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Paul Di'Anno

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Paul Andrews (17 May 1958 - 21 October 2024), better known as Paul Di'Anno, was a British singer best known as the first vocalist to record with Iron Maiden, from 1978 to 1980.

Biography[]

Di'Anno was born and grew up in Chingford – spending his teenage years singing in various rock bands and working as a butcher and chef. He became the band's singer after the departure of the very unpredictable Dennis Wilcock, who had pressured Iron Maiden founder and bassist Steve Harris into firing every member of the band (including Dave Murray), before becoming fed up himself. According to Iron Maiden's The History of Iron Maiden – Part 1: The Early Days DVD, he was introduced to the band by drummer Doug Sampson, an old friend of Harris' from his days in the band Smiler. It was around this time that he first adopted the stage name Di'Anno, which he would later use to claim Italian descent. Their first audition with Rod Smallwood reputedly failed when Di'Anno was arrested for showing off his pocket-knife in public. 1980's self-titled release quickly became acknowledged as a classic of its genre, as the band merged punk's energy with metal's riffs and progressive rock complexity, serving as the blueprint for such future genres as thrash metal and speed metal. 1981 saw the release of their second album, Killers, as well as a stopgap live EP, Maiden Japan. After having cancelled gigs due to Di'Anno's inability and, at times, lack of desire to perform, which had resulted from cocaine abuse and heavy drinking, Iron Maiden decided that to progress they would have to find a singer capable of withstanding the rigours of being on tour. They found a replacement in former Samson frontman Bruce Dickinson.

In 1981, Di'Anno left Iron Maiden after a meeting with the band and their manager Rod Smallwood. In Di'Anno's words: "It's like having Mussolini and Adolf Hitler run your band. Because it is Rod Smallwood and Steve Harris and that's it. There can't be anyone else and my character is too strong for that so me an' Steve was always fighting". Di'Anno was paid out by Smallwood at the time of his departure and does not receive royalties on Iron Maiden songs.

In his post-Maiden career, Di'Anno has issued numerous albums over the years, as both a solo artist and as a member of such bands as Gogmagog, Di'Anno's Battlezone, Praying Mantis, Killers and Rockfellas. He has also toured with future former Iron Maiden singer Blaze Bayley.

Band timeline[]

Note: List excludes Di'Anno's many guest appearances on tribute albums.

  • Iron Maiden (1978–81)
  • Di'Anno (1983–85)
  • Gogmagog (1985)
  • Paul Di'Anno's Battlezone (1986–89)
  • Praying Mantis (1990)
  • Killers a.k.a. Paul Di'Anno's Killers a.k.a. Paul Di' Anno & Killers (1990–97)
  • The Original Iron Men (1995–96)
  • Paul Di'Anno (1997)
  • Paul Di'Anno's Battlezone (1997–98)
  • The Almighty Inbredz (1999)
  • Paul Di'Anno (1999–2000)
  • Di' Anno (2000)
  • Paul Di'Anno's Killers a.k.a. Paul Di' Anno & Killers (2001–03)
  • Paul Di'Anno (2003–05)
  • Paul Di'Anno & Maiden England (2005)
  • Paul Di'Anno & Children of the Damned (2002–present)
  • Paul Di' Anno & The Phantoms of the Opera (2005–2014)
  • Architects of Chaoz (2014—2016)

Discography[]

with Iron Maiden[]

  • The Soundhouse Tapes (1979)
  • Live!! +one (1980)
  • Iron Maiden (1980)
  • Killers (1981)
  • Maiden Japan (also known as Heavy Metal Army) (1981)
  • Live at the Rainbow (VHS, 1981)
  • The First Ten Years (VHS, 1990)
  • From Here to Eternity (VHS, 1992)
  • The Story So Far Part One (Boxset, 1995)
  • Best of the Beast (1996)
  • Eddie Head (Boxset, 1998)
  • Eddie's Archive (Boxset, 2002)
  • The Early Days (DVD, 2004)
  • The Essential Iron Maiden (2005)

with Di'Anno[]

  • Live at the Palace (VHS, 1984)
  • Di'Anno (1984)
    • "Flaming Heart" (1984)
    • "Heartuser" (1984)
  • Nomad (2000)
  • Live at the Palace (DVD, 2005)

Solo[]

  • The World's First Iron Man (1997)
  • As Hard as Iron (1997)
  • Beyond the Maiden (1999)
  • The Masters (1999)
  • The Beast (Live, 2001)
  • The Beast in the East (DVD, 2003)
  • The Living Dead (a re-release of Nomad with bonus tracks, 2006)
  • The Maiden Years - The Classics (2006)
  • Iron Maiden Days and Evil Nights (2007)
  • The Early Iron Maiden Songbook (2010)
  • Wrathchild - The Anthology (2012)
  • The Beast Arises (Live, 2014)

with Battlezone[]

  • Fighting Back (1986)
  • Children of Madness (1987)
  • Warchild (1988)
  • Feel My Pain (1998)
  • Cessation of Hostilities (Compilation with all three studio albums Battlezone released + Children of madness demo tracks and one new live track, 2001)
  • The Fight Goes On (Boxset including all three Battlezone studio albums, 2008)

with Killers a.k.a. Paul Di' Anno & Killers[]

  • Murder One (1992)
  • South American Assault Live (1994)
  • Menace to Society (1994)
  • Live (1997)
  • New Live & Rare (1998)
  • Killers Live at the Whiskey (2001)
  • Screaming Blue Murder – The Very Best of Paul Di'Anno's Killers (2002)

with Gogmagog[]

  • I Will Be There EP (1985)

with Dennis Stratton[]

  • The Original Iron Men (1995)
  • The Original Iron Men 2 (1996)
  • As Hard As Iron (1996)

with Praying Mantis & Paul Di'Anno, Dennis Stratton[]

  • Live at Last (1991)

with The Almighty Inbredz[]

  • The Almighty Inbredz (1999)

with Architects of Chaoz[]

  • League of shadows (2015)

on compilations[]

  • Metal for Muthas (with Iron Maiden, 1980)
  • Kaizoku (1989, Song: "Danger on the Street II")
  • All Stars Featuring The Best Of British Heavy Metal & Heavy Rock Musicians (1991, Song "She is danger")
  • True Brits (1993)
  • True Brits 2 (1994)
  • True Brits 3 (1995)
  • Rock Hard Hard Rock (1994, Songs: "No Repair", "She goes down")
  • X-Mas: The Metal Way (1994)
  • Killer Voices (1995)
  • Metal Monsters (1996)
  • Metal Christmas a.k.a. The 21st Century Rock Christmas Album (1996)
  • Hard ’n’ Heavy Rock (2001, Song: "Lights Out")
  • Wacken Rocks (2001, Song: "Wrathchild (live)")
  • Classic Rock, Classic Rockers (2002)
  • Metal Masters – Killers (2005, Song: "Killers")
  • Rock Hard – Das Festival (2007, Song: "Prowler (live)")

on tribute albums[]

  • 666 The Number One Beast (Iron Maiden Tribute) (1999)
  • 666 The Number One Beast Volume 2 (Iron Maiden Tribute) (1999)
  • The Maiden Years (Iron Maiden Tribute) (2000)
  • Gimme all your Top (ZZ Top Tribute) (2000)
  • The Boys are back (Thin Lizzy Tribute) (2000)
  • Only UFO can rock me (UFO Tribute) (2001)
  • Another Hair of the Dog (Nazareth Tribute) (2001)
  • Numbers from the Beast – An All Stars Tribute to Iron Maiden (2005)
  • World's Greatest Metal – Tribute to Led Zeppelin (2006)
  • An '80s Metal Tribute to Van Halen (2006)
  • Thriller – A Metal Tribute To Michael Jackson (Song: "Bad") (2013)

Guest appearances[]

  • English Steel: Start 'em young (1993, Song: "She goes down")
  • English Steel: Lucky Streak Vol. II (1994, Songs: "Danger", "Dirty")
  • Aciarium: The Heavy Metal Superstars (1996)
  • Re-Vision: Longevity (2001)
  • Spearfish: Back, for the Future
  • Destruction: Inventor of Evil (2005)
  • Attick Demons: Atlantis (2011, Song: "Atlantis")
  • Wolfpakk: Wolfpakk (2011)
  • Prassein Aloga: Midas Touch (2011, "See the Bodies" and "Flesh of Life")
  • Scelerata: The Sniper (2012) (Guest vocals, co-writing, composing)
  • Rushmore: Kingdom Of Demons (2013)
  • Red Dragon Cartell: Wasted (2014)
  • Hollywood Monsters: Big Trouble (2014, bonus track: "Fuck you all")
  • Maiden United: Prowler (2015)

Videography[]

TBA

Tourography[]

TBA

References[]

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