Iron Maiden legend Nicko McBrain retired from touring back in 2024, after suffering some serious health battles. Now, in a resurfaced interview, we can hear in his own words how those issues threatened his heavy metal career.

The health battles in question started with a stroke in 2023. This left Nicko paralyzed on his right side, from the shoulder down, for a period of time. The following year, he announced his retirement from tour life.

In July 2025, two years after his stroke, Nicko appeared on Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk to discuss his decision to quit touring. “I had my health issues,” he said at the time. “Which was one of the primary reasons that I decided to hang it up with the guys. And I wasn’t doing the songs justice because of the handicap that I had. And it wasn’t fair on everybody else either in the band.”

Nicko McBrain retired from touring in 2024 after surviving a stroke

He continued, “They supported me 100 percent through the ‘The Future Past Tour’, and that was fantastic. I couldn’t have asked for a better bunch of brothers to support me through my darkest hour.”

Nicko later shared some insight into the physical and personal issues that led to him hanging up his tour kit. “Primarily, I was fed up with touring in terms of the travel and not having days to recoup my body,” he said.

“I wasn’t so much slowing down, although we did play the songs that,” Nicko added, then switching gears, “I got told off at rehearsals [in 2024] because I was playing the songs too fast.” He explained that this was because he had “been playing with Titanium Tart before I went off and did the rehearsals in Australia with Maiden.” Titanium Tart is Nicko’s Florida-based side project that performs Iron Maiden songs.

“I actually got told off for playing too quick,” Nicko continued. “So it wasn’t a question of not being able to drive the band. It was just not being able to drive the band with the drum fills that I’d been used to playing for 42 years. So the question mark was raised about the performance side. And that’s quite right…So that was part of the decision that I made.”

Fast forward to October 2026: Nicko McBrain is about to release his autobiography, “Hello Boys And Girls!” Harper Nonfiction will publish the book on October 22, 2026.

Photo by Francesco Castaldo/Archivio Francesco Castaldo/Mondadori via Getty Images

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