Former Iron Maiden frontman Paul Di'Anno has died aged 66, it has been confirmed. The news was shared via Di'Anno's label, Conquest Music, on behalf of the singer's family.
"On behalf of his family, Conquest Music are sad to confirm the death of Paul Andrews, professionally known as Paul Di'Anno," a statement from the label reads. "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."
Di'Anno joined Iron Maiden in 1978 after being invited to audition for the band - though he claimed years later he wasn't sure if he'd exactly be a perfect fit for the upcoming London heavy metallers.
"I went to see them play at the Cart And Horses in East London, and their old singer [Dennis Wilcock] had this silly sword and fake blood dripping from his mouth," he told Metal Hammer's Paul Brannigan in 2002. "Me and my mate were pissing ourselves laughing. When I got introduced to [Iron Maiden founder, bassist and lead songwriter] Steve Harris I couldn’t keep a straight face. And when he talked about me going for an audition I thought, ‘Bleeding hell, I don’t fancy prancing around with a sword.'"
Ultimately, Di'Anno got the job; his reckless, mischievous energy gave Maiden an extra dimension that only boosted their rise to the forefront of the explosive New Wave Of British Heavy Metal movement. The hype around the band's live shows and debut EP, The Soundhouse Tapes, which dropped in November 1979, meant that come April 14 the following year, Iron Maiden's first album was one of the most anticipated releases in metal.
Their self-titled debut was a thrilling burst of galloping heavy metal thunder, sprinkled with subtle flourishes of Steve's Harris' beloved prog rock and underpinned by a production and rawness that owed more than a little to punk.
"If there was a punk element to Iron Maiden at that point it probably came from me – especially onstage,” Di'Anno told Metal Hammer in 2020. “There’s no denying it, those songs are bloody fast, though they also have some proggy time-changes in them. That’s what made us so unique."
Di'Anno made just one more album with Iron Maiden - 1981's expansive and influential Killers - before his battles with addiction, disdain for the touring lifestyle and frequent run-ins with Steve Harris led to his dismissal.
“I don’t blame them for getting rid of me," Di'Anno later admitted to Metal Hammer. "Obviously, the band was Steve’s baby, but I wish I’d been able to contribute more. After a while that got me down. In the end I couldn’t give 100 per cent to Maiden anymore and it wasn’t fair to the band, the fans or to myself."
Di'Anno's career from that point on was characterised by a combination of steely determination and various controversies and health battles. He continued to release music for over four decades after departing Maiden, both under his own name and with a variety of metal and hard rock bands, most notably heavy metal hard-hitters Killers and Battlezone, and the short-lived supergroup Gogmagog.
In 2002, Di'Anno drew attention for his eye-popping autobiography, The Beast, with its unflinching depictions of sex, drug abuse and Di'Anno's treatment of women drawing ire from some fans and, indeed, Di'Anno's loved ones.
"When my first wife Beverley, who’s my best friend in all the world, read it, she said ‘That’s not the bloke I married’," Di'Anno told Paul Brannigan that year. "I said, ‘Well, it was your bleeding fault it went tits up in the first place’. My aunt and uncle both bought the book, and my aunt took it back to the shop. ‘Fucking disgusting’, she said, ‘I’m not reading that filth.’”
In later years, Di'Anno would openly acknowledge his past bad behaviour, freely admitting the negative effect it had had on his career and life.
"When you’re fucked up on drugs and alcohol you turn into a complete prick, a fucking psychopath," he explained to Brannigan in 2002. "I’m not proud of some things I’ve done in the past, but these days I’m more likely to take a smack in the mouth than dish it out.”
"If you could see me at home with my kids, you wouldn’t think I’m scary," he claimed. "I’m drug free now and I’ve got a bit of focus back in my life and a lot of the aggressiveness of the past is gone now.”
Despite Di'Anno seemingly turning a corner with many of his behaviours, trouble still found him: he was jailed for nine months in 2011 for benefit fraud, serving two months.
Over the past decade, Di'Anno continued to play live and tour semi-regularly, though ongoing health issues saw him largely confined to a wheelchair during his final years. In 2023, it was revealed that his former band Iron Maiden had contributed to a fundraiser to help the singer raise money for some vital knee surgery. "They paid for the last couple of months' worth of treatments, which was good," Di'Anno revealed. "I'll be forever grateful for that."
Paul Di'Anno's final show was at Hype Park in Kraków, Poland, on August 30 of this year. Despite once stating that he didn't want to become an "Iron Maiden karaoke band", the set, like many of Di'Anno's, was composed entirely of covers from his time in Maiden. That setlist underlined his enduring connecting to British metal's biggest ever export, and to the foundations of British heavy metal itself.
"The two albums I made with the band were pivotal,” he told Metal Hammer in 2020. “Later on in my life when I met Metallica, Pantera and Sepultura and they told me that those albums were what got them into music, it made me incredibly proud.”
