Blaze Bayley has drawn a sharp line between himself and the man who sang on Iron Maiden‘s first two albums, saying that whatever he and Bruce Dickinson have contributed to the band’s story, the word legend belongs to Paul Di’Anno alone.
The former Iron Maiden singer made the comments in a new interview with “Metal OBS“, speaking about Di’Anno, who died in October 2024 at the age of 66.
“There’s different eras of Maiden, of course, but only Paul, really, in my mind, only Paul is the legend. After that, we carry the name, we carry the torch of Iron Maiden. I may become a legend, [current Iron Maiden singer] Bruce [Dickinson] may become a legend, but the legend of Iron Maiden belongs to Paul on those first two albums. Because they broke the mold, not just of heavy metal, but of music. Those albums are so different and do so many things. They break the rules, and they go, ‘This is the way we do it.’ And that’s something that… He’s a legend. He was a legend. He now is a timeless legend. So that’s something that can never be changed, in my opinion. It’s only my opinion. Other people will say different things, but in my opinion, you listen to some of the songs on the first two albums — man, it’s so different to everything else that was going on,” Bayley said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth).
Bayley and Di’Anno shared more road time than most fans realise. The two toured together across several continents over the years, and Bayley described a singer who was funnier than his reputation suggested and, on the right night, better than the records.
“We were colleagues. Paul was a very funny guy,” he continued. “I think people don’t know that about him. He had a great sense of humor. And we [toured together] all across Russia — from St. Petersburg, Moscow, right across to Vladivostok — and we did Sweden together. We did all Scandinavia, and we did Australia and New Zealand. And when we had a good band, and he’d rested well, you could close your eyes and it was like [listening to] the first [Iron Maiden] album, but better. It was like those first two albums, but better. And sometimes he struggled to get rest with his voice, and then other times he’d have a couple of days off, and he’d rested well, and it was just — he sounded incredible.”
The last time the two men met was brief, and Bayley said it has stayed with him.
Bayley continued: “The sadness is, in life you never know when is the last time you will see someone. And I saw Paul in Wolverhampton and said hi, a quick hello, and I thought, ‘Well, next time I see him we’ll get to spend more time together.’ And that was it. Two weeks after that, he passed away. So it’s a lesson in life that when you see people, you’ve got to think to yourself, ‘I don’t want this to be the last time. If this is the last time I see them, how do I wanna leave it?’ Because it might be. And that’s the sadness.”
Bayley had spoken about Di’Anno’s death before, in a June 2025 interview with Canada’s The Metal Voice, where he was asked how he took the news.
“Well, he wasn’t in good health the last time I saw him, and he’d been stuck in a wheelchair for a while. But we did a lot together. We went to a lot of places together. Before all the problems with Ukraine, we did a tour of Russia. We played Sweden Rock [Festival] together. We went to Australia and New Zealand together. And we did a a lot together,” he said at the time.
“I wouldn’t say that I didn’t expect it, but I was absolutely gutted when [I got] the news that Paul had gone,” Bayley continued. “I didn’t think he would go then. It just didn’t feel right. Of course, it was too soon. He shouldn’t have gone at all. But it was a lot. And you think we did so much together. And his voice, man. There were some nights on tour when we were together — we had some good bands together that people put together for us — and you close your eyes and you listen to him singing those early Maiden songs, and you go, ‘He sounds better than he ever did on the record.’ It was incredible. If you were lucky, there was a couple of times that he had a good rest and a good sleep and he hadn’t been too stressed and he just sounded incredible. And he’s a legend. That is the voice that began, that first record. You can never take that away. Those first two albums, they’re the Di’Anno records. And that’s a band that doesn’t care about the rules, that’s doing their own thing, that’s making music that they think is the best that they can do. And they really don’t care too much about what people are saying, ‘Oh, the chorus should be here,’ or, ‘The guitar solo should…’ They didn’t care at all — absolutely didn’t care. There’s no click track, there’s no nothing. Everything they did in the studio is all about vibe and the timing, and you can hear what Paul does. It just feels like, wow, he’s there pissed off and expressive. And that’s in his voice. You can hear it… That’s his energy. And his energy was there. His solo albums that he did, he did some fantastic work as well. He’s done some great recordings. So it’s tragic, that he’s gone.”
That respect now shows up in Bayley‘s own set. He has been playing the Iron Maiden track “Wrathchild“, from 1981’s Killers, at his solo shows as a nightly nod to his late colleague.
“So what I’ve been doing in my setlist [at my solo shows] is a small tribute, and it’s fun for me. I do [Maiden‘s classic song] ‘Wrathchild‘ in my set. And it’s for Paul — it makes me think of Paul. And so it’s for Paul, it makes me think of Paul. It’s an excuse to do a song I like as well. And it’s, yeah, let’s remember Paul. Just for four minutes, think of Paul. And that song comes to life. It’s a great song. It breaks the rules, the way the arrangement is and everything. So all of that, it fits right in with my mentality,” he added.
Bayley called the death “a sad loss” and said one idea he had held onto for years is now permanently off the table: the three living Iron Maiden frontmen sharing a stage: “I always hoped that it would be Paul, Bruce and me somewhere on stage together. One gig. It would be so fantastic for the fans. And that dream died with Paul, which is a great shame. Because I thought it was unlikely, but I didn’t think it was impossible. Now it is impossible, which is sad.”
Di’Anno, whose real name was Paul Andrews, died at his home in Salisbury. Born in Chingford, East London on May 17, 1958, he first became known as the singer of Iron Maiden between 1978 and 1981, fronting the band on its groundbreaking self-titled debut and the follow-up, Killers. After leaving, he kept working steadily, recording with Battlezone and Killers alongside a long run of solo releases and guest appearances.
Iron Maiden issued a statement on the day the death was announced: “We are all deeply saddened to learn about the passing of Paul Di’Anno earlier today. Paul‘s contribution to Iron Maiden was immense and helped set us on the path we have been travelling as a band for almost five decades. His pioneering presence as a frontman and vocalist, both on stage and on our first two albums, will be very fondly remembered not just by us, but by fans around the world. We were very grateful to have had the chance to catch up a couple of years ago and to spend time with him once more.”
They added: “On behalf of the band, [managers] Rod [Smallwood] and Andy [Taylor], and the whole Iron Maiden team, we extend our deepest sympathies to Paul‘s family and close friends. Rest in peace, Paul.”
Bassist and founder Steve Harris added a personal note: “It’s just so sad he’s gone. I was in touch with him only recently as we texted each other about West Ham and their ups and downs. At least he was still gigging until recently, it was something that kept him going, to be out there whenever he could. He will be missed by us all. Rest in peace, mate.”
Bayley, now 63, fronted Iron Maiden from 1994 until 1999. The two albums he sang on, The X Factor and Virtual XI, sold considerably less than the band’s earlier records and were their lowest-charting releases in the UK since 1981’s Killers.
Since his exit in 1999 he has built a long solo catalogue, releasing records both under the name Blaze and under his own. He also sang on Wolfsbane‘s 2012 album Wolfsbane Saves The World, the group’s first new material since their self-titled 1994 record, and returned for 2022’s Genius. His most recent studio album, Circle Of Stone, arrived in February 2024.
He came close to becoming part of a very different kind of story himself. Bayley suffered a heart attack at home on March 25, 2023 and underwent quadruple bypass surgery on April 13 that year, leaving hospital roughly three and a half weeks after the attack. He later spoke about the volume of messages that reached him during his recovery, including ones from his former Iron Maiden bandmates.
