Paul Di'Anno, Iron Maiden’s early frontman, who has died at 66, had a voice — both guttural and the grandiose — that spoke to several generations of metalheads
Paul Di’Anno, the tempestuous and ferocious former frontman of the English heavy metal band Iron Maiden, has died at his home in Salisbury, England, at the age of 66. Di’Anno, who led the iconic band of the genre during its early days (he was the lead vocalist from 1978 to 1981), betrayed the rebellious spirit and fierce energy that marked Iron Maiden’s formative years. His roaring voice was the force that would come to define an entire era of rock music. Di’Anno’s tenure with Iron Maiden, though brief, changed the shape of things as far as metal was concerned.
Born as Paul Andrews on May 17, 1958, in Chingford, London, Di’Anno came of age in the volatile cultural and musical scene of the 1970s, where punk and heavy metal were beginning to coalesce into a new, furious strain of rock. A former punk singer and a restless soul, Di’Anno’s gritty, raw edge was what attracted the nascent Iron Maiden to him in 1978. The band’s founder, bassist Steve Harris, had been searching for a singer who could match the aggressive style of the group’s developing sound that combined punk’s ferocity with the technical musicianship of metal. Di’Anno was the perfect fit.
The vocalist who lit the fuse for Iron Maiden
To understand Di’Anno’s legacy well, one must first revisit the impact of Iron Maiden’s first two albums, Iron Maiden (1980) and Killers (1981). In many ways, these records were blueprints for the evolution of metal, heralding the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) that would soon sweep across the globe. Di’Anno’s voice was the arsenal at the heart of it all, a snarling amalgamation of punk’s nihilistic howl and metal’s soaring grandiosity. In the debut album, Iron Maiden, Di’Anno’s vocals on songs like Prowler and Running Free dripped with youthful angst and defiance, while his performance on Phantom of the Opera showcased his versatility — a near-operatic blend of grit and melody. His voice transitioned between the guttural and the grandiose with startling, tremendous ease.
Di’Anno’s approach mirrored the band’s duality: Iron Maiden was a band driven by both brute force and sophisticated musicianship, and Di’Anno embodied that contradiction. In Prowler, Paul Di’Anno oozes out the urgency of someone ‘walking through the city, looking, oh, so pretty.’ His voice conveys the voyeuristic tone of the lyrics, pushing the listener into the character’s thrill as he prowls dark streets — ‘crawling through the bushes with it open wide.’ Di'Anno’s delivery feels slightly menacing, and completely unapologetic; he brings distinctive energy to lines like ‘Can't you believe that feeling? Can't you believe it?’ The vocals — intense and almost reckless — captures a character who’s exhilarated by the hunt, matched by Steve Harris’s pulsing basslines and the blistering guitars.
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In Running Free, his delivery is punchy; he channels the rebellion of a character ‘running wild, running free.’ The spirited vocals encapsulate the rush of a young runaway’s adventure with an infectious rhythm that mirrors the driving bass and relentless drums. With each refrain of “I’m running free, yeah, I’m running free,’ Di’Anno establishes the song as a rallying cry for freedom, an energetic anthem for escape. Killers, the second and final album to feature Di’Anno, represented his vocal peak, as it were, with the band. Tracks like Wrathchild and the title track saw him delivering vocals filled with rage and reflection. His voice threatened to overwhelm the precise musicianship of the band, but therein lay the magic — Di’Anno’s rough-hewn delivery gave Iron Maiden’s early work an edge that would later be smoothed out by the more grand, operatic stylings of his successor, Bruce Dickinson. If Dickinson was destined to take Iron Maiden to great heights, Di’Anno’s role was to light the fuse, to inject their music with a wild spirit.
Architect of the heavy soundscape
Di’Anno’s time with Iron Maiden was cut short by personal demons — substance abuse, erratic behaviour, and the pressures of sudden fame took their toll on both his body and his relationships within the band. In 1981, after only three years and two albums, Di’Anno was unceremoniously dismissed from Iron Maiden. It meant the end of an era and the beginning of a long, winding road. His departure left many wondering what might have been had he stayed, but it also opened the door for Iron Maiden’s next chapter — it would see the band achieve global superstardom under Dickinson’s able stewardship.
However, Di’Anno’s influence didn’t fade with his exit from the band. His work with Iron Maiden laid the groundwork for much of what was to come in heavy metal. His streetwise approach to vocals inspired legions of future metal frontmen, while the albums he helped create remain one of the best samples of the genre. Long after his departure, songs like Remember Tomorrow and Murders in the Rue Morgue — snapshots of the genre at its most alive — continued to be celebrated as masterpieces of early heavy metal.
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Remember Tomorrow, an introspective track, evokes memory and hope. The song’s central refrain, ‘I shall return from out of the fire,’ is a declaration of resolve that hints at survival and renewal through hardship, echoing the emotional peaks and valleys of its lyrics. It stands out for the band’s introspective storytelling that would characterise much of their later work. Murders in the Rue Morgue, inspired by Edgar Allan Poe’s short story, transforms classic horror into frenetic, high-stakes tracks.
The lyrics follow a man who stumbles upon the gruesome murder of two women in Paris, only to become the prime suspect. Through rapid riffs and a driving beat, the song delves into his panic as he’s forced to flee, haunted by bloodstains on his hands and a language barrier that keeps him from proving his innocence. Steeped in themes of wrongful accusation and paranoia, the track showcases the band’s penchant for everything dark.
A life in music comes full circle
Di’Anno’s post-Iron Maiden path saw him go through a string of highs and lows. He formed and disbanded various bands, including Battlezone and Killers, and released several solo albums that, while never matching the magic of his Maiden days, were receptacles of his passion for heavy music. But despite his efforts, Di’Anno was often haunted by his past, and his struggles with addiction and health problems followed him throughout his career.
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In interviews, he often expressed his bitterness over his departure, but he also spoke with pride about his contribution to the band’s legacy. His health issues eventually led him to perform from a wheelchair, but he remained undeterred; according to a report, he performed over 100 shows since 2023. In September this year, Conquest Music honoured his body of work with The Book of the Beast, a career-spanning album that brings together key tracks from his post-Maiden years.
From fronting Battlezone between 1985 and 1998 to a stint with Praying Mantis from 1989 to 1990, Di’Anno continued exploring the range and possibilities of his voice, leaning into different tones with each project. His time with Battlezone in particular stands out, as the band’s heavier, riff-driven sound complemented his vocals and reinforced his ability to adapt. Throughout his career, Di’Anno never relied on nostalgia, instead pushing his music forward while working on a wide range of projects.
Di’Anno also worked under his own name from 1997. Recently, he revisited Maiden classics, including Wrathchild, paying homage to his early days while pushing forward with new energy. Even with health setbacks, Di’Anno was at it, doing what he did best. His recent work with Warhorse, which released Paul Di’Anno’s Warhorse in July 2024, underscores his ambition and his insatiable hunger to make more music; it also brought his career full circle. His career retrospective album, The Book of the Beast, released through Conquest Music, featuring tracks from his post-Maiden career, will secure his place in metal history forever.
