Paulo, where Smallwood said the band would play to 90,000 fans, were a “poetic” coda for McBrain, the manager said, as the band has always had a “special relationship” with Brazil. In 1985, Iron Maiden played a seminal set at the biennial Rock in Rio festival.
At Saturday night’s show, lead singer Bruce Dickinson celebrated McBrain’s contributions to the band, which was formed in East London in 1975. (McBrain joined in 1982, replacing Clive Burr, and has been credited on every album since 1983’s “Piece of Mind,” Billboard reported.)
“He was a drummer before I was a singer. He was a pilot before I was a pilot. And now, he’s done,” Dickinson said in footage posted on YouTube. “Not leaving the band, but he’s just not playing live with us anymore.”
As attendees began chanting his name, McBrain rose from his drum set to take a bow.
“I want the rest of the night to be a celebration of Nick,” Dickinson then said. “A celebration of the joy that he’s brought to everybody around the world, not just here in Brazil.”
McBrain’s touring retirement comes a year after he suffered a stroke that left him partially paralyzed. After 10 weeks of rigorous physical therapy, he rejoined rehearsals, eventually returning to the stage for the Future Past Tour.
The band returns this spring for its 50th anniversary Run for Your Lives World Tour, kicking off in May in Budapest. Simon Dawson, who collaborated with Maiden bassist Steve Harris on his solo projects “British Lion” (2012) and “The Burning” (2020), will be the new touring drummer, the band announced Sunday.