British heavy metal band Iron Maiden performs at the Poplar Creek Music Theater in Hoffman Estates during their World Slavery Tour, Chicago, Illinois, June 16, 1985. Pictured is Nicko McBrain. (Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images).
It’s hard to imagine Iron Maiden without longtime drummer Nicko McBrain. But he says he once nearly quit the band after a concert screwup. McBrain appeared on Chris Jericho’s Talk Is Jericho podcast, telling the story of a 1984 show in London when he messed up a vocal cue from frontman Bruce Dickinson.
McBrain was so convinced that he’d be fired for his mistake that he told the rest of the band “I’m really sorry. You don’t have to fire me, I’ll just leave.” But McBrain wasn’t fired, of course – in fact his bandmates thought the moment was “priceless”.
Iron Maiden’s latest album, Senjutsu, is the highest-charting record of their career.
What’s your most embarrassing screw-up?