Blaze Bayley

Blaze Bayley (born Bayley Alexander Cooke, 29 May 1963) is an English singer, musician, songwriter, and lyricist. He was the lead singer of Wolfsbane from 1984 to 1994, and currently from 2010 following reunions in 2007 and 2009.

Bayley was chosen to replace Bruce Dickinson as the lead singer of Iron Maiden after hundreds of auditions. His departure from Wolfsbane led to their disbandment later that year. After a serious motorcycle accident put him out of commission for a year, Bayley was able to record vocals for Maiden's The X Factor, released in 1995. Bayley went on tour with the band in support of the album. Another Iron Maiden album with Bayley on vocals, Virtual XI was released in 1998.

The two Iron Maiden albums released during Bayley's tenure did not chart as well as the band had hoped. The X Factor peaked at No. 8 on the UK Albums Chart and Virtual XI hit only No. 16, both being the lowest-charting Iron Maiden studio albums since Killers was released in 1981, which peaked at No. 12.

After hearing in February 1999 that Dickinson was returning to Iron Maiden, Bayley was kicked off from the group and return to Wolfsbane. He remains on good terms with his former bandmates. Iron Maiden occasionally performed songs from the two Maiden albums featuring Bayley, including "Man on the Edge" and "Futureal", which he co-wrote, though no Bayley-era songs were on the band's set list from the end of the Dance of Death World Tour in 2004 until the band performed "The Clansman" during the 2018-2019 Legacy of the Beast World Tour. Likewise, Bayley has performed Iron Maiden songs originally recorded by the Dickinson and Paul Di'Anno led line-ups at some concerts.

Since leaving Iron Maiden, he has embarked on a solo career as well as co-headlining a tour with Paul Di'Anno.

Discography

With Iron Maiden:

Studio albums

• The X Factor (1995)
• Virtual XI (1998)

Singles

• Man on the Edge (1995)
• Lord of the Flies (1996)
• Virus (1996)
• The Angel and the Gambler (1998)
• Futureal (1998)

Compilation albums

• Best of the Beast (1996)
• Best of the 'B' Sides (2002)
• Eddie's Archive (2002)
• Edward the Great (2002, 2005)
• Visions of the Beast (2003)
• The Essential Iron Maiden (2005)

Video games

• Ed Hunter (1999)

With Wolfsbane:

• 1985 - Wolfsbane (Demo)
• 1987 - Dancin' Dirty (Demo)
• 1988 - Clutching at Straws (single)
• 1988 - Loco! (EP)
• 1988 - Wasted but Dangerous (EP)
• 1989 - I Like It Hot (single)
• 1989 - Shakin' (single)
• 1989 - Money to Burn (EP)
• 1989 - Live Fast, Die Fast
• 1990 - Steel / Paint the Town Red (single)
• 1990 - All Hell's Breaking Loose... Down at Little Kathy Wilson's Place
• 1991 - Ezy (single)
• 1991 - Down Fall the Good Guys
• 1992 - After Midnight (single)
• 1993 - Massive Noise Injection (Live album)
• 1993 - Massive Noise EP (EP)
• 1994 - Wolfsbane
• 1994 - Everything Else (EP)
• 2001 - Lifestyles of the Broke and Obscure (Compliation)
• 2009 - Howling Mad Shitheads: The Best of Wolfsbane (Compilation)
• 2011 - Did It for the Money (EP)
• 2012 - The Lost Tapes: A Secret History (Live album)
• 2012 - Wolfsbane Save the World
• 2015 - Rock! (EP)
• 2018 - Go Loco at the Asylum (Live album)
• 2022 - Genius
• 2024 - Live Faster

As B.L.A.Z.E and Blaze Bayley:

• 2000 - Silicon Messiah
• 2002 - Tenth Dimension
• 2003 - As Live as It Gets (Live album)
• 2004 - Blood & Belief
• 2007 - Alive in Poland (Video)
• 2008 - Robot (single)
• 2008 - The Man Who Would Not Die
• 2009 - The Night That Will Not Die (Live album)
• 2010 - Promise and Terror
• 2012 - The King of Metal
• 2013 - Russian Holiday (Collaboration with Thomas Zwijsen)
• 2013 - Alive in Poland (Live album)
• 2013 - Soundtrack of My Life
• 2014 - Soundtracks of My Life - Live in Prague 2014 (Video)
• 2014 - Live at the Asylum Birmingham 27/07/12 - Official Bootleg
• 2014 - Live at MetalFest JB's, Dudley, UK 25th September 2009
• 2014 - Rock 'n' Roll Christmas (single)
• 2014 - Live - The Kings Head - Fulham, London - 18th January 2003
• 2014 - Live - Crowley's Rock Bar - Swansea - 7th November 2014
• 2014 - It's a Long Way Home This Christmas (single)
• 2015 - Collosseum Music Pub, Košice, Slovakia - 19​.​09​.​2014
• 2015 - JB's, Dudley - 6th February 2010
• 2015 - Live at Moscow - 26th February 2012
• 2015 - Live at WizzFest Belgium - 19th March 2011
• 2015 - Live at Festival de Vouziers - 1st November 2014
• 2015 - Live - Aonia Festival - Birmingham - 3rd May 2015
• 2015 - Live at Alderley Edge - 10th January 2015
• 2015 - Live - Malmo, Sweden - 4th April 2001
• 2016 - Infinite Entanglement
• 2016 - Live in Geleen, Netherlands Café de Meister 27 March 2016
• 2016 - Crazy Christmas (single)
• 2017 - Endure And Survive (Infinite Entanglement Part II)
• 2017 - B.L.A.Z.E. Centre Culturel, Eloyes France
• 2018 - The Redemption Of William Black (Infinite Entanglement Part III)
• 2018 - December Wind (Collaboration with Thomas Zwijsen)
• 2019 - Live in France (Live album)
• 2020 - Live in Czech (Live album)
• 2021 - War Within Me
• 2023 - Damaged, Strange, Different and Live (Live album)
• 2024 - Circle of Stone (single)
• 2024 - Rage (single)
• 2024 - Mind Reader (single)
• 2024 - Circle of Stone
• 2024 - Ghost in the Bottle (single)

Guest featured appearances

• Cerebral Fix – Bastards (1991, guest featured vocals on "Smash It Up")
• The Almighty – Powertrippin' (1993, background guest vocals on "Jesus Loves You ... But I Don't")
• Doro – Classic Diamonds - The DVD (2004, lead guest vocals on "Fear of the Dark")
• Armageddon over Wacken Live 2004 (CD/DVD, 2005, with Doro)
• Doro – 20 Years A Warrior Soul (2006, sharing guest vocals on the first two tracks "Bad Blood" and "All We Are")
• Seven - "Freedom Call" (2011) (guest vocals)
• Trooper - "Voodoo" (2011) (additional guest vocals)
• Dragonsclaw – Prophecy (2011) (vocals on "Prophecy is a Lie")
• Thomas Zwijsen – Nylon Maiden (2012, vocals on "The Clansman")
• Trooper – Mercy Killer (2012) (vocals on "Mercy Killer")
• Lonewolf – Army of the Damned (2012) (vocals on "The One You Never See")
• Sinnergod – vocals on "It's A Wonderful Life" (single) (2012)
• Chris Declercq – vocals on "A Miracle Away" (digital single) (2012)
• SoulSpell – Hollow's Gathering (2012) - vocals as "Banneth"
• Ouijabeard – Die And Let live (2012) - vocals on "Die And Let live"
• Sinnergod - Behind Every Corner (EP) (2012) (vocals on "It's A Wonderful Life")
• Vessel – Introspective (2012, vocals on five tracks) (as The Man Who Would Not Die)
• Ghostshift – Is My Enemy (2013) (vocals on "Short Days Ago")
• Guido Campiglio – vocals on "Prisoner" (single) (2013)
• Gengis Khan – Gengis Khan Was a Rocker (2013, vocals on "Revenge in the Shadows")
• A Sound of Thunder – Time's Arrow (2013) (vocals on "My Disease")
• Wolfpakk – Cry Wolf (2013) (vocals on "Cry Wolf")
• Grimskull – Iron Eyes (single) (2013) (vocals on "Iron Eyes")
• Trooper – Atmosferă (2013) (vocals on "Mercy Killer")
• Alekseyevskaya Ploshchad (Алексеевская площадь) – "Hero" (digital single, 2013)
• Shadow Legacy – You're Going Straight To Hell (2014) (vocals on "Hate Within")
• Herot - Hellucination (2014) (vocals on "Time Machine")
• Alekseyevskaya Ploshchad (Алексеевская площадь) - Зона риска (Risk area) (2014) (vocals on "Hero")
• Thomas Zwijsen - Nylonized (2014)
• Pino Scotto – Vuoti di memoria (vocals on "Stone Dead Forever") (2014)
• Vin Sinners – "A Mighty Black Box" - (vocals on "Open The Box") (2014)
• Lehmann – Lehmanized (2014) (vocals on "Laid so low")
• Savage Wizdom – "A New Beginning" - (vocals on "Let It Go") (2014)
• John Steel - "Freedom" (2014) (vocals on seven tracks)
• Steve Foglia – "Steve in Wonderland" - (vocals on "Fight For Justice") (2014)
• Shadows Legacy - Blood and Sweat (EP) (2014) (vocals on "Hate Within (Alternate)"
• Adamas – "Heavy Thoughts" (2015) (vocals on "Heavy Thoughts")
• SoulSpell - We Got The Right (Helloween 30 Years Tribute) (2015)
• "Grossmann presents: Music From the Graphic Novel 'Cadeia'" (soundtrack, 2015)
• Maiden uniteD – "Remembrance" (2015) (vocals on "Futureal")
• Cage - "Ancient Evil" (2015) (narration)
• Enio Nicolini - "Heavy Sharing" (2015) (vocals on "King On Icy Throne")
• Gaelbah - "Haxan" (2015) (vocals on "Black Widow")
• Memorain - "Duality of Men" (2016) (vocals on "Last of Light")
• Gandalf's Fist - "The Clockwork Fable" (2016) (vocals on "At the Sign of the Aperture")
• Ibridoma - "December" (2016) vocals on ("Land of Flames")
• Doro – Strong and Proud - 30 Years of Rock and Metal (2016, sharing vocals on the first two tracks "Fear of the Dark" and "All We Are" live)
• Thomas Zwijsen - Nylonized: Preserved in Time (2016) (vocals on "Judgement of Heaven")
• Cris Martins' Rock Dawn - "Witches Tower" - (vocals on three tracks) (2016)
• Operation: Mindcrime - "Resurrection" (2016) (vocals on "Taking on the World")
• Mindghost - "The Anti-Citizen" (2016) (vocals on "My Last Breath")
• Art X - "The Redemption of Cain" (2016) (vocals on "Knowledge and Death")
• ZiX – "Tides of the Final War" - (vocals on "Metal Strike") (2016)
• SoulSpell - "The Second Big Bang" (2017) (vocals on "The Second Big Bang" and "The End You'll Only Know at the End" (vocals as Banneth, the Loyal Keeper of the Tree)
• Stage of Reality - Stage of Reality (2017) (vocals on "Warlord")
• Hyperdump - "The Weak Man" (2017) (vocals on "No More")
• Europica - "Part One" (2017) (vocals on "Unflagging" and "Powder Dry")
• Not Over Yet - "Back To Square One" (single) (2017)
• Thundermaker – "Judgement and Order" (single) (2017)
• Not Over Yet - "Axioms of Life" (2017) (vocals on "Back to Square One")
• Thundermother - "Gods of the Earth" (2018) (vocals on "Judgment & Order")
• Brunno Mariante - Heal or Kill" "Heal or Kill" (2018) (vocals)
• Aonia - "The Seven" (2018) (vocals on "Still, I Rise")
• Marius Danielsen's Legend of Valley Doom - "Marius Danielsen's Legend of Valley Doom Part 2" (2018) (vocals on "By the Dragon's Breath") (vocals as Guardian of the Black Gate)
• Infinita Symphonia - "Liberation" (2018) (vocals on "A Silent Hero")
• Black Horizon - "Dark Light" (2019) (vocals on "Walking Close to Me")
• Brunno Mariante - Heal or Kill" "No Time to Waste" (EP) (2019) (vocals)
• Revoltons - "Underwater Bells Pt. 2: October 9th 1963 Act. 1" (2020) (vocals on "Grandmasters of Death")
• Bratek - "Believer" (single) (2020)
• HAMMERHEART - "Distant Skies" (single) (2020)
• Shadow Warriors - Mercenaries - EP (2020) (vocals on "Shadow Warriors")
• DiggerThings - "Three Days of Judgment" (single) (2020)
• Vantage Point - "24 Hours of Freedom" (single) (2021)
• Offensive - "Awenasa" (2021) (vocals on "Red Cloud War")
• Clash Bulldog's - "Anger Grows" (single) (2021)
• Me And That Man - "New Man, New Songs, Same Shit. Vol. 2" (2021) (vocals on "All Hope Has Gone")
• DiggerThings - "Ruby Eyes" (single) (2021)
• Maria Regina (Мария-Режина) - Лина (Lina) (feat. Blaze Bayley & Psybolord) - EP (2022) (vocals on "Лина" (Lina)) (Also in English, Russian and Instrumental versions of the song)
• Gauntlet Rule - "Dying for My Dreams" (single) (2022)
• Bratek - The Book of Life (2022) (vocals on "Believer" and "Ulysses")
• Lethal Frights - vocals on "Low Frequencies" (digital single, 2022)
• Gauntlet Rule - "The Plague Court" (2022) (additional vocals on "Dying for My Dreams")
• John Steel - Distorted Reality (2022) (vocals)
• Woods of Wonders - "Lost" (2022) (vocals on "Inside a Dream")
• Vantage Point - "Alternative View" (2022) (vocals on "24 Hours of Freedom")
• Master Spy - "The Ghost Agent" (EP) (2022) (vocals)
• Clash Bulldog's - "Bark Power" (2023) (vocals on "Anger Grows")
• Alien Country - vocals on "Nightmare" (digital single, 2023)
• Underlords of the Overworld - vocals on "Ordo Abstrusus Oculus" (digital single, 2024)
• The Old Ones - vocals on "Spirits" (feat. Blaze Bayley & Murat ilkan) (digital single, 2024)

Filmography

• Wolfsbane: Get Up and Dance (Music Video 1987) - Himself
• Wolfsbane: I Like It Hot (Music Video 1989) - Himself
• Wolfsbane: Manhunt (Music Video 1989) - Himself
• Wolfsbane: Ezy (Music Video 1991) - Himself
• Wolfsbane: End of the Century (Music Video 1993) - Himself
• Iron Maiden: Man on the Edge (Music Video 1995) - Himself (Also the Composer of this song)
• Top of the Pops (TV Series 1995) - (writer: "Man on the Edge") (Soundtrack) (credit only)
• Iron Maiden: Virus (Music Video 1996) - Himself (Also the Composer of this song)
• Iron Maiden: Lord of the Flies (Music Video 1996) - Himself
• Iron Maiden: Man on the Edge, Version 2 (Music Video 1996) - Himself (Also the Composer of this song)
• Iron Maiden: The Angel and the Gambler (Music Video 1998) - Himself
• Iron Maiden: Futureal (Music Video 1998) - Himself (Also the Composer of this Song)
• Large (2001) (writer: "The Brave") (Soundtrack) (credit only)
• Iron Maiden: Visions of the Beast (Video 2003) - Himself - Singer
• Doro: Classic Diamonds (Video 2004) - Himself
• Doro: 20 Years a Warrior's Soul (Video 2008) - Himself
• Metalmania 2007 (Video 2008) - Themselves (Himself)
• Wolfsbane: Smoke and Red Light (Music Video 2011) - Himself
• Slasher House (2012) - The Demon (voice)
• Rock Legends: The Iron Maiden Episode (TV Series 2015) - Himself (Archive footage and audio only)
• Doro: Strong and Proud - 30 Years of Rock and Metal (Video 2016) - Himself
• Operation Mindcrime Feat. Blaze Bayley & Tim 'Ripper' Owens: Taking on the World (Music Video 2016) - Himself
• Prayers of Light (Video 2018) - Sergeant (Also the Composer and Writer of this Video)
• Talk Is Jericho: The X Factor of Blaze Bayley Episode (Podcast Episode 2018) - Himself
• Pointless Celebrities: The Music Episode (TV Series 2020) - Himself - Contestant
• Andre Matos - Maestro do Rock (2021) - Himself
• SoundMojo: Marilyn Manson Sentenced To Community Service | Paul Jones vs. Jack Bruce | Blaze Bayley Interview Episode (TV Series 2023) - Himself - Guest
• Monsters Madness and Magic: A Fire in the Sky - An Interview with Blaze Bayley Episode (Podcast Series 2023) - Himself
• Drugaí Marú II (TBA) (writer: "Kill and Destroy", "Lord of the Flies") (Soundtrack) (credit only)

Tournography

With Wolfsbane

• Live Fast Die Fast Tour (1989)
• No Prayer on the Road (1990) (Wolfsbane performed as the support act for Iron Maiden during the UK leg.

With Iron Maiden

• The X Factour (1995-1996)
• Virtual XI World Tour (1998)

As Blaze

• Silicon Messiah Tour 2000/2001 (2000-2001)
• Tenth Dimension Tour (2002)
• As Live As It Gets Tour (2003)
• Blood & Belief Tour 2004/2005 (2004-2005)
• The Christmas Tour (2005)

As Blaze Bayley

• The Confusion Fusion Tour 2007 (2007)
• My Life in Acoustic (2007)
• Headbanging Bastards Tour (2008)
• The Tour That Will Not Die (2009)
• Promise and Terror Tour (2010-2011)
• The Incredible Acoustic Tour (2011)
• King of Metal Tour (2012)
• Soundtracks Of My Life World Tour (2014)
• Silicon Messiah 15th Anniversary Tour (2015)
• Infinite Entanglement 2016 Tour (2016)
• Endure and Survive Tour (2017)
• The Redemption Of William Black World Tour (2018)
• Tour of the Eagle Spirit (2019)
• Iron Maiden 25th Anniversary Tour (2019-2020)
• Tenth Dimension 2020 Tour (2020) (Cancelled due to the COVID-19 Pandemic)
• The War Within Me Tour (2021)
• The Unstoppable Tour (2022-2023)
• Iron Maiden 30th Anniversary Tour / Circle of Stone Tour (2024)

As Blaze Bayley and Thomas Zwijsen

• Russian Holiday Acoustic Tour (2012-2013)

As Blaze Bayley and Paul Di'Anno

• The Double Trouble Tour (2012-2013)

As Blaze Bayley, Geoff Tate and Tim 'Ripper' Owens

• The Trinity Tour (2016)