British heavy metal icons IRON MAIDEN honored their former vocalist Paul Di’Anno during their concert on Tuesday night (October 22) at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
Before performing the song “The Time Machine,” current MAIDEN frontman Bruce Dickinson spoke to the audience, saying: “So, this next track is actually called ‘The Time Machine’. And I was watching ‘Back To The Future’ last night on TV and it’s true. It is 1.21 gigawatts of power that you need to put a DeLorean through the portal of time itself.
“I normally tell a story about that [and] we have a bit of fun. But tonight is — I don’t wanna put a downer on the proceedings at all, because our friend, our bandmember Paul Di’Anno passed away, as you are probably aware. And if you’re not aware of that fact, you are now.”
“Paul was instrumental in the first two albums, groundbreaking with Killers and the first album,” Bruce continued. “An amazing voice, devoted to rock and roll right up till the last minute of his life. So… for those of you who were born and still remember those early albums, when obviously I wasn’t in the band and he was, and those of you who were fans of the stuff he did with BATTLEZONE and his own projects afterwards, and for anybody else that fancies having a listen to tracks like ‘Remember Tomorrow’ and stuff like that, which are absolutely awesome, I’m just gonna ask everybody to just take like a few seconds to just close your eyes in silence and say, just internally, mentally — if you believe in God, if you don’t believe in God, it actually doesn’t matter; just believe in what you believe in and just say, ‘Thanks, boss, for doing what you did.'”
“So, Paul, if you’re listening, this is a little message from Minneapolis to wherever you are, upstairs or downstairs, Minneapolis, for Paul Di’Anno, scream for me.”
Paul Di’Anno, born Paul Andrews, passed away at his home in Salisbury on October 21 at the age of 66.
Paul, born on May 17, 1958, in Chingford, East London, gained recognition as the lead singer of the English heavy metal band IRON MAIDEN from 1978 to 1981. He lent his vocals to their groundbreaking debut album, Iron Maiden, as well as the highly influential follow-up, Killers.
Di’Anno had a prolific career since his departure from the band. He has recorded extensively with BATTLEZONE and KILLERS, released solo albums, and made numerous guest appearances. Even while battling significant health issues that have confined him to a wheelchair in recent years, Di’Anno has continued to captivate audiences worldwide, performing over 100 shows since 2023.
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