Adrian Smith of Iron Maiden: "We kept getting younger fans and it's great to have that new blood"

On May 7, metal kings Iron Maiden are set to raise the temperature to 666 degrees, when they release their brand new documentary Burning Ambition in cinemas worldwide. Telling the tale of former street sweeper-turned-spandex-clad-bassist, songwriter and bona fide rock god, Steve Harris, and his quest to make music on his own terms – trends and mainstream attention bedamned –the movie charts 50 years of huge highs and some devastating lows.

Hackney-bred guitar hero Adrian Smith has been by “’Arry’s” side for most of that journey, and when Hot Press catches up with him, he tells us he’s delighted with the movie.

“Sometimes it’s hard to watch yourself on the big screen,” he notes. “A lot of actors will tell you that too, but actually I enjoyed being involved in this film. It brought back a lot of memories, mostly good ones. There’s stuff covered in there that has never been covered before and it was a painless experience.”

Hot Press has been a fan of the band since the age of eight, and there were a few moments during my exclusive viewing of Burning Ambition when I “had something in my eye”. Particularly when it came to the passing of the band’s former frontman Paul Di’Anno in 2024, and drummer Clive Burr in 2013, as well as the recent retirement of tub-thumper Nicko McBrain due to a stroke.

Iron Maiden. Credit: Ross Halfin.

“Watching the film was emotional for me too,” confesses Adrian. “It’s a great document of 50 years of our lives. I was a bit sad watching the parts about Paul and Clive. I spent a couple of years working with them. Clive and I were room-mates on the first couple of tours and that was a film in itself, believe me! He was a character. He was good fun though.

“The Nicko thing was one of the low points of my career in the band. I think we’d all say that. He was a massive part of Iron Maiden, he’s a brother really. We’re like a family, but unfortunately his health wasn’t good. It’ll never be the same without Nick, but having said that, Simon [Dawson] has come in and done a great job, so we’re good to go for a while yet. As long as people want to see us, we’ll be out there as long as we can do it.”

Selling out stadiums across the world, while shifting over 100 millions records without mainstream support, is an almost unheard of achievement in any era. What’s the secret to Maiden’s success?

“I joined the band in 1980 and it was tour, tour, tour,” says Smith. “Go to every place you could think of and take our music to the people. It was never about having a couple of hit records. It was always about good, honest hard work. We do bigger shows now, and I think it’s partly because people remember us going to them in the earlier days, and they stuck with us. We also keep getting younger fans and it’s great to have that new blood.”

Back in 2020, the riff-wrangler and keen angler revealed in his memoir, Monsters Of River And Rock, that his mammy is a Mayo woman. Has he visited the Yew County much?

“I did in the mid-’80s,” he recalls. “I spent quite a bit of time near Ballinrobe where she’s from. I did a bit of family history, which was cool. I have one funny story actually. When I was there fishing on the

River Robe, some kids had been following me and were carrying our album The Number Of The Beast.

“They were very shy, and I put my rod down and beckoned them over and signed the records for them. When I was doing that, two nuns came around the bend arm-in-arm, and were looking at what I was doing. They saw the album cover, started laughing and actually thought it was funny.”

• Iron Maiden: Burning Ambition is in cinemas on now. The band headline Eddfest at Knebworth, England on July 11.