Iron Maiden

Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist Steve Harris. The group are a leading act of the new wave of British heavy metal and are known for a long-running career defined by elaborate live shows, narrative songwriting and the mascot “Eddie”. Iron Maiden built an early following through intensive touring and a series of late-1970s releases before achieving major commercial success in the early 1980s. After their 1980 self-titled debut album, the band’s profile grew rapidly with albums including The Number of the Beast (1982), which established them as an international headlining act. 

Their peak era is commonly associated with the 1980s run of studio albums that combined commercial success with genre-defining influence, including Powerslave (1984) and Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (1988). In the UK, the band have achieved multiple number one albums, and their work has remained a consistent presence in rock and metal culture through both recordings and touring. From the late 1990s onward, Iron Maiden continued to release new studio material and tour globally, including later UK chart-topping albums such as The Final Frontier (2010) and The Book of Souls (2015). They have also received UK institutional recognition in recent years, including Royal Mail commemorative stamps and a Royal Mint coin marking the band’s anniversary. 

Iron Maiden’s catalogue has been credited with album sales exceeding 100 million worldwide, alongside extensive certification totals across multiple territories. Their honours include a BRIT Award (Best British Live Act) and a Grammy Award, and they are widely cited as a formative influence on subsequent generations of metal musicians.