IRON MAIDEN

He's been the driving force behind the greatest metal band of all time for more than 35 years. He's an icon, a hero and a living testament to the power of ambition, determination and humility. But more important than that, Steve Harris is an absolute beast of a bass player. There are undoubtedly more technically gifted bassists in the rock world, but the sounds Steve conjures from four strings provides Maiden with a precise and propulsive backbone; that unmistakable, clattering pulse, as essential to the band's music as Bruce Dickinson's voice or those seminal twin guitar harmonies.

Throw in the fact that H is also a truly great songwriter and it's not hard to see how he topped our poll. The image of Steve Harris, foot on monitor and Fender Precision aimed, machine-gun style, at the first few rows of baying acolytes is simply the visual essence of Iron Fucking Maiden. And furthermore, how the fuck do his fingers move that fast? Steve's playing style is so unique that, surprisingly, it has never been credibly emulated by anyone. Perhaps metal musicians just instinctively know that you don't mess with the master."

Born in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, Dickinson began his career in music fronting small pub bands in the 1970s while attending school in Sheffield and university in London. In 1979, he joined the New Wave of British Heavy Metal band Samson, with whom he gained some popularity under the stage name "Bruce Bruce" and performed on two studio records. He left Samson in 1981 to join Iron Maiden, replacing Paul Di'Anno, and debuted on their 1982 album The Number of the Beast. During his first tenure in the band, they issued a series of US and UK platinum and gold albums in the 1980s, resulting in Dickinson gaining worldwide fame, and becoming one of the most acclaimed heavy metal vocalists of all time.

Dickinson quit Iron Maiden in 1993 (being replaced by Blaze Bayley) in order to pursue his solo career, which saw him experiment with a wide variety of heavy metal and rock styles. He rejoined the band in 1999, along with guitarist Adrian Smith, with whom he released four subsequent studio albums. Since his return to Iron Maiden, he issued one further solo record in 2005, Tyranny of Souls. His younger cousin, Rob Dickinson, is the former lead singer of British alternative rock band Catherine Wheel, while his son, Austin, fronted the metalcore band Rise to Remain.

David Michael Murray (born 23 December 1956)[1] is an English guitarist and songwriter best known as one of the earliest members of the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden. Along with the group's bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris, Murray has appeared on all of the band's releases.

Growing up in various areas of London, Murray became a member of a skinhead gang before he took an interest in rock music at 15 and formed his own band, Stone Free, with childhood friend Adrian Smith. After leaving school at 15,[2] he regularly answered advertisements which appeared in Melody Maker before auditioning for Iron Maiden in 1976. A short while later, Murray was sacked following an argument with the group's lead vocalist, Dennis Wilcock, and spent six months in Smith's band, Urchin. In Spring 1978, Murray was asked to rejoin Iron Maiden following Wilcock's departure, in which he has remained to this day.

The Maiden’s classic third guitarist who would prove to be the group’s most recognized axe man songwriter. Like Dave Murray and unlike Janick Gers, Adrian Smith is a guitarist who is a more laid-back and relaxed character both on and off the stage. That being said, his personality and presence at gigs can prove deceptive at times, because Adrian Smith, besides being a technically classic guitarist, plays with a contemporary slickness that cannot fail to be recognised. Before we get to H’s styles, solo’s and the like, it should be pointed out that Adrian Smith is not only Maiden’s finest songwriter guitarist, but he is also well respected in the music world as one of the finest writing guitarists around. Some of Maiden’s (and metal’s) finest moments have came about through H’s hands.

The guitarist who fired a new energy and rawness into the band during the 90’s, Janick Gers was the bands joint main guitarist of almost the entire last decade. Hardly a shy character in any guitarist’s book, Janick Gers joined the twin guitar attack of Maiden after previously being the single lead guitarist in his former bands, Gillian and White Spirit. Therefore, the omens of this fun loving Geordie’s ability to adapt into the Maiden set might have seemed negative. However, fortunately, Bruce Dickinson was a close friend of Janick’s, linking up with him on his first solo outing, Tattooed Millionaire (1990).

McBrain first wanted to learn the drums at a young age after watching Joe Morello performing with The Dave Brubeck Quartet on television. At the age of ten, he started to play drums with pots, pans and other kitchen utensils, before, to his parents' dismay, he began drumming on the gas cooker with a pair of knives and chipped off the paintwork.

McBrain recalls that he was eleven or twelve before his father bought him his first drum kit, "which was basically one snare, one tom-tom, one cymbal, two drumsticks and a pair of brushes." He soon started playing Rolling Stones and Beatles covers with school bands, before he began regularly playing "pubs and weddings" by the age of 14.

Eddie, also known as Eddie the Head, is the mascot for the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden. He is a perennial fixture of the group's artwork, appearing in all of their album covers (as well as most of their singles) and in their merchandise, which includes t-shirts, posters and action figures. On top of this, Eddie features in all of the band's concerts, as well as in the first-person shooter video game, Ed Hunter, and as an unlockable character in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4.

Originally a papier-mâché mask used in Iron Maiden's stage backdrop, the band transferred the name "Eddie" from the mask to an illustration by Derek Riggs, which was used as the band's debut album cover. Although he is occasionally described as "zombie-like" in the press, Eddie assumes a different guise relating to the themes of individual albums and their corresponding world tours, and has appeared as a cyborg, an Egyptian mummy and a lobotomised mental patient amongst others.