Former Iron Maiden lead singer Paul Di’Anno dead at 66
Paul Di’Anno, the one-time frontman for British heavy metal group Iron Maiden, has died. He was 66.
The singer’s record label, Conquest Music, confirmed his death in a post on his public Facebook account on Monday.
“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,” the post read.
“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, whose real name was Paul Andrews, was born in Chingford, East London, on May 17, 1958. He joined Iron Maiden following an audition in November 1978 — three years after the band was formed by bassist Steve Harris.
He went on to sing on their 1980 self-titled debut album, and then on their 1981 follow-up Killers. He was replaced that year by Bruce Dickinson.
Shortly after Conquest Music released news of his death, Iron Maiden’s official Instagram released a statement expressing the band’s deep sadness, and “deepest sympathies.”
“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,” it read.
“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.”
After leaving Iron Maiden, Di’Anno would go on to front other bands, including Gogmagog, Battlezone, Praying Mantis and Killers. A retrospective album, The Book of the Beast, featuring his post-Iron Maiden recordings, was released earlier this year.
Health, legal problems
He dealt with protracted legal problems later in life, including arrests for assaulting a girlfriend in the 1990s and committing benefits fraud in 2011. He was jailed for nine months for the latter offence, after claiming he was unable to work due to health issues — allowing him to collect income support and housing benefits — while continuing to release music and tour around the world.
“He was obsessed with music and performing,” his lawyer told the court at the time. “He is very naive in terms of business matters and has no formal education.”
More recently, he suffered through a variety of medical issues, including an extended hospital stay for sepsis 2015 followed by a MRSA infection while recovering. Afterwards, he would receive a long-delayed double knee-replacement surgery that was partially funded by a crowdfunding effort by fans.
