Iron Maiden star Paul Mario Day has died at the age of 69 after a battle with cancer.
In a tragic statement on Wednesday, the legendary musician’s band MORE announced his death.
“We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of the great MORE vocalist Paul Mario Day,” wrote the band.
“Paul was a huge part of the [New Wave of British Heavy Metal] from his time in an early version of Iron Maiden and of course his fantastic performance on the Warhead album.”
“He was a well loved figure in British rock music and played many memorable shows not least the legendary 1981 Monsters of Rock show at Castle Donington with AC/DC, Whitesnake/David Coverdale as well as tours with Iron Maiden Def Leppard and many other legendary artists.”
“Mike Freeland remembers him fondly as a ‘bloody great vocalist!’
“It’s an honour for us to continue to play his music and we will always think of him every time we hit the opening notes to Warhead.
“We send our deepest condolences to Paul’s family and friends and also the many fans around the world who love his music.
“Play his music loud and sing along!
“Thank you. Rock in peace Paul.”
While forming Iron Maiden in 1975, bassist Steve Harris recruited Paul Mario Day as the band’s first singer.
Day remained with the band for just under a year before he was replaced by Dennis Wilcock.
Paul Di’Anno later took over from Wilcock, who would perform on the band’s first two records.
Day talked about leaving the legendary band during an interview in 2019.
“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.”
While he was left “gutted” by the decision he admitted it proved to be an important career lesson to him.
He added: “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.”
The singer never came back to the band for any of their reunions, choosing instead to focus on performing with More.
More achieved fame when they released their album Warhead in 1981, and went on to perform at the 1981 Monsters Of Rock festival with fellow rock legends including Whitesnake, AC/DC, and Def Leppard.
In 1983 Day also became the frontman for Wildfire.
The following year he stepped in to sing for Sweet and band guitarist Andy Scott wrote in tribute: “Mick Tucker and myself put together the first new line-up of Sweet after the hiatus of the original band.
“We needed a singer and when Paul arrived for the audition we looked no further.
“Our first dates were in Australia, total sellouts which boded well for the future. Europe followed suit and 3 sold out nights at the Marquee in London produced a live album, video and DVD.
“‘Live at the Marquee’ did well in various charts around the world and Paul’s vocal performance has stood the test of time.”
Day, born in London, has lived in Australia since 1986. After moving there, he 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.
