“I felt that now was the right time to step down from the Maiden drum throne” – Exclusive interview with Nicko McBrain

Nicko McBrain, the drummer for Iron Maiden, made in the end of 2024 the heartbreaking statement that he will no longer be playing live with the iconic heavy metal band, signalling the end of an era. Since McBrain has been a key component of Iron Maiden‘s recognizable sound and stage presence for more over 40 years, this revelation was a painful moment for fans everywhere. 

We sat down with the legendary drummer at his own restaurant Rock N’ Roll Ribs at Coral Springs, Florida on January 29th and discussed exclusively what lead to his decision to step down from Maiden’s drum throne and what can fans expect from him in the future. You can read the entire interview below (video interview can be found in the end of the article).

Hello Nicko and thanks for taking the time to talk to us. How has the year 2025 started for you and how are you doing at the moment?

Nicko McBrain: Yeah, I’m good mate. Mixed emotions, obviously. Making the decision to step back from touring has been… it was easy at the time, towards the end of the tour. I kind of made my mind up through when we got to North America.

Was it a rough tour to do? Obviously, you had to go through a lot to even be able to play after getting the stroke?

Nicko McBrain: It was. This one, we kept the kind of same schedule, like gig, travel day, gig, travel day, gig, two days off or a day off, travel day, that sort of thing. And it was just… it just got to me.

Every musician is a perfectionist. So, if you cannot play like some certain parts, I guess that’s also something that sort of like bothers you in a way.

Nicko McBrain: Oh, yeah. You know, it was good last… the year before last in 23. Then I had that kind of once a year off and it was… it was still good but I felt that I wasn’t giving it 100. But, you know, I couldn’t give it 100 percent because of the stroke.

So you said that in North America, you made the decision that this will be it. So were there like some certain point when you made the decision or did it slowly grow on you?

Nicko McBrain: It was something that I had thought of last year, the year before in 23. I was thinking after the end of that tour, I was going, well, should I announce it to the band then? But I thought, no, I’ll get through the Future Past tour and then we’ll see. And let’s get that one out the way for us. And as we got to the North American tour, I thought, you know, it’s time to tie it up, Nick. Being in the band for 42 years… it wasn’t an easy decision by any means.

So a little bit about the future. You have Rock N’ Roll Ribs restaurant, Drum One brand for drummers and Titanium Tart cover band. What does the future hold for you?

Nicko McBrain: Obviously, it’ll give me more time to spend here and do events like this and meet fans. We would do impromptu jams in here. I haven’t actually used this drum set behind me yet. Maybe once every month or two we’ll get some live music in here. As you said, Drum One, that’s my music store back in England. I’ve also got a British drum company that I can possibly put some new design stuff that I’ve been asked to work on for some of the hardware. I will also have more time to focus on Titanium Tart so there might be some small touring coming up with that.

Before we wrap things up, as a last question, I obviously read when Bruce Dickinson did an autobiography and it was good book. So what about you doing one about your life? Here would be at least one reader who would read it like immediately.

Nicko McBrain: Yeah, we’re on the cusp of that. Yeah, it’s been talked about.

Anything you want to say to the fans?

Nicko McBrain: Thank you so very much for your love and your dedication to this band as fans, dedication to this band and to me as a friend. And I thank you very much for all the love that you poured out over the Internet when I left the band, the announcement. But prior to that, you guys are just amazing. So thank you from the bottom of my heart. God bless each and every one of you. I hope you stay safe and well and looking forward to seeing you with some other kind of project along the way. God bless you.

Thanks a lot for doing this interview with us Nicko and all the best for the future.

Nicko McBrain: Thank you so much.

You can find the full chat as a video interview below:

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