Iron Maiden honored Nicko McBrain during the drummer’s final show with the legendary metal act on Saturday (December 7th) in São Paulo, Brazil. Now, the band has shared a pro-shot video of the tribute to their drummer of 42 years.
As previously reported, McBrain announced on Saturday morning that he was retiring from touring with Maiden, adding that the São Paulo show that night would be his last with the metal icons. The next day, Maiden revealed that British Lion drummer Simon Dawson would be taking over behind the kit beginning with their 2025 tour.
In the video, an emotional McBrain can be seen as Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson addresses the crowd. The frontman begins, “Tonight is a very special night, as some of you, I think probably all of you, will know, because this morning we announced, Nicko announced that he was stepping back for playing live drums with Iron Maiden.”
He continued, “For 42 years Nicko’s been in this band. He was a drummer before I was a singer, he was a pilot before I was a pilot, and now he’s not leaving the band, but he’s just not playing live with us anymore”
Dickinson concluded, “So, we have a lot more music to get to tonight, and I want the rest of the night to be a celebration of Nick, a celebration of the joy that he’s brought to everybody around the world, not just here in Brazil. All right? And with that, on we go!”
As Dickinson stated, McBrain is “not leaving the band,” implying that he still may record with Maiden in the future.
For now, Dawson will be manning the kit when Maiden kick off their “Run for Your Lives” tour with a European/UK leg in late May. The outing will see the metal veterans performing songs from their first nine albums, with tickets available here.
Watch Iron Maiden’s tribute to Nicko McBrain in the video below.