December 7, 2024, is a date etched in the history of Nicko McBrain and Iron Maiden . The drummer played his last show with the band during the closing concert of The Future Past World Tour at Allianz Parque in São Paulo.
Now, in an interview with Drum Talk TV , McBrain commented on more details about what happened. The Englishman stated that he planned to announce his retirement only in January of this year. However, the artist changed his mind after being convinced by the band's management.
“I personally asked the managers and the band to postpone the announcement until after the show, until January of this year. I wanted to spend Christmas without everyone texting me and my phone ringing all the time. Andy Taylor talked to me. I remember the conversation like it was yesterday. Again, we were in Los Angeles and he said, 'Nick, what's this about you not wanting to make an announcement at your last show? You have to go out on top. You don't want to go out 'hidden'” [transcription via Blabbermouth ].
He continued: “I told him, ‘You’re right. I’m being selfish.’ I didn’t want to, because I didn’t want my friends and family calling me. We talked about it there and he convinced me it was the right thing to do because my mindset was, ‘Yes, let’s tell everyone on New Year’s. Let’s let Christmas and New Year’s pass.’ And it was a lovely way to announce it.”
Nicko McBrain was upset by the speed with which his replacement was announced.
Less than 24 hours after the performance, Iron Maiden announced Simon Dawson ( British Lion ) as a replacement. McBrain explained that he was a little upset because he had asked that Simon not be announced until Monday, which didn't happen.
“The only thing that bothered me a little was that I asked them not to announce Simon until Monday. On Sunday I was traveling from São Paulo to Florida. And they were going to make the announcement almost immediately, and I said, ‘Give them a day or two.’ Well, they gave me 24 hours. Not even that, they announced the next morning that he was going to be my replacement. It doesn’t really matter when they did it. But I asked them to leave it for another day. I must admit I was a little bothered by that. I thought, ‘Oh, they could have waited another 24 hours.’”
READ ALSO: Steve Harris on Nicko McBrain's retirement from touring: "We had no choice"
