Former Iron Maiden frontman Blaze Bayley has opened up about his decision to quit drinking.
Talking exclusively to Metal Hammer, the 62-year-old, who fronted the British heavy metal titans from 1994 to 1999, reveals that he’s been sober since June 2019, having kicked alcohol to focus on his mental health.
“I was diagnosed with depression 25 years ago and I didn’t even know what it was,” the singer says. “In the end, I decided I didn’t want to take antidepressants anymore. I’d already stopped drinking on show days or the day before a show, but when I was off tour I slipped back into the habit of drinking – doing things you shouldn’t like drinking alone, so I decided to stay stopped.”
He adds, “I’m not a full-blown alcoholic who could down a bottle of vodka each day, but there’s not a part of me that goes, ‘Oh, I don’t really care about not drinking today’ which is a bit of a problem.”
Bayley urges people who may have problems with alcohol to “try quitting and give it six months”.
“First year I took it for granted a bit, but by the second year I was looking back at the trail of destruction I left behind me and there was nowhere near as much as there was when I’d been drinking,” he continues. “I couldn’t help but think about all the crap decisions I’d made while drinking.”
He feels “liberated” for having given up drinking, explaining, “I can get on my motorcycle and ride any time day or night. I can go anywhere because I’m not drunk, so I’m never in a situation where I can’t ride. I have petrol instead of booze. For anybody with mental health issues who suffers from depression – try it. I wish I’d stopped drinking years before.”
Bayley rose to prominence as the lead singer of Staffordshire hard rockers Wolfsbane, whose 1989 debut album Live Fast, Die Fast was produced by the vaunted Rick Rubin and released via his Def American label. He joined Maiden to replace outgoing frontman Bruce Dickinson and made two albums with them, 1995’s The X Factor and 1998’s Virtual XI. The albums were met with mixed reviews and were commercial disappointments, leading to Bayley being dismissed and Dickinson returning to the fold.
For his stint in Maiden, Bayley will be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in November, alongside the band’s current members, plus ex-guitarist Dennis Stratton, late ex-singer Paul Di’Anno and late ex-drummer Clive Burr. Bayley tells Hammer that being added to the Hall was “crazy”.
“When I started out, I just wanted to be like Ronnie James Dio, and Dio is in the Heavy Metal Hall Of Fame and so am I,” he says “The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame is another level entirely, it’s not really ‘rock’n’roll’ as we think of it, it’s the music business hall of fame because it has everybody. So it’s absolutely wild!”
Maiden’s current lineup won’t be at the induction ceremony in Cleveland, Ohio, as they will be on tour in Australia at that time. Whether or not Bayley and his fellow former members will attend remains to be seen.
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