- Music
- 30 Jul 25
Original Iron Maiden vocalist Paul Mario Day dies aged 69
His death occurred on July 29 at his home in Australia, following his battle with cancer, and was confirmed by his band MORE
The original vocalist for Iron Maiden, Paul Mario Day, has died at the age of 69.
The band More, which Day joined after his Maiden exit, confirmed his passing in a statement on social media.
"We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of the great MORE vocalist Paul Mario Day. Paul was a huge part of the NWOBHM (New Wave of British Heavy Metal) from his time in an early version of Iron Maiden and, of course, his fantastic performance on the Warhead album,” they wrote.
Day was recruited by Iron Maiden bassist and band founder Steve Harris in 1975 to front the then-unknown band.
His time with the group was brief, lasting 10 months.
Reflecting on his early days with the band, the London-native once recalled, “When I sang in Iron Maiden, it was a new pub band and nobody wanted to see or hear them. We were all nobodys trying to make the best music we could and fighting for an audience.”
He left the group in 1976 and was succeeded by Dennis Wilcock, who was also short-lived in the role, before Paul Di’Anno and later Bruce Dickinson took over vocal duties.
While Day never recorded with the band, he claimed to have co-written the song ‘Strange World’, which appeared on Iron Maiden’s 1980 debut album, without being credited properly.
In 2019, he said that the issue of co-authorship was “finished with,” adding that “everything’s fine as far as that’s concerned.”
Following his departure from Iron Maiden, the singer performed with British rock bands More and Wildfire, and later joined a reformed lineup of glam rockers Sweet in the mid-1980s alongside guitarist Andy Scott and drummer Mick Tucker.
“In 1985, Mick Tucker and myself put together the first new line-up of Sweet after the hiatus of the original band,” Scott wrote in a tribute on Facebook.
“We needed a singer, and when Paul arrived for the audition, we looked no further. Paul’s vocal performance has stood the test of time.”
Day later relocated to Australia, where he continued performing and recording music well into his later years.
He is survived by his wife Cecily and extended family.
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