Iron Maiden Drummer Thought He'd Never Play Again After Suffering A Stroke

Nicko McBrain's had a "very, very difficult" road to recovery following a stroke at the beginning of the year, and the Iron Maiden drummer opened up about the experience in an interview with Metal Hammer magazine.

“It was very, very difficult,” he said. “When it first happened, I thought, this is it, I’m not going to be able to play. I’ve got a tour coming up in three months’ time. I had a lot of time for reflection in the hospital. My wife was really my bastion of strength and encouragement and she was with me throughout.”

“Throughout all this period of time, I was in touch with [Iron Maiden bassist] Steve [Harris]. Obviously, all the guys, and I’d have a bit of a chat with them on the phone and they were all very, very encouraging, and none more so than Steve," McBrain added. “He said, ‘Look, the most important thing is that you get well and work on getting yourself together.’”

The drummer let fans know about the health scare in August in an open letter. "The reason I'm writing to you all today is to let you know of a very serious health problem that I have been through. In January I had a stroke, thank the Lord it was a minor one referred to as a TIA," he wrote at the time time. "It left me paralyzed on my right side from my shoulder on down, of course I was very worried that my career was over but with the love and support from my wife, Rebecca and family, my doctors, especially Julie my OT (Occupational Therapist), and my Maiden family I was able to bounce back to somewhere near 70% recovered."

Iron Maiden hit the road for a North American tour next October. See a full list of dates here.