IRON MAIDEN drummer Nicko McBrain faced a health scare in January 2023. While at home in Boca Raton, he suffered a stroke that caused some paralysis. Thankfully, he received swift and expert treatment from stroke specialists at Marcus Neuroscience Institute. This marked the start of a demanding physical rehabilitation journey.
McBrain publicly addressed his health on July 19th during a performance with his band TITANIUM TART in Pompano Beach, Florida.
He said: “I’ve gotta be honest with you, it was a touch and go last year for me, because, as you probably know… If you don’t, TIA [transient ischemic attack] strokes aren’t fun. Some people get really bad reactions to ’em, like [they become] paralyzed, they can’t speak, they can’t walk and do whatnot. I couldn’t play — I was paralyzed on the right side. Fortunately, the Boca Raton Regional Hospital had this incredible OT [occupational therapy] section, and there’s a girl called Julie Blum that looked after me, and in three months, she had me playing again. And it ain’t the old Nicko, it’s not the old one by a long shot, but at least it’s part of me. And my band, bless their hearts, [IRON MAIDEN bassist] Steve Harris and the rest of the guys turn around and say, ‘If you can’t do something in a song, we just won’t do that song.'”
Expounding on the physical limitations resulting from his stroke, Nicko stated: “When we were rehearsing last year for ‘The Future Past Tour’, we were doing ‘Caught Somewhere In Time’ to open. Now there’s a middle section, it’s all snare drum on the record. I can’t play it. As you probably noticed, those of you nerds that are in the audience that go, ‘He didn’t do the drum fill.’ Well, that’s why, ’cause I f**king can’t do it. So anyway, Steve turned around to me and I said, ‘Okay, I’ve got an idea. if I do the double on the snare,’ and I played it for him and he went, ‘No. Have you got anything else?’ I went, ‘Yeah I’ll play it on the cymbal.’ ‘No. You got anything else?’ ‘That’s me spent, mate.’ So he turned around and he thought about for about half a minute. He’s standing in front of my drum set and he’s going, ‘Why don’t you play it straight?’ I went, ‘What?’ ‘Play a straight fill through it. Go ahead.’ I went, ‘You’re a f**king genius, Harry.’ And there’s me, the drummer, supposedly, [I’m] supposed to come up with all these ideas, and there’s Harry: ‘Play it straight, Nick.’ I didn’t even think of that. And so we rehearsed it from thereon in, and we play it straight, which I’m sure 90 percent of you don’t give a f**k about that bit anyway.”
In an interview with Baptist Health two months ago, Nicko reflected on the fateful morning he suffered a stroke.
He recalled: “It was about probably 8, 8:15. I had a sleep. I woke up about quarter to 9. And as I got turned over, my arm wasn’t moving. And I thought, ‘What’s going on?’ And I pulled my hand up. I could feel — I had sensation in my hand. And I thought, ‘Well, where’s the pins and needles? Why has it gone to sleep?’ And I started to [squeeze my hand]. And I let my hand go, and it just dropped. And I thought, ‘Uh oh.'”
Nicko continued, expressing his uncertainty about recovering from the stroke in time to join his MAIDEN bandmates for their scheduled spring tour: “I did honestly think that was it. Now I’m laying in the bed, and I’m trying to move, move my hand, at least my fingers or something, encourage my body to, ‘Come on, you can do this. You can do this.’ Because we had scheduled this tour two years prior. And we were starting in May, and we were gonna do rehearsals starting the last week of April. So I thought, ‘Well, I’ve got three months to see if I can at least play again.’ And even holding a drumstick, there was nothing there.”
IRON MAIDEN will kick off North American leg of their “The Future Past World Tour 2024” this fall. The tour will start on Friday, October 4 in San Diego, CA and stretch across both coasts before ending Sunday, November 17 in San Antonio, TX.
Dates and tickets for the tour are available at this location.
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