If Steve Harris is the brains behind Iron Maiden, then Nicko McBrain must surely be its heart. “’Ello!” he trills as Hammer’s video call connects, holding aloft his beloved dog, Tiger Lily, while her sister, Tinkerbell, scampers around his feet. It’s exactly what you’d expect from the man who once guest-starred on an episode of The Sooty Show, and perfectly illustrates why he’s one of metal’s most lovable characters.
A fixture of Maiden from 1982 to 2024, when he was forced to step away from touring after a stroke the previous year, he remains a gregarious and prolific figure. In 2025, he launched his own YouTube series, Metal Sticks, runs a “rock’n’roll restaurant” and even plays gigs with his own Iron Maiden tribute, Titanium Tart. But Hammer’s here to talk to Nicko about his new autobiography, Hello Boys And Girls, and the lessons he’s learned in more than 50 years of playing rock and metal.
EVERYONE HAS A STORY TO TELL
Ultimately this is my memory, my book, and this is how I remember things.
Nicko McBrain
“I got the idea for a book while doing a golf tournament. I ended up being teamed up with these two guys who worked for a publishing company, and I was telling stories. One of the guys says, ‘You ought to write a book!’ A few people have said the same to me over the years. I am, after all, an old fart with lots of stories!”
THERE’S TWO SIDES TO EVERY STORY
“This book is totally from my memories. There’s one instance where Rod said, ‘Do you remember your first gig with Maiden? You turned up in a silver suit!’ I told him, I didn’t start wearing suits until 1984. Things like that I’ve been pulled up about, but ultimately this is my memory, my book, and this is how I remember things. Whether that’s right or wrong, too bleeding bad!”
ANYTHING FOR A QUIET LIFE
“My mum was very strongly opinionated about me getting a trade. I didn’t want to – I wanted to go pro when I was 16, 17. I’ve never used my City & Guilds in engineering because I was blessed to go pro when I was 21. But I did it for mum. My dad used to say, ‘Do it for me, will ya? Anything for a quiet life. You’ll understand some day.’ Now I’m married with kids, I understand completely. If you go against what mum says, you might not get any nookie for a month!”
KINDNESS COSTS NOTHING
“My old man always used to say, ‘Always be nice and kind to people on the way up, because you never know who you’ll meet again on the way down.’ My dad had a lot of wisdom. Not all the time, but he never gave me a bum steer. Well, maybe occasionally.”
The first question I’d ask an alien is, 'Do they have the same kind of God that we do?'
Nicko McBrain
PLAY TO WIN
“I met Lemmy when he was in Hawkwind. We got really tight. Over the years, every time Motörhead came out on tour, we’d sit together as he played the fruit machines he took around with him. He’d play endlessly. I’d ask, ‘What’s the fun in that? You know you’re going to win – it’s your money!’ He said, ‘It’s just for the fun of it – I’m happy when I get the jackpot!’”
THEY’LL REMEMBER YOU, EVEN IF YOU DON’T REMEMBER THEM
“You absolutely should meet your heroes. They will leave an indelible mark on your life. If they’re an arsehole, you’ll never forget it. If you’re sitting on your granddad’s knee, and you go, ‘’Ere, grandad, do you know the band Iron Maiden?’ You don’t want him to go, ‘Yeah, let me tell you about the time I met the drummer. What an arsehole!’ But if they’re nice, and give you a minute, say hello… you’ll take that to the grave.”
SOME BONDS LAST FOREVER
“Of all the people I met in the music industry, Phil Lynott was the one I was closest to. We met in the 70s when Lizzy and [my pre-Maiden band] Streetwalkers played together on a tour. We got really tight – we were even going to share a flat together before I met Cathy, my first wife. I had a wonderful time every time I saw Phil. Unfortunately, the heroin got to him and it was a sad day in my life when I lost him.”
THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE…
“With YouTube, you can go mad with stuff on UAPs (Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena) and UFOs. I definitely believe there’s something out there. I don’t know if that’s something in our universe, or something multidimensional. I mean, I’m a Christian man, so if ever there is a disclosure day and a UFO appears, I’d ask if they had Jesus Christ in their world. Do they have the same kind of God that we do? That’s the first question I’d ask an alien.”
LOOK UP AND SEE!
“I’ve seen strange things. When I was playing in Fury in ’75, we were coming back from Bournemouth, which was a hotspot for sightings and strange phenomena. We’re listening to [pirate radio station] Radio Caroline, and all of a sudden it cuts out and the driver goes, ‘What is that?!’ We pull over and there is this enormous cigar shape with flames coming out the back, almost like a firework. It went over the car, over a field and then shot in the air. But we opened the windows and there was no noise. Who knows what that was.”
YOU NEVER FORGET YOUR FIRST TASTE OF THE GOOD LIFE
“The first Rock In Rio in 1985 was off the charts. We were special guests to Queen – not even headlining – but we flew via New York and had five days off to do the gig. We got on this plane, all of us in first class, which was a real step up because we were used to business or even cattle class. We didn’t fly hardly anywhere, really. Steve didn’t particularly care for light airplanes. But we get on this plane and they’re serving up filet mignon steak and whole friggin’ lobsters!”
ROCK IN RIO IS LEGENDARY WITH GOOD REASON
“It was quite late when we went on; I remember standing behind the kit and seeing this wave of hands clapping right back into the darkness. The way we played that gig was mad. Bruce picked up the guitar for Revelations and ended up bashing himself in the head with it, bleeding everywhere. Rod [Smallwood] sent him a note later: ‘Do that more often – it looks great on camera!’ Typical manager! Ha ha!”
A CLOSE ENCOUNTER OF THE BLURRED KIND
“I thought there was no way Ozzy [Osbourne] would remember meeting me, when he came into my room while we were on this boat with all these drugs falling out his hands. But he did, crystal clear, when we ran into each other again. He said, ‘Do you remember me saving your life?’ I was like, ‘No?’ He said I was so out of it, I was stumbling towards the railing and he grabbed me before I went over. All I remember was it was a rough crossing, going over the Channel!”
FAITH DOESN’T MEAN YOU HAVE TO GIVE EVERYTHING ELSE UP
“There was never any worry about joining Maiden because of the Satanic stuff. When I became a Christian man, I put it in prayer and talked to my pastor about continuing in the band. He said, ‘If it’s something God doesn’t want you to do, he’ll let you know.’ I asked if he was still OK with it and got the sense he was.”
FOR EVERY CLOUD, A SILVER LINING
“I had my stroke [in January 2023], which felt like God telling me to hang up my sticks. But what I will say is, the day I had the stroke, I was having cataract surgery. The miracle was that I had the stroke in the morning, rather than while I was under the twilight anaesthetic.”
KNOW YOUR LIMITS…
“Even though I did another couple of tours after that on the Future Past tour, I could probably only feel and use about 70% of my hand. It was incredible to get any use back out of it at all. I have to credit my neurologist and occupational therapist for getting me through those first three months. And thanks to the band for allowing me the changes I needed to play what I could. Like, I couldn’t do the drum fill in the intro of The Trooper, so I had to adapt it. Steve and the band were so supportive, but my body just wasn’t bouncing back.”
BUT NEVER SAY NEVER
“If Iron Maiden went into the studio, I’d be delighted to get back in with them. It’d have to be something more simple really – Stranger In A Strange Land, Wasted Years… that kind of song. I’d love to do something like that.”
Hello Boys And Girls is out now via HarperCollins. Nicko's spoken word tour of the UK starts November 23.
