“There were plenty of drummers who could copy what Nicko did, but we don't want one of those. We didn’t want a clone”: Bruce Dickinson on why Maiden chose a drummer with a different feel

Simon Dawson.

Iron Maiden have been on manoeuvres this summer, celebrating their 50^th anniversary as a band on their Run For Your Lives tour. It’s also been the first tour since the early 1980s not to feature long-serving and much-loved drummer Nicko McBrain, who retired from touring last year, after suffering a stroke in 2023.

McBrain has been replaced by Simon Dawson from Steve Harris’s British Lion side project, and in a new interview with Rock Of Nations, Bruce Dickinson has been talking about the adjustments the band have been making.