Nicko McBrain on Iron Maiden Missing Its Rock Hall Induction: ‘I’m Sure We’ll Say Thank You In Another Way’
Categoria: Musica
The drummer, who recently retired from the road, is releasing his memoir, Hello Boys and Girls!, ahead of the ceremony.
Por Billboard | 10/11/2026
In his new memoir, Nicko McBrain joyfully cracks open the tight, closed world that is Iron Maiden . And while there’s plenty of metal in its 344 pages, don’t expect to find much in the way of mayhem in Hello Boys and Girls! (HarperCollins) , publishing just in front of the band’s induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on Saturday (Nov. 14). “I intentionally steered away from the debauchery; there’s a fair share in there, but I wanted it to be more classy, this story,” the London-born drummer — who joined Maiden during 1982 and retired from touring with the band in December 2024 — tells Billboard via Zoom from his home in Boca Raton, Fla. “We were very young, very proud, very crazy. There were a lot of drugs. The sex, we had our fair share – yeah, we did — but I didn’t want the book to reflect that. I wanted it to be more passionate, more reflective of the story rather than going into the gutter…’cause we weren’t in it for the sex and drugs and the money. That was never the drive and the passion behind Iron Maiden, and it’s the same today.” McBrain adds, “You have to bear in mind that (now) everybody is married and has their own families and children who, goodness gracious, are all grown up. So I steered clear, intentionally, of most of the stories that involved the debauchery.” He adds with a laugh that “there are certain stories to be told. Maybe that’ll be another book!” All that said, Hello Boys and Girls! is still an entertaining and engaging rock ‘n’ roll read. Co-written with Benjamin Dirs (Geezer Butler’s Into the Void ), it captures McBrain’s jovial and conversational demeanor and outlook, laughing at the world around him — and often at himself. It also illuminates how a youngster blown away by Dave Brubeck Quartet drummer Joe Morello’s “Take Five” solo on the BBC became a career player himself. That includes several eventful stops before McBain made it into Maiden in 1982 — including sessions for guitarist Gordon Giltrap and membership in Streetwalkers, Pat Travers’ band and the French group Trust, whose frequent food fights, on any occasion and any locale, provide some of the book’s funniest moments. “I thought the main reason to write this story was because there’s so much that happened prior to Iron Maiden,” he says, “With great bands, players and musicians. So the inspiration was all of the stories prior to Maiden, and then we get to the nitty-gritty stuff. But it isn’t a book just about my lifetime spent in the ranks of Iron Maiden — 42 years, that’s a long time and a blessing as well. But the inspiration was I wanted to write my story about my life, and of course the majority of it is Iron Maiden stories.” One thing that’s abundantly clear in Hello Boys and Girls! is that, alongside wife Rebecca