Sweet Lu

Scorpions is a German heavy metal[1][2][3][4]/hard rock[5][6][7] band from Hannover, Germany, known for their 1980s rock anthem "Rock You Like a Hurricane" and their singles "No One Like You", "Send Me an Angel, "Still Loving You", and "Wind of Change". The band has sold over 100 million albums worldwide,[8] and they were ranked #46 on VH1's Greatest Artists of Hard Rock program.[9] "Rock You Like a Hurricane" is also #18 on VH1's list of the 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs.[10] On January 24, 2010, after 45 years of performing, the band announced that they will be retiring after touring in support of their new album Sting in the Tail.[11][12] The Scorpions sold between 100[13][14][15] and 150[16] million albums worldwide. History [edit] Formation and early history (1965-1973) Rudolf Schenker, the band's rhythm guitarist launched the band in 1965. At first, the band had beat influences and Schenker himself did the vocals. Things began to come together in 1969 when Schenker's younger brother Michael and vocalist Klaus Meine joined the band. In 1972, the group recorded and released their debut album Lonesome Crow, with Lothar Heimberg on bass and Wolfgang Dziony on drums. During the Lonesome Crow tour, the Scorpions opened for upcoming British band UFO. Near the end of the tour, the members of UFO offered guitarist Michael Schenker the lead guitar job, an offer which he soon accepted. Uli Roth, a friend of the Schenker brothers, was then called in temporarily to finish off the tour. The departure of Michael Schenker led to the breakup of the band. In 1973, Uli Roth, who had helped the Scorpions complete the Lonesome Crow tour, was offered the role as lead guitarist, but turned the band down, preferring instead to remain in the band Dawn Road. Rudolf Schenker eventually decided that he wanted to work with Roth, but did not want to resurrect the last Scorpions lineup. He attended some of Dawn Road's rehearsals and ultimately decided to join the band, which consisted of Roth, Francis Buchholz (bass), Achim Kirschning (keyboards) and Jürgen Rosenthal (drums). Roth and Buchholz persuaded Rudolf Schenker to invite Klaus Meine to join on vocals, which he soon did. While there were more members of Dawn Road than Scorpions in the band, they decided to use the Scorpions name because it was well-known in the German hard rock scene and an album had been released under that name.[17] [edit] Rise to fame (1974-1978) In 1974 the new line-up of Scorpions released Fly to the Rainbow. The album proved to be more successful than Lonesome Crow and songs such as "Speedy's Coming" and the title track began to establish the band's sound. Achim Kirschning decided to leave after the recordings. Soon after, Jürgen Rosenthal had to leave as he was being drafted into the army. Later, in 1976, he would join a German progressive rock band called Eloy and record three albums with them. He was replaced by a Belgian drummer, Rudy Lenners. In 1975 the band hit their stride with the release of In Trance, which marked the beginning of Scorpions' long collaboration with German producer Dieter Dierks. The album was a huge step forward for Scorpions and firmly established their hard rock formula, while at the same time garnering a substantial fan base, both at home and abroad. Cuts such as "Dark Lady", "Robot Man" and the title track are still considered classics by fans today. In 1976, Scorpions released Virgin Killer. The album's cover featured a nude prepubescent girl covered with broken glass. The cover art was designed by Stefan Bohle who was the product manager for RCA Records,[18] their label at the time. The cover brought the band considerable criticism and was pulled or replaced in several countries. Despite the controversy, the album itself garnered significant praise for its music from critics and fans alike. The following year, Rudy Lenners resigned due to health reasons and was replaced by Herman Rarebell. For the follow-up Taken by Force, RCA Records made a determined effort to promote the album in stores and on the radio. The album's single, "Steamrock Fever", was added to some of RCA's radio promotional records. Roth was not happy with the commercial direction the band was taking. Although he performed on the band's Japan tour, he departed to form his own band, Electric Sun prior to the release of the resultant double live album Tokyo Tapes. Tokyo Tapes was released in the US and Europe six months after its Japanese release. By that time in mid 1978, after auditioning around 140 guitarists, Scorpions recruited new guitarist Matthias Jabs. [edit] Commercial success (1979-1991) Following the addition of Jabs, Scorpions left RCA for Mercury Records in the States and Harvest/EMI Electrola worldwide to record their next album Lovedrive. Just weeks after being ejected from UFO for his alcohol abuse, Michael Schenker also returned to the group for a short period during the recordings for the album. This gave the band three guitarists (though Schenker's contribution to the final release was limited to only three songs). The result was Lovedrive, an album which some critics consider to be the pinnacle of their career.[19] Containing such fan favourites as "Loving You Sunday Morning", "Always Somewhere", "Holiday" and the instrumental "Coast to Coast", the 'Scorpions formula' of hard rock songs mixed with melodic ballads was firmly cemented. The album's provocative artwork was named "Best album sleeve of 1979" by Playboy magazine though it was ultimately changed for American release. Lovedrive peaked at #55 on the US charts proving that Scorpions were gathering an international following. After the completion and release of the album, the band decided to retain Michael in the band, thus forcing Jabs to leave. However after a few weeks of the tour, Michael, still coping with alcoholism, missed a number of gigs and at one point collapsed on stage and Jabs was brought back to fill in for him on those occasions when he could not perform. In April, 1979, during their tour in France, Jabs was brought in permanently to replace Michael. The Scorpions' logoIn 1980, the band released Animal Magnetism, again with a provocative cover, this time showing a girl kneeling and a doberman pinscher sitting in front of a man. Animal Magnetism contained classics such as "The Zoo" and "Make It Real". Soon after the album's release, Meine began experiencing throat problems. He required surgery on his vocal cords and doubts were raised about whether he would ever sing again. Meanwhile, the band began working on their next album, Blackout in 1981. Don Dokken was brought in to provide guide and backing vocals while Meine recovered.[20] Meine eventually healed completely and was able to finish the album. Blackout was released in 1982 and quickly became the band's best selling to date, eventually going platinum. Meine's voice showed no signs of weakness and critical response to the album was good. Blackout spawned three hit singles: "Dynamite," "Blackout" and "No One Like You". It was not until 1984 and the release of Love at First Sting that the band finally cemented their status as rock superstars. Propelled by the single "Rock You Like a Hurricane", Love at First Sting climbed the charts and went double platinum in the USA a few months after its release. However, Scorpions did manage to stir up controversy once again with their provocative album cover. This time it was a Helmut Newton photograph of a man kissing a woman while at the same time tattooing her exposed thigh. Some stores deemed the cover too provocative and refused to sell the album. MTV gave the album's videos "Rock You Like a Hurricane", "Bad Boys Running Wild", "Big City Nights", and the power ballad "Still Loving You" significant airtime, greatly contributing to the album's success. The channel even supplied Scorpions with the nickname "The Ambassadors of Rock". The band toured extensively behind Love at First Sting and decided to record and release their second live album, World Wide Live in 1985. Recorded over a year-long world tour and released at the height of their popularity, the album was another success for the band, peaking at #14 in the charts in the US and at #18 in the UK. After their extensive world tours, the band finally returned to the studio to record Savage Amusement. Released in 1988, four years after their previous studio album, Savage Amusement represented a more polished pop sound similar to the style Def Leppard had found success with. The album sold well, but was considered somewhat of a critical disappointment. However, British heavy rock magazine Kerrang! did award the album five K's out of five. On the Savage Amusement tour in 1988, Scorpions became only the second Western group to play in the Soviet Union (the first being Uriah Heep in December, 1987), with a performance in Leningrad. The following year the band returned to perform at the Moscow Music Peace Festival. As a result, Scorpions developed a strong Russian fan base and still return regularly to perform throughout the area.[21] Wishing to distance themselves from the Savage Amusement style, the band separated from their long-time producer and "Sixth Scorpion," Dieter Dierks, replacing him with Keith Olsen when they returned to the studio in 1990. Crazy World was released that same year and displayed a less polished sound. The album was a hit, propelled in large part by the massive success of the ballad "Wind of Change". The song muses on the socio-political changes that were occurring in Eastern Europe and in other parts of the world at the end of the Cold War. On July 21, 1990 they joined many other guests for Roger Waters' massive performance of The Wall in Berlin. Scorpions performed both versions of "In the Flesh" from The Wall. After the Crazy World tour Francis Buchholz, the band's long-serving bassist, left the group. [edit] Later days (1992-2009) In 1993, Scorpions released Face the Heat. Bass was handled by Ralph Rieckermann. For the recording process, Scorpions brought in producer Bruce Fairbairn. The album's sound was more metal than melodic and divided the band's fan base somewhat. Many "headbangers" responded positively to the album while many longtime fans were put off. Neither the hard rock single "Alien Nation" nor the ballad "Under The Same Sun" came close to matching the success of "Wind of Change". Face the Heat was a moderate success. In 1995, a new live album, Live Bites, was produced. The disc documented live performances from their Savage Amusement Tour in 1988, all the way through the Face the Heat Tour in 1994. While the album had a much cleaner sound in comparison to their best-selling live album, World Wide Live, it was not as successful. Prior to recording their 13th studio album, 1996s Pure Instinct, drummer Herman Rarebell left the band to set up a recording label. Curt Cress took charge of the drumsticks for the album before Kentucky-born James Kottak took over permanently. Many feel Pure Instinct is a response to the complaints levied against Face the Heat. The album had many ballads. Still, the album's singles "Wild Child" and the soothing ballad "You and I" both enjoyed moderate success. 1999 saw the release of Eye II Eye and a significant change in the band's style, mixing in elements of pop and techno. While the album was slickly produced, fans were unsure what to make of the band, responding negatively to almost everything from pop-soul backup singers to the electronic drums present on several songs. The video to the album's first European single, "To Be No. 1," featured a Monica Lewinsky look-alike which did little to improve its popularity. The following year, Scorpions had a fairly successful collaboration with the Berlin Philharmonic that resulted in a 10-song album named Moment of Glory. The album went a long way toward rebuilding the band's reputation after the harsh criticism of Eye II Eye. However, critics accused them of following on the coattails of Metallica's similar collaboration (S&M) with the San Francisco Symphony which had been released the previous year, even though the orchestra had first approached Scorpions with the idea in 1995. Scorpions in 2007In 2001, Scorpions released Acoustica, a live unplugged album featuring acoustic reworkings of the band's biggest hits, plus new tracks. While appreciated by fans, the lack of a new studio album was frustrating to some, and Acoustica did little to return the band to the spotlight. In 2004, the band released Unbreakable, an album that was hailed by critics as a long-awaited return to form. The album was the heaviest the band had released since Face the Heat, and fans responded well to tracks such as "New Generation", "Love 'em or Leave 'em" and "Deep and Dark". Whether a result of poor promotion by the band's label or the long time between studio releases, Unbreakable received little airplay and did not chart. Scorpions toured extensively behind the album and played as 'Special Guests' with Judas Priest during the 2005 British tour - these were the Scorpions first dates in the UK since 1999. In early 2006, Scorpions released the DVD 1 Night in Vienna that included 14 live tracks and a complete rockumentary. In LA, the band spent about four months in the studio with producers James Michael and Desmond Child working on their new concept album titled Humanity: Hour I, which was released in late May 2007.[22] Followed by the "Humanity World Tour". In 2007, the band saw two of their signature tracks featured in the popular video game series, "Guitar Hero." "No One Like You" was featured on the "Rocks the '80s" version of the game while "Rock You Like A Hurricane" was released on "Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock." On May 14, 2007, Scorpions released Humanity - Hour I in Europe. Humanity - Hour I became available in the U.S. on August 28 on New Door Records, entering the Billboard charts at number #63. In a September 2007 podcast interview, Meine said the new album wasn't so much a "concept album" as it was a collection of songs with a common theme. "We didn't want to make another record with songs about boys chasing girls. I mean, come on, give me a break," Meine said.[23] Asked in 2007 if the band was planning to release a Humanity - Hour II, Meine replied: “ That is what everybody is asking. There might be. Who knows? Right now we are at the beginning of the world tour. It is exciting to play the new songs and they go very well with the classics. It is exciting that there is a whole new audience out there. There are many longtime fans but there are a lot of young kids. We just played in London and in Paris and there were young kids rocking out to songs that were written way before they were born. It is amazing. I don’t want to think about Hour II right now because Hour I is so exciting. It is very inspiring to see how much the audience enjoys this new music. ” — Klaus Meine[24] On December 20, 2007, Scorpions played at a concert for the elite of Russia’s security forces in the Kremlin. The concert was a celebration of the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Cheka - predecessor of the KGB. The band has claimed that they thought they were performing a Christmas concert. They have said that their concert was by no means a tribute to the Cheka, communism, or Russia's brutal past. Members of the audience included Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev.[25] On February 21, 2009, Scorpions received Germany's ECHO Honorary Award for lifetime achievement at Berlin's O2 World.[26] [edit] New album and retirement (2010-present) As of November 2009, Scorpions have announced that their 17th studio album, Sting in the Tail, is tentatively due in early 2010.[27] The CD is being recorded[when?] at a studio in Hannover with Swedish producers Mikael "Nord" Andersson and Martin Hansen. On January 24, 2010, the band announced that Sting in the Tail will be their new album and that the tour supporting it will be their final tour.[28] The tour is expected to come to an end in 2012 or 2013. On March 23, 2010, the band released their new album titled, Sting in the Tail. The first day more than 18500 copies of the album were sold in the USA.[citation needed] On April 6, 2010, Scorpions were enshrined in Hollywood's Rock Walk in a handprint ceremony,[citation needed] with the band members placing their hands in a long slab of wet cement. When dry, the slab will be placed in the ground next to other musical artists which have been extended the honor of being a part of The Rock Walk. [edit] Band members [edit] Current members Klaus Meine - lead vocals (1970–present) Matthias Jabs - lead & rhythm guitars, backing vocals (1978–present) Rudolf Schenker - rhythm & lead guitars, backing vocals (1965–present) Paweł Mąciwoda - bass, backing vocals (2003–present) James Kottak - drums, percussion, backing vocals (1996–present) [edit] Former members Lothar Heimberg - bass, backing vocals (1965–1973) Wolfgang Dziony - drums, percussion, backing vocals (1965–1973) Michael Schenker - lead & rhythm guitars, backing vocals (1970–1973, 1979) Uli Jon Roth - lead & rhythm guitars, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Drifting Sun", "Fly to the Rainbow", "Dark Lady", "Sun in My Hand", "Hell Cat", "Polar Nights" (1973–1978) Achim Kirschning - keyboards (1973–1974) Jürgen Rosenthal - drums, percussion, backing vocals (1973–1975) Francis Buchholz - bass, backing vocals (1973–1983, 1984–1992, 1994) Rudy Lenners - drums, percussion (1975–1977) Herman Rarebell - drums, percussion, backing vocals (1977–1983, 1984–1995) Ralph Rieckermann - bass, backing vocals (1993–2000, 2000–2003) Curt Cress - drums, percussion (1996) Ken Taylor - bass, backing vocals (2000) Barry Sparks - bass, backing vocals (2004) Ingo Powitzer - bass, backing vocals (2004) [edit] Manager Discography Main article: Scorpions discography Lonesome Crow (1972) Fly to the Rainbow (1974) In Trance (1975) Virgin Killer (1976) Taken by Force (1977) Lovedrive (1979) Animal Magnetism (1980) Blackout (1982) Love at First Sting (1984) Savage Amusement (1988) Crazy World (1990) Face the Heat (1993) Pure Instinct (1996) Eye II Eye (1999) Unbreakable (2004) Humanity: Hour I (2007) Sting in the Tail (2010) [edit] Tours 1972: Lonsome Crow Tour 1974: Fly To The Rainbow Tour 1975-1976: In Trance Tour 1976: Virgin Killer Tour 1977-1978: Taken By Force Tour 1979: Lovedrive Tour 1980: Animal Magnetism Tour 1982-1983: Blackout Tour 1984-1985: Love at First Sting Tour 1988-1989: Savage Amusement Tour 1990-1991: Crazy World Tour 1993-1994: Face The Heat Tour 1996-1997: Pure Instinct Tour 1999: Eye To Eye Tour 2000: Moment Of Glory Tour 2001: Acoustica Tour 2002: Scorpions Tour 2002 2003: Scorpions Tour 2003 2004-2006:Unbreakable World Tour 2007-2009: Humanity World Tour 2010-2013: Get Your Sting And Blackout World Tour

never saw it angels in the outfield

i love it for Bruce Campobell!!!! that man rules

please

bad the cell

Love Lemmy!!!

Just a great GREAT band. Can't believe that this thread wasn't started before

That would be MY WIFE that this is dedicated to. Yeahhhhhhh. A very underrated band. And my wife grew up with and is friends with the guitarist.

Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band from Leyton in east London, formed in 1975. The band are directed by founder, bassist and songwriter Steve Harris. Since their inception, the group has released a collective total of thirty albums: fourteen studio albums; seven live albums; four EPs; and five compilations. Pioneers of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, Iron Maiden achieved success during the early 1980s and, after several lineup changes, the band went on to release a series of platinum and gold albums. These include the US platinum-selling landmarks The Number of the Beast in 1982, Piece of Mind in 1983, Powerslave in 1984, the acclaimed live album Live After Death in 1985, Somewhere in Time in 1986, and Seventh Son of a Seventh Son in 1988. Their second most recent studio effort, A Matter of Life and Death, was released in 2006 and peaked at number nine on the Billboard 200 and at number 4 in the UK and is also one of the few rock albums to be certified platinum in India. Their newest album, The Final Frontier, will be released on August 16, 2010.[1] As one of the most successful heavy metal bands in history, Iron Maiden have sold over 75 million records under EMI and a total of over 100 million records worldwide with almost no radio or television support.[2][3][4][5] The band won the Ivor Novello Award for international achievement in 2002,[6] and were also inducted into the Hollywood RockWalk in Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, California during their United States tour in 2005. As of October 2009, the band has played just over 2000 live shows during their career. For the past 30 years, the band has been supported by their famous mascot, "Eddie the Head", who has appeared on almost all of their album and single covers, as well their live shows. Early years (1975–1978) Iron Maiden was formed on Christmas Day 1975, by bassist Steve Harris, shortly after he left his previous group, Smiler. Harris attributes the band name to a movie adaptation of The Man in the Iron Mask from the novel by Alexandre Dumas, which he saw around that time, and so the group was named after the iron maiden torture device.[7] In 1994, the band auditioned hundreds of vocalists, both famous and unknown before choosing Blaze Bayley, formerly of the band Wolfsbane. Bayley had a different vocal style from his predecessor, which ultimately received a mixed reception among fans.[ After a two year hiatus (and three year hiatus from recording - a record for the band at the time) Iron Maiden returned in 1995. Releasing The X Factor, the band had their lowest chart position since 1981 for an album in the UK (debuting at number 8). The album included the 11-minute epic "Sign of the Cross", the band's longest song since "Rime of the Ancient Mariner". It also included "Man on the Edge", based on the movie Falling Down and "Lord of the Flies", based on the novel of the same name. The band toured for the rest of 1995 and 1996, playing for the first time in Israel and South Africa,[35] before stopping to release The Best of the Beast. The band's first compilation, it included a new single, "Virus". The band returned to the studio for Virtual XI, released in 1998. Chart scores of the album were the band's lowest to date,[36] failing to score one million worldwide sales for the first time in Iron Maiden's history. At the same time, Steve Harris assisted in remastering the entire discography of Iron Maiden up to Live at Donington (which was given a mainstream release for the first time) and released the set. In February 1999, Bayley left the band by mutual consent. At the same time, the band surprised their fans when they announced that both Bruce Dickinson and guitarist Adrian Smith were rejoining the band, and that Janick Gers would remain. Iron Maiden now had three guitarists and a hugely successful reunion tour, The Ed Hunter Tour. This tour also supported the band's newly released greatest hits Ed Hunter, which also contained a computer game of the same name starring the band's mascot. Iron Maiden's first studio release after the reunion with Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith came in the form of 2000's Brave New World. Thematic influences continued with "The Wicker Man" — based on the 1973 British cult film of the same name — and "Brave New World" — title taken from the Aldous Huxley novel of the same name The world tour that followed consisted of well over 100 dates and culminated on 19 January 2001 in a show at the Rock in Rio festival in Brazil, where Iron Maiden played to an audience of around 250, 000.[37] This performance was recorded and released on CD and DVD in March 2002 under the name Rock in Rio. Following their Give Me Ed... 'Til I'm Dead Tour in summer 2003, Iron Maiden released Dance of Death. The release of this, their thirteenth studio album, was met by critical and commercial success worldwide. Some critics also felt that this release matched up to their earlier efforts such as Piece Of Mind and The Number Of The Beast, including their darker imagery rather than the more upbeat reunion album. As usual, historical and literary influences continued, "Montsegur" in particular being about the Cathar stronghold conquered in 1244 and "Paschendale" relating to a significant battle during World War I. The supporting tour for this album, named Dance of Death World Tour was another landmark for the band, as they played to over 750,000 fans during 50 dates over a period of 4 months in 2003-04. This included sold out dates in South America, Europe, North America and Japan. Their performance at Westfalenhalle in Dortmund, Germany, as part of the supporting tour, was recorded and released in August 2005 as a live album and DVD, entitled Death on the Road. In 2005, the band announced a tour to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the release of their first album, Iron Maiden, and the 30th anniversary of their formation. The tour also was in support of the 2004 DVD entitled The Early Days and as such during the tour they only played material from their first four albums. As part of the celebration of their early days, the "Number of the Beast" single was re-released and went straight to number 3 in the UK Chart. The Early Days World Tour included many stadium headline dates and festivals including their historic performance at the Ullevi Stadium in Sweden, playing to almost 60,000 fans. This concert was also broadcast on satellite television all over Europe to over 60 million viewers. Iron Maiden's last Ozzfest performance on the 20th of August 2005 at the Hyundai Pavilion, was at Glen Helen in San Bernardino, CA to almost 50 000 people. The band completed this tour by headlining the Reading and Leeds weekend festivals on the 26th[38] 28 August - two shows to combined number of people estimated 130 000, and Ireland 31st August to almost 40 000 fans at RDS Stadium.[39] For the second time, the band played a charity show for former drummer Clive Burr's Clive Burr MS Trust Fund charity. In Autumn 2006, Iron Maiden released A Matter of Life and Death. While the album is not a concept album,[40] war and religion are recurring themes in the lyrics throughout, as well as in the album's artwork. A successful tour followed, during which they played the new album in its entirety; though response to this was mixed.[41][42] Iron Maiden recorded a live session at Abbey Road Studios for Live from Abbey Road in December 2006. Their performance was screened in an episode alongside sessions with Natasha Bedingfield and Gipsy Kings in March 2007 on Channel 4 (UK) and June 2007 on the Sundance Channel (USA).[43] In November 2006, Iron Maiden and manager Rod Smallwood announced that they were to end their 27-year-old relationship with Sanctuary Music and were to start a new company named Phantom Music Management. No other significant changes were made. The second part of the "A Matter of Life and Death" tour was dubbed "A Matter of the Beast" to celebrate the 25th anniversary of The Number of the Beast album, and included appearances at several major festivals worldwide.[44] The band announced plans to play five songs from A Matter of Life and Death and five from The Number of the Beast as part of their set but in fact played only four songs from The Number of the Beast. They played in the Middle East for the first time at the annual Dubai Desert Rock Festival in 2007 playing to 20,000 fans. They made their first appearance in India with a concert in Bangalore aptly called Eddfest, playing to over 45,000 people at the Bangalore Palace Grounds. This event marked the first time any major heavy metal band toured the Indian sub-continent. The band went on to play a string of European dates, including open air festival performances and mostly stadium-sized gigs. In England, they headlined the Download Festival at Donington Park for the fourth time in their career. The show attracted a record breaking number of attendees, estimated as near to 80,000 die-hard festival-goers despite higher ticket and camp-place prices than in recent years.[45] On the 24 June they ended the tour with a performance at London's Brixton Academy in aid of The Clive Burr MS Trust fund. On 5 September 2007, the band announced their Somewhere Back in Time World Tour,[46] which ties in with the DVD release of their Live After Death album. The setlist for the tour consisted of successes from the 1980s, with a specific emphasis on the Powerslave era for set design. The tour started in Mumbai, India on 1 February 2008 where the band played to an audience of almost 30,000. The first part of the tour consisted of 24 concerts in 21 cities, travelling over 50, 000 miles in the band's own chartered airplane "Ed Force One".[47] They played their first ever concerts in Costa Rica and Colombia and their first Australian shows since 1992. On 12 May, the band released a new compilation album, titled Somewhere Back in Time. It includes a selection of tracks from their 1980 eponymous debut to 1988's Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, including several live versions from Live After Death. With the sole UK headline show at Twickenham Stadium, this tour also marked the first ever stadium headlining show in the UK by the band.[48] A final part of the tour took place in February and March 2009,[49] including the band's first ever appearance in Peru and Ecuador, and their first performances in New Zealand for 16 years.[50] The band also played their third show within a span of 2 years in India, at the Rock In India 2009 festival to a crowd of 20,000. The final leg of the tour ended in Florida on April 2 after which the band took a break from touring. On 20 January 2009, the band announced that they were to release a full-length documentary film in select cinemas on 21 April. Titled Iron Maiden: Flight 666, the movie was filmed during the first part of the "Somewhere Back In Time" tour between February and March 2008. Flight 666 is co-produced by Banger Productions and was released by Universal Music Group in the U.S. and EMI Records in the rest of the world.[51] During a Rock Radio interview promoting Flight 666, Nicko McBrain revealed that Iron Maiden had booked studio time for early 2010 and would be likely to be touring again late that year or the year after.[52] At the 2009 BRIT Awards the band won the award for best live act.[53] During their live presentation in São Paulo, on 15 March 2009, Bruce announced on stage that the show was the biggest of their career. In fact, the crowd of 100,000 people was Iron Maiden's all-time biggest attendance for a solo show, without other bands. The attendance was bigger than Chile's show (almost 60,000 fans), according to the organisers.[54] Nicko McBrain stated in a interview for Rock Radio that the new Iron Maiden album will be finished in 2010, and that a tour will follow in the late 2010 or 2011.[55] On 2 November 2009, Janick Gers confirmed to BBC News that the band already had new material written and would head to Paris, France, to start composing and rehearsing the bulk for the new album. The band took time off for Christmas and New Year's Eve before recording the new album in January, with Kevin Shirley producing.[56] In another interview with heavy metal DJ Eddie Trunk, drummer Nicko McBrain confirmed that the band had finished writing eight songs for the new album which he claimed would probably be released in 2011.[57] In December 2009 Iron Maiden announced that they would headline a string of festivals in the Summer of 2010: Sonisphere Festivals in the United Kingdom,[58] Sweden, and Finland;[59] Wacken Open Air in Germany;[60] the Festival d'été de Québec in Canada.[61] They will also play at the Bergenhus Fortress in Norway in August and in Udine in Italy.[62] On March 4, 2010, the new album title was announced as The Final Frontier[1], along with North American and European tour dates for summer 2010. On April 6, 2010, Kevin Shirley announced that he had completed the mixing process of The Final Frontier: "In this last month I have finished all the vocals and tracking and mixed the new Iron Maiden album, The Final Frontier - in my studio."[63] On June 8, 2010, the cover art, track listing, and release date of the new album were announced. The Final Frontier will be released on August 16, 2010. The first single was also revealed to be entitled El Dorado. This song, the second of the album, was made available for free download along with the album's details.[64] Iron Maiden were ranked #24 in VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock".[65] The band were ranked fourth on MTV's "Top 10 Greatest Heavy Metal Bands of All Time".[66] Iron Maiden were named as the third best heavy metal band of all time on VH1 Classic: Top 20 Metal Bands.[67] The band also won the Ivor Novello Award for international achievement in 2002.[6] The band was also inducted into the Hollywood RockWalk during their tour in the United States during 2005. Iron Maiden frequently use the slogan "Up the Irons" in their disc liner notes, and the phrase can also be seen on several t-shirts officially licensed by the band. "The Irons" has been used to refer to the London football club, West Ham United, of which founder Steve Harris is a fan. Fans of Iron Maiden have been known to use the phrase as a greeting or sign-off to other Iron Maiden fans. Iron Maiden's mascot, Eddie, is a perennial fixture in the band's science fiction and horror-influenced album cover art, as well as in live shows. Eddie was drawn by Derek Riggs until 1992, although there have been various versions by numerous artists including Melvyn Grant. Eddie is also featured in a first-person shooter video game from the band, Ed Hunter, as well as numerous books, graphic comics and band-related merchandise. In 2008, Kerrang! released an album, entitled Maiden Heaven: A Tribute to Iron Maiden, composed of Iron Maiden cover songs played by artists such as Metallica, Machine Head, Dream Theater, Trivium, Coheed and Cambria, Avenged Sevenfold, and others who were influenced by Iron Maiden throughout their careers. Well over a half-dozen other Iron Maiden tribute albums (each featuring various artists) exist, including a piano tribute, an electro tribute, a black metal tribute and a hip-hop tribute. Iron Maiden songs have been featured in the soundtracks of several video games, including Carmageddon 2, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Grand Theft Auto: Episodes From Liberty City, Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4, SSX on Tour and Madden NFL 10.[68] Their music also appears in the Guitar Hero and Rock Band series of rhythmic video games. Iron Maiden songs have also appeared on the films Phenomena (called "Creepers" in the U.S.), and Murder by Numbers; while MTV's animated duo Beavis and Butthead have commented favorably on Iron Maiden multiple times. The band's name is named prominently (and repeated several times) in the songs "Teenage Dirtbag" by Wheatus and "Back to the 80's" by Danish dance-pop band Aqua. Punk rock band NOFX released a song titled "Eddie, Bruce, and Paul" on their 2009 album Coaster. This track tells the story of Iron Maiden, and is performed in the style of their early work. Weezer mentions them in the song "Heart Songs" from their 2008 self-titled "Red" album. The verse goes: "Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and Slayer taught me how to shred..." The Sum 41 song "Fat Lip" contains the line "Heavy metal and mullets it's how we were raised, Maiden and Priest were the gods that we praised" Iron Maiden's music also helped Jesper Strömblad of In Flames to pioneer the melodic death metal genre, stating that he had wanted to combine death metal with the melodic guitar sounds of Iron Maiden [edit] Awards Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Iron Maiden BRIT Awards 2009: Best British Live Act — Iron Maiden Ivor Novello Awards 2002: International Achievement — Iron Maiden Emma-gaala 2004: Yleisöäänestys (Finland) - Vuoden ulkomainen artisti (Foreign artist of the year) — Iron Maiden 2008: Yleisöäänestys (Finland) - Vuoden ulkomainen artisti (Foreign artist of the year) — Iron Maiden Kerrang! Awards 2005:Kerrang! Hall of Fame — Iron Maiden Metal Hammer Awards 2004: Best U.K. Live Act — Iron Maiden 2008: Best U.K. Band — Iron Maiden 2008: Icon Award — Eddie the Head 2009: Best U.K. Band - Iron Maiden 2009: Best U.K. Live Act — Iron Maiden 2009: Golden Gods Award — Iron Maiden Metal Storm Awards 2006: Best Heavy Metal Album — A Matter of Life and Death SXSW Film Festival 2009: 24 Beats Per Second — Flight 666 Classic Rock Roll of Honour Awards 2006: Album Of The Year - "A Matter Of Life And Death" Iron Maiden 2006: Vip Award Special - Rod Smallwood Iron Maiden 2009: Band of the year - Iron Maiden BBC Heavy Metal World Cup 2009: The Winner: Iron Maiden - Greatest Metal Band Of All Time[74] Juno Award 2010: DVD of the Year: Iron Maiden "Flight 666" (2009)Sam Dunn, Scott McFydden [75] [edit] Discography For a more comprehensive list, see Iron Maiden discography Studio albums Iron Maiden (1980) Killers (1981) The Number of the Beast (1982) Piece of Mind (1983) Powerslave (1984) Somewhere in Time (1986) Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (1988) No Prayer for the Dying (1990) Fear of the Dark (1992) The X Factor (1995) Virtual XI (1998) Brave New World (2000) Dance of Death (2003) A Matter of Life and Death (2006) The Final Frontier (2010) [edit] Band members For more details on this topic, see List of Iron Maiden band members. Current members Bruce Dickinson – lead vocals (1981–1993, 1999–present) Dave Murray – guitar (1976–present) Adrian Smith – guitar, backing vocals (1980–1990, 1999–present) Janick Gers – guitar (1990–present) Steve Harris – bass, backing vocals, studio keyboards (1975–present) Nicko McBrain – drums, percussion (1982–present) Live members Michael Kenney – keyboards (1986–present) Former members Doug Sampson – drums, percussion (1977–1979) Dennis Stratton – guitars, backing vocals (1979–1980) Paul Di'Anno – lead vocals (1978–1981) Clive Burr – drums, percussion (1980–1982) Blaze Bayley – lead vocals (1994–1998) Dennis Wilcock - lead vocals (1976–1977) Paul Day - lead vocals (1975–1976) Steve Harris and guitarist Dave Murray remain the longest-standing members of Iron Maiden. Original vocalist Paul Day was fired as he lacked "energy or charisma onstage".[8] He was replaced by Dennis Wilcock, a Kiss fan who utilised fire, make-up and fake blood during live performances. Wilcock's friend Dave Murray was invited to join, to the frustration of guitarists Dave Sullivan and Terry Rance.[9] This fueled Harris to temporarily disunite the band in 1976,[9] though the group reformed soon after with Murray as the sole guitarist. Iron Maiden recruited another guitarist in 1977, Bob Sawyer, who caused a rift between Murray and Wilcock, prompting Harris to fire both Murray and Sawyer.[10] A poor gig at the Bridgehouse in November 1977, with a makeshift line-up including Tony Moore on keyboards, Terry Wapram on guitar, and drummer Barry Purkis resulted in Harris firing the entire band.[11] Dave Murray was reinstated and Doug Sampson was hired as drummer. Wilcock then formed the band V1 with former Maiden guitarist Terry Wapram. [edit] Rise to fame (1978–1981) A chance meeting at the Red Lion pub in Leytonstone evolved into a successful audition for vocalist Paul Di'Anno. Steve Harris has stated, "There's sort of a quality in Paul's voice, a raspiness in his voice, or whatever you want to call it, that just gave it this great edge."[12] Iron Maiden had been playing for three years, but had never recorded any of their music. On New Year's Eve 1978, the band recorded a demo,[13] The Soundhouse Tapes. Featuring only four songs, the band sold all five thousand copies within weeks.[14] One track found on the demo, "Prowler", went to number one on Neal Kay's Heavy Metal Soundhouse charts in Sounds magazine.[14] Their first appearance on an album was on the compilation Metal for Muthas (released on 15 February 1980) with two early versions of "Sanctuary" and "Wrathchild". From late 1977 to 1978, Murray was the sole guitarist in the band until Paul Cairns joined in 1979. Shortly before going into the studio, Cairns left the band. Several other guitarists were hired temporarily until the band finally chose Dennis Stratton. Initially, the band wanted to hire Dave Murray's childhood friend Adrian Smith, but Smith was busy with his own band, Urchin.[15] Drummer Doug Sampson was also replaced by Clive Burr (who was brought into the band by Stratton). In December 1979, the band landed a major record deal with EMI.[16] Iron Maiden's eponymous 1980 release, Iron Maiden, made number 4 in the UK Albums Chart in its first week of release,[17] and the group became one of the leading proponents of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement.[18] In addition to the title track, the album includes other early favourites such as "Running Free", "Transylvania", "Phantom of the Opera", and "Sanctuary" — which was not on the original UK release but made the U.S. release and subsequent re-releases. The band played a headline tour of the UK then went on to open for Kiss on their 1980 Unmasked Tour's European leg. Iron Maiden also supported Judas Priest on select dates. After the Kiss tour, Dennis Stratton was dismissed from the band as a result of creative and personal differences.[19] Stratton was replaced by Adrian Smith in October 1980. In 1981, Maiden released their second album, titled Killers. This new album contained many tracks that had been written prior to the release of the debut album, but were considered surplus. With songs already created well in advance during tour, only two new tracks were written for the album: "Prodigal Son" and "Murders in the Rue Morgue"[20] (the title was taken from the short story by Edgar Allan Poe). By 1981, Paul Di'Anno was demonstrating increasingly self-destructive behaviour, particularly through alleged drug usage, although Di'Anno himself denies the charge.[21] His performances began to suffer, just as the band was beginning to achieve major success in America. At the end of 1981 the band dismissed Di'Anno and sought a new vocalist. Bruce Dickinson, previously of Samson, auditioned for Iron Maiden in September 1981 and joined the band soon afterwards. He then went out on the road with the band on a small headlining tour. In anticipation of the band's forthcoming album, the band played "Children of the Damned", "Run to the Hills", "22 Acacia Avenue" and "The Prisoner" at select venues, introducing fans to the sound that the band was progressing towards. Dickinson's recorded debut with Iron Maiden was 1982's The Number of the Beast, an album that claimed the band their first ever UK Albums Chart #1 record[22] and additionally became a Top Ten hit in many other countries.[23] For the second time the band went on a world tour, visiting the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, UK and Germany. The new line up, with Bruce Dickinson on vocals, was effectively introduced to the British public at large - by headlining the Reading Rock festival, on Saturday night over the August Bank Holiday 1982. A new and hugely successful chapter in Iron Maiden's future was cemented. The Number of the Beast tour's U.S. leg proved controversial when an American conservative political lobbying group claimed Iron Maiden was Satanic because of the new album's title track.[23] The band members' attempts to stop the criticism failed. A group of Christian activists destroyed Iron Maiden records (along with those of Ozzy Osbourne) as a protest against the band. Dickinson at the time was still having legal difficulties with Samson's management, and was not permitted to add his name to any of the songwriting credits. However, he was still able to lend "creative influence" to many of the songs. In a Guitar Legends interview he claims he contributed to the overall themes of "Children of the Damned", "The Prisoner" and "Run to the Hills". In December 1982, drummer Clive Burr ended his association with the band due to personal and tour schedule problems. He was replaced by Nicko McBrain, previously of French band Trust. Soon afterwards, the band journeyed for the first time to The Bahamas to record the first of three consecutive albums at Compass Point Studios, and during 1983 released Piece of Mind, which reached the #3 spot in the UK, and was the band's debut at the North American charts, with a #70 at the Billboard 200.[24] Piece of Mind includes the successful singles "Flight of Icarus" and "The Trooper". Soon after the success of Piece of Mind, the band released Powerslave on 9 September 1984. The album featured fan favourites "2 Minutes to Midnight", "Aces High", and "Rime of The Ancient Mariner",[25] the latter based on Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem of the same name and running over 13 minutes long. The tour following the album, dubbed the World Slavery Tour, was the band's largest to date and consisted of 193 shows over 13 months. This was one of the largest tours in music history - playing to 3,500,000 people over the course of 13 months.[26] Many shows were played back-to-back in the same city, such as in Long Beach, California ( 4 consecutive sold out shows to summary audience of 54 000 fans), where most of the recordings were made for their subsequent live release Live After Death which has since become one of the best selling metal live albums and is often regarded by critics and fans as the one of the best hard rock/heavy metal live albums ever. Iron Maiden also co-headlined (with Queen) the Rock In Rio festival, where they performed to an estimated crowd of 300,000 festivalgoers.[5] This tour was physically gruelling for the band and they took a 6-month vacation when it ended. This was the first vacation in the band's history, including even canceling a proposed supporting tour for the new live album.[27] Returning from their vacation, the band adopted a different style for their 1986 studio album, entitled Somewhere in Time. This was not a concept album, though it was themed loosely around the idea of time travel and associated themes - history, the passage of time, and long journeys. It featured, for the first time in the band's history, synthesised bass and guitars to add textures and layers to the sound.[28] Though considered different from the norm of Maiden sounds, it charted well across the world, particularly with the single "Wasted Years". The experimentation evident on Somewhere in Time continued and was apparent on their next album, entitled Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, which was released in 1988. Adding to Iron Maiden's experimentation, it was a concept album featuring a story about a mythical child who possessed clairvoyant powers. For the first time, the band used keyboards on a recording, as opposed to guitar synthesisers on the previous release. Critics claimed this produced a more accessible release.[29] It became the band's second album to hit #1 in the UK charts. During the Donington Park Festival on August 20, 1988, attendance was placed as 107,000; the biggest crowd attendance in the festival's history. Other performances in the festival include Kiss, David Lee Roth, Megadeth, Guns N' Roses and Helloween.[30] In 1990, to end Iron Maiden's first ten years of releasing singles, they released The First Ten Years, a series of ten CDs and double 12" vinyls. Between 24 February and 28 April 1990, the individual parts were released one-by-one, each containing two of Iron Maiden's singles, including the B-sides. In 1989, after touring with Iron Maiden, guitarist Adrian Smith released a solo album with his band ASAP entitled Silver and Gold. During this break in 1989, vocalist Bruce Dickinson began work on a solo album with former Gillan guitarist Janick Gers, releasing Tattooed Millionaire in 1990. Soon afterward, Iron Maiden regrouped to work on a new album, Adrian Smith left the band due to a lack of enthusiasm. Janick Gers, having worked on Bruce Dickinson's solo project, was chosen to replace Smith and became the first new team member in seven years. The album, No Prayer for the Dying, was released during October 1990.[31] The band obtained their first (and to date, only) UK Singles Chart number one successful single with "Bring Your Daughter... to the Slaughter", originally recorded by Dickinson for the soundtrack to A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child. It was released on 24 December 1990, and was one of the first records to be released on several different formats with different B-sides. The single holds the record for being the fastest release to reach number one and then lose any chart rating again over the following couple of weeks.[32] Dickinson performed a solo tour in 1991 before returning to studio work with Iron Maiden for the album Fear of the Dark. Released in 1992, the album was noticeably longer (due to this being Iron Maiden's first album recorded for CD rather than LP) and had several songs which became fan favourites, such as the title track and "Afraid to Shoot Strangers". The disc also featured "Wasting Love", one of the band's softer songs, and the #2 single "Be Quick or Be Dead". The album featured the first songwriting by Gers, and no collaboration at all between Harris and Dickinson on songs. The extensive worldwide tour that followed, included their first ever Latin American leg (after a single concert during the World Slavery Tour), and a being the headline act of "Monsters of Rock Festival" in seven European countries. Iron Maiden's second performance at Donington Park, gathering near to 80,000 festivalgoers, originated the album and video release Live at Donington.[33] In 1993, Bruce Dickinson left the band to further pursue his solo career but agreed to remain for a farewell tour and two live albums (later re-released in one package). The first, A Real Live One, featured songs from 1986 to 1992, and was released in March 1993. The second, A Real Dead One, featured songs from 1975 to 1984, and was released after Dickinson had left the band. He played his farewell show with Iron Maiden on 28 August 1993. The show was filmed, broadcast by the BBC, and released on video under the name Raising Hell.