Paul Mario Day, the original vocalist for Iron Maiden, has died aged 69 after living with cancer. His bandmates in his subsequent band, More, shared the news, acknowledging Day as “a huge part of the new wave of British heavy metal” and “a well-loved figure in British rock music”.
Maiden bassist Steve Harris recruited Day in late 1975; the band gave their first live performance in Poplar, London on 1 May 1976 and then held a residency at a pub in nearby Stratford.
Day remained with the group for 10 months, but left after being accused of lacking energy and charisma. His replacement, Dennis Wilcock, was similarly short-lived, ultimately replaced by Paul Di’Anno, who was fired for drug and alcohol abuse and replaced by long-term vocalist Bruce Dickinson.
In 2019, Day said of his firing: “Steve was saying, ‘You’ve got to get better. You’ve got to be more in the audience’s face. You’ve got to be commanding. You’ve got to be a hero.’ And I agreed with him, but I didn’t actually know how to make that happen.
“I got a warning for maybe three months: ‘Get it together. Get it together.’ And I wanted to, I just didn’t know how to do it. So the funny thing is, the worst experience was the best lesson because when I got that notice and I felt so gutted, it changed me.
“Iron Maiden at that time were nothing, honestly … What Steve was doing was trying to make the band big. He knew what he wanted. What he wanted is what he got. He got one of the biggest bands on the planet. As much as it hurt, as much as it upset me, I learnt a big lesson that day. I really did. I used that emotion, I guess, in my singing.”
In 1980, Day formed the heavy metal group More and remained with the band until 1982, playing at the famous Donington Monsters of Rock festival in 1981. During his time with the group, they also supported Maiden on the 1981 Killers tour. He later joined the band Wildfire and then fronted the reformed glam rockers Sweet, whose guitarist Andy Scott paid tribute: “We needed a singer and when Paul arrived for the audition we looked no further.”
After moving to Australia, Day remained active as a musician. He spent some of his later years being cared for in a hospice. He is survived by his wife Cecily.
