Nicko McBrain

Michael Henry "Nicko" McBrain (born 5 June 1952) is an English musician, best known as the drummer of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden since 1982. Having played in small pub bands since 1966 from the age of 14, McBrain paid his bills after graduating from school with session work before he joined a variety of artists, such as Streetwalkers in 1975, Pat Travers, and the French political band, Trust. He joined Iron Maiden (replacing Clive Burr), in time to debut on their fourth album Piece of Mind (1983), and has remained with them since, contributing to a total of fourteen studio releases, as well as being the third-longest serving member of the band. McBrain was born in Hackney, London, and first wanted to learn the drums at a young age after watching Joe Morello performing with The Dave Brubeck Quartet on television. At the age of ten, he started to play drums with pots, pans and other kitchen utensils, before, to his parents' dismay, he began drumming on the gas cooker with a pair of knives and chipped off the paintwork. McBrain recalls that he was eleven or twelve before his father bought him his first drum kit, "which was basically one snare, one tom-tom, one cymbal, two drumsticks and a pair of brushes." He soon started playing Rolling Stones and Beatles covers with school bands, before he began regularly playing "pubs and weddings" by the age of 14. McBrain had his nose broken in a fight at school which left him with his trademark flat features. He never underwent surgery to repair his nose. After obtaining a degree in engineering at Southgate Technical College at his parents' request, McBrain rather paid his rent by undertaking session work. His first "proper" band was "The 18th Fairfield Walk", later known as "Peyton Bond", a small pub band, which he decided was "never gonna go anywhere" as they only performed Otis Redding, The Beatles and The Who covers. McBrain soon left to join "The Wells Street Blues Band", which renamed themselves "The Axe" in 1969, a group which played their own material.

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Related concepts (2)

Bruce Dickinson

Paul Bruce Dickinson (born 7 August 1958) is a English singer, best known as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden. Dickinson has performed in the band across two stints, from 1981 to 1993 and from 1999 to the present day. He is known for his wide-ranging operatic vocal style and energetic stage presence. Dickinson began his career in music fronting small pub bands in the 1970s while attending school in Sheffield and university in London.

Piece of Mind

Piece of Mind is the fourth studio album by English heavy metal band Iron Maiden. It was released on 16 May 1983 in the United Kingdom by EMI Records and in the United States by Capitol Records. It was the first album to feature drummer Nicko McBrain, who had recently left the band Trust and has been Iron Maiden's drummer ever since. Piece of Mind was a mostly critical and commercial success, reaching number three on the UK Albums Chart and achieving platinum certification in the UK and North America.