Following Nicko McBrain’s retirement from touring, Iron Maiden have revealed that “a name familiar to many of our fans” will be stepping in next year.
Iron Maiden have welcomed their new touring drummer, Simon Dawson.
Following the news of Nicko McBrain’s retirement from the road yesterday (December 7), the heavy metal legends have now revealed that Steve Harris’ British Lion bandmate will be filling in for 2025’s highly-anticipated Run For Your Lives Tour.
“As The Future Past Tour concludes after 81 shows to over 1.4 million fans, from Ljubljana to the Coachella Valley and from Western Australia to Sao Paulo, Iron Maiden are delighted to announce that stepping in behind the kit for 2025 is a name familiar to many of our fans – Simon Dawson, a former session drummer and Steve’s rhythm section partner of the past 12 years with British Lion,” say Maiden.
“A native of Suffolk, England, Simon first teamed up with Steve Harris back in 2012. He debuted on three tracks on the first British Lion album and all of the second critically acclaimed The Burning, plus the many subsequent tours in the US, UK, Europe, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and, most recently, both Mexico and South America.
“Iron Maiden celebrate their 50th Anniversary next year with the Run For Your Lives Tour starting in Budapest on May 27.”
In yesterday’s official statement regarding the departure, Steve said that Nicko “is and will always be part of the Maiden family”. Manager Rod Smallwood went on to tease that, “Maiden always get their man and our already chosen new drummer will be announced very shortly.”
Welcome, Simon!
Catch Maiden at the following live dates next year:
May 2025
27 Budapest Aréna, Budapest, Hungary
31 Letnany Airport, Prague, Czechia
June 2025
1 TIPOS Arena, Bratislava, Slovakia
5 Trondheim Rocks, Trondheim, Norway
7 SR-Bank Arena, Stavanger, Norway
9 Royal Arena, Copenhagen, Denmark
12 3Arena, Stockholm, Sweden
13 3Arena, Stockholm, Sweden
16 Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland
21 Utilita Arena, Birmingham, England
22 Co-op Live, Manchester, England
25 Malahide Castle, Dublin, Ireland
28 London Stadium, London, England
30 OVO Hydro, Glasgow, Scotland
July 2025
3 Eurockéennes Festival, Belfort, France
5 Estadio Cívitas Metropolitano, Madrid, Spain
6 MEO Arena, Lisbon, Portugal
9 Hallenstadion, Zurich, Switzerland
11 Veltins-Arena, Gelsenkirchen, Germany
13 Stadio Euganeo, Padova, Italy
15 Bürgerweide, Bremen, Germany
17 Ernst Happel Stadium, Vienna, Austria
19 Paris La Défense Arena, Paris, France
23 GelreDome, Arnhem, Netherlands
25 Deutsche Bank Park, Frankfurt, Germany
26 Cannstatter Wasen, Stuttgart, Germany
29 Waldbühne, Berlin, Germany
August 2025
2 PGE Narodowy, Warsaw, Poland
Read this: Protein, squatting and “useless tat”: Life on the road with Bruce Dickinson
