Paul Mario Day, the first vocalist of Iron Maiden and a legend of British heavy metal, has died
Kyiv • UNN
Paul Mario Day, the first vocalist of Iron Maiden, has died at the age of 69. The cause of death has not been disclosed. He was part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal and performed in the bands More, Wildfire, and Sweet.
Paul Mario Day, the first vocalist of Iron Maiden and a legend of British heavy metal, has died at the age of 69. His death was announced on July 29 by the band More, with whom Day performed after Maiden. The cause of death has not yet been disclosed. This is reported by UNN with reference to NME.
Details
We are deeply saddened by the news of the death of the great MORE vocalist Paul Mario Day. Paul was a huge part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal from his time in the early version of Iron Maiden and, of course, after his fantastic performance on the album "Warhead".
He was a beloved figure in British rock music and played many memorable concerts, not least the legendary 1981 Monsters of Rock concert at Castle Donington with AC/DC, Whitesnake /David Coverdale, as well as tours with Iron Maiden, Def Leppard and many other legendary artists
Day was 69 years old at the time of his death.
The cause of death has not yet been announced
Addition
Paul Mario Day became the first vocalist of Iron Maiden after he was invited to the newly formed band by bassist Steve Harris in 1975. Day remained with Iron Maiden until 1976, after which he was replaced by Dennis Wilcock. Later, Paul Di'Anno took his place at the microphone, who recorded the band's first two iconic albums.
The reason for Day's dismissal, as later revealed in the documentary "Iron Maiden: The Early Days," was a lack of stage charisma.
Steve said, "You have to get better. You have to be more visible to the audience. You have to be commanding. You have to be a hero." And I agreed with him, but I didn't really know how to achieve it. I was warned, probably for three months: "Get it together. Get it together." And I wanted to, but I just didn't know how to do it.
Iron Maiden at that time were nobody, honestly. It was the beginning… Everyone had to start from scratch. It was when I was in the band, that was their zero point. Steve was trying to make the band popular. He knew what he wanted. What he wanted, he got. He got one of the biggest bands on the planet. As much as it hurt me, as much as it upset me, I learned a big lesson that day
Despite Day not performing with Iron Maiden after leaving the band, in December 2018, during the Christmas holidays, four of the five musicians from the original 1975 lineup reunited.
After Maiden, Day joined the band More, which gained popularity with their 1981 release Warhead and a performance at the Monsters of Rock festival in Castle Donington alongside AC/DC, Def Leppard, Whitesnake, and other scene stars.
In 1983–1984, he briefly fronted the band Wildfire, and in 1985, he joined the revamped lineup of the legendary glam rock band Sweet.
Mick Tucker and I put together the first new Sweet lineup after a hiatus in the original band. We needed a vocalist, and when Paul arrived for the audition, we stopped looking. Our first concerts were in Australia, full sell-outs, which boded well for the future. Europe followed suit, and 3 sold-out shows at London's Marquee led to a live album, music video, and DVD. "Live at the Marquee" performed well in various charts around the world, and Paul's vocal performances have stood the test of time
Legendary rock musician Ozzy Osbourne has died7/22/25, 9:15 PM • 86633 views