Iron Maiden have named Simon Dawson as their new touring drummer following Nicko McBrain’s retirement after 42 years. Dawson, known for his work with Steve Harris in British Lion, will join the band for their Run For Your Lives 50th Anniversary Tour starting May 27, 2025, in Budapest.
McBrain, 72, played his final show last night (7th) in São Paulo, Brazil. Frontman Bruce Dickinson paid tribute during the show, celebrating McBrain’s legacy and mark left with Maiden’s storied history.
On Dawson’s announcement, the band expressed via social media:
“An Announcement from Iron Maiden
As The Future Past Tour concludes after 81 shows to over 1.4 million fans, from Ljubljana to the Coachella Valley and from Western Australia to Sao Paulo, Iron Maiden are delighted to announce that stepping in behind the kit for 2025 is a name familiar to many of our fans – Simon Dawson, a former session drummer and Steve’s rhythm section partner of the past 12 years with British Lion. A native of Suffolk, England, Simon first teamed up with Steve Harris back in 2012. He debuted on three tracks on the first British Lion album and all of the second critically acclaimed ‘The Burning’, plus the many subsequent tours in the US, UK, Europe, Australia, Japan, New Zealand &, most recently, both Mexico and South America. Iron Maiden celebrate their 50th Anniversary next year with The Run For Your Lives Tour starting in Budapest on May 27th.”
During last night (7th) show, Dickinson shared the following heartfelt tribute before the group went into “The Writing on The Wall,” expressing:
“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. 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. 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!”
