IRON MAIDEN drummer Nicko McBrain played the last of four July 2025 shows in Florida with his TITANIUM TART project on Saturday (July 26) at OCC Road House & Museum in Clearwater, Florida. Joining Nicko in TITANIUM TART are Rob Stokes on bass, Eldad Kira on keyboards, Mike Rivera and Mitch Tanne on guitar, and Paolo Velazquez on vocals.
At some point during last night’s concert, Nicko addressed the audience, saying (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “ All of you know that I stepped back from touring with [IRON MAIDEN], and they’ve got a lovely lad [Simon Dawson playing with them now]. He’s a baby. He’s got a little tiny drum set…
“But here’s the thing: you may ask yourself, how do I feel about a new drummer taking my place after 42 years? Well, the simple answer is I’m still the best-looking bloke in IRON MAIDEN,” Nicko quipped. “I don’t know whether Simon would agree with me ’cause he probably thinks he’s the best-looking [member of IRON MAIDEN], which I can assure you is not the case. Bless his heart. But he’s doing a wonderful job and I’m glad that you lot have welcomed him to the family. And regardless of whether or not he’s me, he’s not — there’s no one that can replace me. I’m not saying to rub my ego or be [like], ‘I am the best drummer for MAIDEN.’ Not at all.
“So, yeah, thank you for bringing him into the family,” Nicko added. “They’re doing a splendid job out there, although Bruce‘s [Dickinson, MAIDEN singer] timing is a little bit shaky here and there. But there’s nothing new there.”
Nicko also touched upon the fact that MAIDEN‘s production for the ongoing “Run For Your Lives” 50th-anniversary tour includes digital screens instead of physical backdrops and props which characterized the band’s previous shows. He said: “What do you guys think about the screens that they’ve got? Hands up who thinks they’re great. Hands up, those people that prefer the old way.”
After a few people in the audience expressed their preference for the physical backdrops and props, Nicko continued: “I know, and I spoke to [MAIDEN‘s longtime manager] Rod [Smallwood] about this last year. ‘Cause I saw the sketch with these screens, and I said to him, ‘Hey, I don’t think we should be [changing the way we do things].’ He said, ‘We’ve gotta move into the 21st century, Nick.’ He said, ‘This is the 50th-anniversary tour. We’ve gotta have something special.’ I said, ‘Well, then put more drapes up. More drapes. Instead of The Trooper just having Eddie on the horse with his sword out, have him firing the gun off the… whatever. You put another one halfway through the song. But that’s what they went with.”
Nicko added: “I’m old school. I would’ve liked to see the drapes and the screens on the side.”
The now-73-year-old British musician, whose real name is Michael Henry McBrain, announced his retirement on December 7, 2024 in a statement on MAIDEN‘s web site and social media. He also said that night’s concert at Allianz Parque in São Paulo, Brazil would mark his final show with the legendary rock band.
Dawson is a former session drummer and MAIDEN bassist Steve Harris‘s longtime bandmate in BRITISH LION.
In January 2023, Nicko was at his home in Boca Raton when he suffered a stroke with partial paralysis.
When Nicko first went public with his stroke in August 2023, the drummer said in a statement that the episode left him “paralyzed” down one side of his body and “worried” that his career with the band was over.
Five years ago, McBrain was diagnosed with stage 1 laryngeal cancer and opened up about it in a single interview in 2021 but otherwise kept it mostly under wraps. The musician received his cancer diagnosis after undergoing an endoscopy at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of the University Of Miami Health System and the Miller School of Medicine. Within a week, McBrain‘s cancer was surgically removed and he now gets check-ups every few months to make sure the cancer hasn’t returned.
McBrain was born in Hackney, East London, on June 5, 1952. His first experience of music came via his father’s love of traditional jazz. Young Nicko‘s hero was Joe Morello, the late, great drummer with the legendary THE DAVE BRUBECK QUARTET. Nicko would often take to the kitchen, using forks and knives to beat on anything he could find at home. Fed up with him bashing up the kitchen utensils, his parents finally bought him his first drum kit when he was 12.
By the time he left school at 15, he was already a veteran of several part-time pub groups. Musically, however, his tastes had broadened to include more contemporary sixties sounds from THE SHADOWS, THE ANIMALS, THE BEATLES and THE ROLLING STONES. On the recommendation of another drummer he knew, he began to take on session work, playing on countless different recordings.
In 1975, Nicko joined STREETWALKERS, the band formed by ex-FAMILY members, vocalist Roger Chapman and guitarist Charlie Whitney. From the late seventies until 1982 when he joined IRON MAIDEN, Nicko had spent his time in session work, most memorably with the PAT TRAVERS BAND on their 1976 “Makin’ Magic” album, and also appeared in the band MCKITTY in the early 1980s. It was during a MCKITTY gig in Belgium that he first met Harris.
He officially joined IRON MAIDEN in December 1982 for the 1983 “Piece Of Mind” album and tour, replacing Clive Burr, after McBrain‘s previous band TRUST had supported IRON MAIDEN during the U.K. leg of the “Killers” tour in 1981. McBrain brought a degree of finesse and technicality that was largely missing from IRON MAIDEN‘s early output. Whereas Burr was often lauded for his heavy-handed, punk-oriented style, McBrain was largely the opposite, playing with a degree of dexterity and flair that helped primary songwriter Harris take MAIDEN down more adventurous paths. He eventually became the third longest-tenured member of MAIDEN, behind Harris and guitarist Dave Murray.
