“I’m sure you all appreciate that I hate you all!” Iron Maiden share heartfelt backstage video of Nicko McBrain’s final concert

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By ( Metal Hammer ) published

After announcing his intention to retire from the live stage, McBrain played his last show with Iron Maiden over the weekend

Nicko McBrain and Steve Harris of Iron Maiden backstage
(Image credit: Iron Maiden via X)

Iron Maiden have published a video tribute to their drummer Nicko McBrain, featuring behind-the-scenes footage of his final gig in São Paulo last week.

McBrain, 72, announced his retirement from the live stage on December 7, hours before Iron Maiden were set to wrap up their Future Past world tour at the Allianz Parque stadium later that night.

In the new video tribute, singer Bruce Dickinson’s speech to the São Paulo audience is seen in full, as is the drummer’s onstage farewell later that night. The footage also contains clips of McBrain’s backstage antics that day, including humorous photoshoots and heartfelt interactions with his bandmates.

The drummer also seen making a good-natured jibe at some of Iron Maiden’s touring crew before the show. “Thank you so very much for all the work you’ve done for us,” he says, “and I’m sure you all appreciate that I hate you all!”

McBrain joined Iron Maiden in 1982, replacing the late Clive Burr, and has manned the kit for them ever since. However, last summer, he revealed he suffered a mini-stroke in January 2023 and that it left him unable to move on his right side. Though he was able to return to drumming in time for the start of the Future Past tour in June, it affected how he performed some songs in the setlist.

The day after McBrain’s swan song show, Iron Maiden announced Simon Dawson as their new live drummer. Dawson has long worked with Iron Maiden founder and bassist Steve Harris in his side-project British Lion. He’ll likely make his onstage debut with the band when their next tour, the Run For Your Lives run, kicks off next summer. See dates below.

Though McBrain has retired from live performance, he’s still officially a member of Iron Maiden. Per his statement of December 7, he’ll continue “working on a variety of projects my longtime managers, Rod Smallwood and Andy Taylor, have in mind for me”.

Iron Maiden 2025 tour dates:

May 27: Budapest Aréna, Hungary *
May 28: Budapest Aréna, Hungary *
May 31: Prague Letnany Airport, Czech Republic *
Jun 01: Bratislava TIPOS Arena, Slovakia *
Jun 05: Trondheim Rocks, Norway ≠
Jun 07: Stavanger SR-Bank Arena, Norway *
Jun 09: Copenhagen Royal Arena, Denmark *
Jun 12: Stockholm 3Arena, Sweden *
Jun 13: Stockholm 3Arena, Sweden *
Jun 16: Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Finland *

Jun 21: Birmingham Utilita Arena, UK ^
Jun 22: Manchester Co-op Live, UK ^
Jun 25: Dublin Malahide Castle, Ireland *^
Jun 28: London Stadium, UK *^
Jun 30: Glasgow OVO Hydro, UK ^

Jul 03: Belfort Eurockéennes, France ≠
Jul 05: Madrid Estadio Cívitas Metropolitano, Spain **
Jul 06: Lisbon MEO Arena, Portugal **
Jul 09: Zurich Hallenstadion, Switzerland **
Jul 11: Gelsenkirchen Veltins-Arena, Germany **
Jul 13: Padova Stadio Euganeo, Italy **
Jul 15: Bremen Bürgerweide, Germany **
Jul 17: Vienna Ernst Happel Stadium, Austria **
Jul 19: Paris Paris La Défense Arena, France **
Jul 23: Arnhem GelreDome, Netherlands **
Jul 25: Frankfurt Deutsche Bank Park, Germany **
Jul 26: Stuttgart Cannstatter Wasen, Germany **
Jul 29: Berlin Waldbühne, Germany **
Aug 02: Warsaw PGE Narodowy, Poland **

* = Halestorm support
^ = The Raven Age support
** = Avatar support
≠ = Festival date

Matt Mills
Matt Mills
Online Editor, Metal Hammer

Louder’s resident Gojira obsessive was still at uni when he joined the team in 2017. Since then, Matt’s become a regular in Metal Hammer and Prog, at his happiest when interviewing the most forward-thinking artists heavy music can muster. He’s got bylines in The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, NME and many others, too. When he’s not writing, you’ll probably find him skydiving, scuba diving or coasteering.