Courtesy HarperCollins
In his new memoir, Nicko McBrain joyfully cracks open the tight, closed world that is Iron Maiden. And while there’s plenty of metal in its 344 pages, don’t expect to find much in the way of mayhem in Hello Boys and Girls! (HarperCollins), publishing just in front of the band’s induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on Saturday (Nov. 14).
“I intentionally steered away from the debauchery; there’s a fair share in there, but I wanted it to be more classy, this story,” the London-born drummer — who joined Maiden during 1982 and retired from touring with the band in December 2024 — tells Billboard via Zoom from his home in Boca Raton, Fla. “We were very young, very proud, very crazy. There were a lot of drugs. The sex, we had our fair share – yeah, we did — but I didn’t want the book to reflect that. I wanted it to be more passionate, more reflective of the story rather than going into the gutter…’cause we weren’t in it for the sex and drugs and the money. That was never the drive and the passion behind Iron Maiden, and it’s the same today.”
McBrain adds, “You have to bear in mind that (now) everybody is married and has their own families and children who, goodness gracious, are all grown up. So I steered clear, intentionally, of most of the stories that involved the debauchery.” He adds with a laugh that “there are certain stories to be told. Maybe that’ll be another book!”
All that said, Hello Boys and Girls! is still an entertaining and engaging rock ‘n’ roll read. Co-written with Benjamin Dirs (Geezer Butler’s Into the Void), it captures McBrain’s jovial and conversational demeanor and outlook, laughing at the world around him — and often at himself. It also illuminates how a youngster blown away by Dave Brubeck Quartet drummer Joe Morello’s “Take Five” solo on the BBC became a career player himself.
That includes several eventful stops before McBain made it into Maiden in 1982 — including sessions for guitarist Gordon Giltrap and membership in Streetwalkers, Pat Travers’ band and the French group Trust, whose frequent food fights, on any occasion and any locale, provide some of the book’s funniest moments.
“I thought the main reason to write this story was because there’s so much that happened prior to Iron Maiden,” he says, “With great bands, players and musicians. So the inspiration was all of the stories prior to Maiden, and then we get to the nitty-gritty stuff. But it isn’t a book just about my lifetime spent in the ranks of Iron Maiden — 42 years, that’s a long time and a blessing as well. But the inspiration was I wanted to write my story about my life, and of course the majority of it is Iron Maiden stories.”
One thing that’s abundantly clear in Hello Boys and Girls! is that, alongside wife Rebecca — whom McBrain calls “my true north star” in the dedication — drums are, in fact, the love of his life.
“Absolutely,” he acknowledges. “I think it was the ferocity, the voracious stamina that (Morello) had when I saw that solo. I was 10 and a half years old. The ‘Take Five’ groove in itself, I’d never heard anything like that, in the odd time. I always thought 1-2-3-4, 2-2-3-4…So hearing a 5/4 drum fill and the music being played, I’m like, ‘What is this?’ Then he went off into the solo, and I’m like, ‘That’s what I want to do, dad! I’m gonna be a drummer!’”
McBrain says the book has been a long time coming. He had a publishing deal more than dozen years ago and was 20 or so chapters in when he “hit a brick wall” — partly due to Maiden commitments — and elected to give his advance payment back. But when he decided to retire after suffering a stroke in 2023, the band’s management revived the idea and helped him move the project forward. Maiden bassist and founder Steve Harris, he says, was also encouraging. “I took away a humbleness while I was writing,” McBrain says. “The whole time I thought, ‘Be humble, mate. Just tell the story.’ I was told off about a couple of things by (manager Rod Smallwood) — ‘Oh, no, you can’t be writing about that’ and I went, ‘Sorry, Rod; this is my story.’”
Hello Boys and Girls! follows Maiden guitarist Adrian Smith’s 2020 Monsters of River and Rock, which dealt as much with his passion for fishing as it did music. As of this interview, McBrain is waiting for Maiden members’ reactions to his book.
“I’m not sure if any of the band has seen it; I think if they have I’ll be getting a bollocking, a phone call: ‘You shouldn’t be saying that!’” he says with another laugh. “I think Steve might have had a little look at it, but I haven’t actually spoken to him about it. When the speaking tour I’m doing all sold out, he sent me a note: ‘Well done. Congratulations. Knock ’em dead.’”
Nearly two years after his final concert with the group, McBrain — who now plays in a Maiden tribute band called Titanium Tart — says that “I dearly miss the camaraderie of my brothers every day. I don’t miss the travel (but) I miss the fans, the interaction at a live show and the interaction on the days off when Janick (Gers, guitarist) and I would have a wander around the city we were in and get to see the fans and meet them. I miss that. I miss the crew. And I miss the feeling of sitting behind my drum set and playing and driving the band.” But he’s had no second thoughts or regrets about his decision.
“I am grateful and praise God every day for giving me this wonderful life I’ve had,” says McBrain, adding that he’s in good health — “just normal aches and pains of being an old git” — and taking “proactive” care of himself since the stroke. He has not seen Iron Maiden live since he retired, partly in deference to current touring drummer Simon Dawson (from Harris’ other band, British Lion). McBrain says he hopes “to do a couple of songs” on the next Maiden album, though there are no concrete plans yet for a follow-up to 2021’s Senjutsu, which became their highest-charting album on the Billboard 200 upon its release.
“Because of my handicap, it would have to be a song like ‘Stranger in a Strange Land’ or ‘Number of the Beast,’” McBrain says, “Something that’s not got large drum fills and drum motifs in them, ’cause I wouldn’t be able to play them. I went to dinner with Bruce (Dickinson, frontman) last year and I said, ‘Are you gonna do a new record?’ and he looked at me and said, ‘What do you think?’ Knowing Bruce, that’s what he wants. And I did talk to Steve, and it was like, ‘Maybe.’ So at this moment there’s no plans to do a new record, but watch this space, ironmaiden.com. That’s all I can say.”
McBrain says he was willing to represent Maiden at the Rock Hall induction in Los Angeles while the band tours Australia, but his speaking tour in Europe, which kicked off Oct. 26 in Germany, will keep him across the pond through early December. (He’s also added a Dec. 8 appearance at the Barnes & Noble store in Boca Raton, Fla.) He’s nevertheless “personally very honored” by the induction, despite Maiden’s professed ambivalence about the institution.
“It’s taken a long time for the band to be recognized,” McBrain says. “There was a time when I agreed with Bruce and said, ‘This is a load of kerfuffle. We don’t even want to entertain thinking about it.’ That was way back; now we’re moving forward, and there have been changes within the powers that be and I think they’re more listening to what the fans want. Now, I think to have an accolade and be honored like that, it’s great. I would’ve gone in a heartbeat, but I’m on tour and the boys are in Australia. I’m sure we’ll say thank you in another way.”
McBrain’s remaining author appearances include:
Nov. 11 — Gota Lejon, Stockholm, Sweden
Nov. 13 — DR Studio 2, Copenhagen, Denmark
Nov. 15 — Malta Music Festival, St. Julian’s, Malta
Nov. 18 — Ambassador, Dublin, Ireland
Nov. 23 — Glee Club, Birmingham, England
Nov. 26 — Bush Hall, London, England
Nov. 28 — The Gate, Cardiff, Wales
Nov. 30 — Komedia, Bath, England
Dec. 1 — Academy 2, Manchester, England
Dec. 3 — Oran Mor, Glasgow, Scotland
Dec. 8 — Barnes & Noble, Boca Raton, Fla.
