Paul Di’Anno, the journeyman heavy metal vocalist best known for fronting Iron Maiden in their early years, has died aged 66.
His label Conquest Music confirmed that he died at home in Salisbury, adding: “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.”
Born Paul Andrews in Chingford, east London, to a Brazilian father and British mother, Di’Anno joined the nascent Iron Maiden after an audition in November 1978, the band having been formed by bassist Steve Harris three years earlier.
Iron Maiden had already gone through two frontmen, and Di’Anno was initially unimpressed: “Their old singer had this silly sword and fake blood dripping from his mouth and me and my mate were pissing ourselves laughing,” he later said. “But when we started playing together it just seemed to gel.” In another interview, he explained: “The Maiden boys were lovely young people you could have introduced to your nan. She would have loved them. But if she’d met me, she’d have died of a heart attack within a minute … I brought them madness and an over-the-top aspect.”
Deploying an impressively forthright and raunchy holler, Di’Anno sang on the band’s 1980 self-titled debut which reached No 4 in the UK charts, as well as its follow-up in 1981, Killers.
By his own admission, though, Di’Anno had issues with substance use. “It wasn’t just that I was snorting a bit of coke … I was just going for it non-stop, 24 hours a day, every day,” he later said. “I just couldn’t see my way to the end of it.” He had also described personality clashes with Harris. He was fired after the world tour for Killers, and replaced by Bruce Dickinson, who (aside from most of the 1990s) has been the band’s frontman ever since.
Iron Maiden have paid tribute to Di’Anno, writing: “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.”
Di’Anno forged ahead with his own music, first with a self-titled project, then the equally short-lived supergroup Gogmagog, including former Iron Maiden drummer Clive Burr and future guitarist Janick Gers. His next band, Battlezone, fared better, releasing two studio albums in 1986 and 1987.
Di’Anno had a spell fronting heavy metallers Praying Mantis, before forming another new band, Killers, who also released two studio albums. Further projects included the groups Nomad and RockFellas.
He was jailed in the US in the early 1990s after assaulting a girlfriend with a knife, later saying: “My biggest regrets are those domestic violence incidents in my past, I’m really ashamed of them. But then jail was the thing that eventually made me start to sort my life out so there was some good in it.” He was also charged with drug and firearms offences, later saying: “I did a couple of stints in jail for guns and drugs”. He was banned from touring in the US for a number of years.
He later sustained knee injuries from an onstage accident as well as motorcycling, and began using a wheelchair. In 2011 he was jailed for nine months for benefit fraud, after informing the Department for Work and Pensions he was unable to work, while continuing to perform live around the world. His lawyer said at the time: “He was obsessed with music and performing. He is very naive in terms of business matters and has no formal education.”
Di’Anno suffered further illness, including an eight-month spell in hospital due to sepsis in 2015. But he continued to perform live, announcing his retirement from touring smaller venues earlier this year while saying he was still open to performing at festivals in 2025.