Bruce Dickinson and Iron Maiden have a new touring drummer in Simon Dawson. He is replacing Nicko McBrain, who stepped down after over 30 years of playing with the band. In a conversation with the audience at the Musicians Institute MI Conversation Series, here’s what Bruce had to say about Dawson.

“Well, we’ve already had a rehearsal with Simon on the last [Maiden] tour. Simon was tagging along with British Lion, as Steve was doing shows [with both bands]. But it was kind of insurance for us because we weren’t sure… We were hoping Nick was gonna make the tour, but there were some times during the show when, not so much his drumming, but his physical body was really… We were worried.”

“We were, like, ‘We do not want to end up with Nick in the hospital, and we do need to have a backup.’ And Simon was suggested by Steve, and we all went, ‘Yeah, but how do we know it’s gonna work?’ So we said to Nick, ‘Look, in the middle of the tour, we’ve got a couple of days in Portland, Oregon. We’re gonna rent a rehearsal place and we’re gonna just give Simon a go just to see if it works, just in case.’ So we did. And a couple of us were, like, ‘I don’t know how this is gonna be, but hey…'”

Bruce went on to talk about how he was shocked at the ability and the endurance that Simon Dawson showed off in their rehearsals.

“And honestly, I was pleasantly shocked. I was, like, ‘Wow.’ We went through the whole set without a break. And this guy had not rehearsed with anybody. He just, like, turned up with Maiden. We went through the entire set of the tour that we were on at the time, and it was all there. I thought, ‘My God, we could do a show tonight if we had to. That’s unreal.'”

Nicko McBrain on stage with Iron Maiden
Photo By: adels

The reasoning behind why Iron Maiden picked Simon over other drummers is just as interesting.

“The incredible thing was with Simon, which, obviously, when it was suggested, after Nicko decided to retire, or retire from live playing, that Simon should take over, and there were other drummers that people thought were kind of in the frame. And one of the reasons that we didn’t pick those other types of drummers was ’cause, although they were very good drummers — nothing wrong with their drumming — they all wanted to sound like Nick.”

“And you can’t replace Nicko. You shouldn’t even try to replace him. You don’t want a Nicko clone. You want a drummer who plays the material but plays kind of their own style. And if I’m honest, if I closed my eyes at moments during that rehearsal [with Simon], it was like having [late Maiden drummer] Clive Burr back in the band, ’cause he’s got that feel. It’s that big band swing time feel. He has all the same influences and everything.”

“And I was just, like, ‘Oh my God. Wow.’ So I’m actually really excited. We start [rehearsing for the tour] next — not next week. Hang on. I actually go back to Europe tomorrow. And then we’ve got, like, 10 days, and then we start. So we will be going through it. I’ve got my little speaker set up in my little Airbnb at the moment. I’ve got the whole setlist on there.”

Iron Maiden are going on the Run For Your Lives World Tour that kicks off on May 27th in Budapest. Here are the full tour dates:

MAY 2025
27 Budapest, HUNGARY – Budapest Aréna *
31 Prague, CZECH REPUBLIC – Letnany Airport *

JUNE 2025
01 Bratislava, SLOVAKIA – TIPOS Arena *
05 Trondheim, NORWAY – Trondheim Rocks (Festival)
07 Stavanger, NORWAY – SR-Bank Arena *
09 Copenhagen, DENMARK – Royal Arena *
12 Stockholm, SWEDEN – 3Arena *
13 Stockholm, SWEDEN – 3Arena *
16 Helsinki, FINLAND – Olympic Stadium *
21 Birmingham, ENGLAND – Utilita Arena ^
22 Manchester, ENGLAND – Co-op Live ^
25 Dublin, IRELAND – Malahide Castle *^
28 London, ENGLAND – London Stadium *^
30 Glasgow, SCOTLAND – OVO Hydro ^

JULY 2025
03 Belfort, FRANCE – Eurockéennes Festival
05 Madrid, SPAIN – Estadio Cívitas Metropolitano **
06 Lisbon, PORTUGAL – MEO Arena **
09 Zurich, SWITZERLAND – Hallenstadion **
11 Gelsenkirchen, GERMANY – Veltins-Arena **
13 Padova, ITALY – Stadio Euganeo **
15 Bremen, GERMANY – Bürgerweide **
17 Vienna, AUSTRIA – Ernst Happel Stadium **
19 Paris, FRANCE – Paris La Défense Arena **
23 Arnhem, NETHERLANDS – GelreDome **
25 Frankfurt, GERMANY – Deutsche Bank Park **
26 Stuttgart, GERMANY – Cannstatter Wasen **
29 Berlin, GERMANY – Waldbühne **

AUGUST 2025
02 Warsaw – POLAND – PGE Narodowy **

*Halestorm | ^The Raven Age | **Avatar

For more on Metal, make sure to check back to That Hashtag Show.

Keep Reading:

How Did Janick Gers Actually Join Iron Maiden? And Why Did He Want To Leave?