As heavy metal legends Iron Maiden prepare to celebrate their 50th anniversary in 2025 with the massive Run For Your Lives tour, the band’s bassist and leader Steve Harris has told MusicRadar that they’re planing to carry on for years to come.
On 7 December, drummer Nicko McBrain announced his retirement from touring after 42 years in the band.
But Maiden wasted no time in unveiling McBrain’s replacement - Simon Dawson, who plays in Harris’ other band British Lion.
And Harris is confident that Maiden still have plenty of gas left in the tank.
“It’s amazing that this band’s been going for 50 years,” he says. “When you really think about it, it’s insane. How many songs we’ve done, how many albums, how many tours… it’s outrageous.
“And it’s fantastic to see so many young people in the audience now. A couple of shows that we did recently, we had youngsters, real youngsters, like nine or ten years old, and and then some others like teens or early twenties. So we’re still generating new fans all the time.
“And I think that’s because we put on a good, entertaining show. We're still playing really well. And for all those young people turning up, I think a lot of them - dare I say it - I don't think they've seen anything like it.
He laughs: “We’re seeing all these young people in the front row, and they must think we’re ancient now. Well, we are, I suppose! You know, when I was 17 I thought that 25 was old!”
Harris is now 68, but he keeps himself fit playing sports.
“I still play football,” he says. “I played twice in Australia during the last tour. I played tennis a few times on this tour, too. And I beat this guy who was in his twenties. So I'm still doing something right, I think.
"The way I look at it, you've got to do it while you physically can still do it. Although I will say, I've seen videos of me playing football, running down the wing, and I think that I'm pretty fast, but when you watch the video back, it's like, ‘Oh shit! It's not that fast at all.’ But it’s different with the band.”
He cites Mick Jagger, now 81, as the perfect example of a veteran rock star still capable of performing at a high level. And he adds, with tongue firmly in cheek, that he might get some fitness tips from Jagger now that there is a family connection between Maiden and The Rolling Stones following the wedding this summer of Harris’ daughter Faye to Ronnie Wood’s son Tyrone.
“Mick Jagger has set the bar, fitness-wise,” Harris says. “I don’t know what he does exactly, regime-wise, to keep himself fit, but he's in good shape. And I’m in-laws with Ronnie now, so I could probably ask him and find out! He’s a really nice guy, Ronnie. The first time I met him was when he came to see Maiden and he's great, very down to earth.”
As for the future of Iron Maiden and British Lion, Harris says he is happy to continue touring with both bands for as long as possible.
“The funny things is, when I go out with British Lion and we’re playing in clubs, it’s the same thing that I was doing with Maiden in the early days.
“I missed that sort of challenge, that era of not knowing if people are gonna turn up or not, and trying to just get as many people in as possible.
“You got more butterflies in your stomach back then with Maiden, because you weren't sure what you were gonna get. And I like that feeling - not the butterflies, necessarily, but I like the feeling of the challenge.
“And I love doing both - Maiden and British Lion - because I'm the sort of person that likes to keep busy. I'm always doing something or other, always on the go.
“Where I live in The Bahamas, it’s incredible, but I can't spend more than 30 or 40 minutes on the beach. I’ve lived there a long time. I always wanted to after we made albums there [Iron Maiden recorded three albums in the ’80s at Compass Point studios in Nassau, capital of The Bahamas].
“Living there, I thought it might help chill me out a little bit,” he laughs. “And it has made me chill out a tiny bit. But as soon as I get home I’m already thinking about the next tour - and that's great, because it's what I love doing.”
