Nicko McBrain opened up about Iron Maiden's period with Blaze Bayley on vocals and Bruce Dickinson's return to the group in 1999. According to the drummer, Bruce's return was "God's plan."
In an interview with Kerrang!,Nicko commented: “This shows me the sincerity and truth within his [Bruce's] heart. I think all of this was God's plan. Who else could have planned something like: 'Okay, you're going to have a new vocalist, then you're going to bring the old one back and he's going to bring [guitarist] Adrian Smith along'?”, he revealed [transcription via Blabbermouth].
In the conversation, the drummer also revealed that he felt betrayed when Dickinson left Iron Maiden in 1993. Before returning to the stage, Nicko made a point of talking to the vocalist in a pub in the British city of Brighton to make amends.
“I put my arm around him and said, ‘Look, man, it’s great that you’re back, but I can’t change how I felt. I love you, but I felt betrayed.’ Bruce just turned to me and said, ‘I wouldn’t have it any other way, Nicko, I love you too,’” he concluded.
Iron Maiden would come to an end if they continued with Blaze Bayley, the drummer stated
“I loved Blaze. I was a father figure to him, I said, ‘I’m going to take you under my wing.’ Steve [Harris, bassist] never wavered and supported him 125 million percent, as did all of us,” he continued. “In the end, I started to have concerns about the performances on the Virtual XI. Cracks started to appear. It felt like, ‘Either we change this, or we won’t survive,’” he explained.
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