Iron Maiden Announces 50th Anniversary World Tour
· Ultimate Classic RockIron Maiden announced the first dates of their 50th anniversary world tour, which will start in May 2025.
Marking five decades since bassist Steve Harris formed the band, the Run for Your Lives shows will focus on their first nine albums, from 1980’s self-titled debut to 1992’s Fear of the Dark.
Initial dates across the U.K., Ireland and Europe can be seen below, with more to follow.
READ MORE: How Iron Maiden Became ‘King of the Castle’ With ‘Powerslave'
“Next year is a very special one for Iron Maiden and we’re going to be giving our fans a once-in-a-lifetime live experience,” singer Bruce Dickinson said in a statement. “This is a tour that’s gonna put a smile on your face and a cheer in your throat.
“If you’ve seen us before, then get ready to take that experience to a whole new level. If you've never seen us before, then what the hell have you been waiting for? Now’s your chance to find out what you’ve been missing! Iron Maiden’s definitely gonna get ya!”
Band manager Rod Smallwood outlined their achievements over the past five decades, saying, “With well over 100 million albums sold and almost 2,500 shows in 64 countries and counting, to countless millions of fans, we are all still loving every second.”
Watch Iron Maiden’s Run For Your Lives Tour Trailer
He promised the group was planning on “pulling out all the stops” for the shows. “We will cover classics and fan favorites from the first nine albums … many of which we haven’t played in years and many we will likely never play again in the future,” he added.
“We have already been hard at work for months putting together an even more spectacular and elaborate new show, which will bring the songs to life more than we have ever been able to do before. This is going to be a huge couple of years … and we are very excited about what we have up our sleeves for you fans throughout the whole of our 50th year.”
The tour includes an appearance at London Stadium, the home of Harris’ favorite soccer team, West Ham United; he, guitarists Dave Murray and Adrian Smith, and drummer Nicko McBrain, grew up in the surrounding area. With a capacity of 60,000, it will be the biggest non-festival show Iron Maiden has ever performed.
Iron Maiden, Run for Your Lives World Tour
5/27 – Budapest Aréna, Budapest, Hungary
5/31 – Letnany Airport, Prague, Czech Republic
6/01 – TIPOS Arena, Bratislava, Slovakia
6/05 – Trondheim Rocks, Trondheim, Norway (Festival)
6/07 – SR–Bank Arena, Stavanger, Norway
6/09 – Royal Arena, Copenhagen, Denmark
6/12 – 3Arena, Stockholm, Sweden
6/13 – 3Arena, Stockholm, Sweden
6/16 – Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland
6/21 – Utilita Arena, Birmingham, England
6/22 – Co–Op Live, Manchester, England
6/25 – Malahide Castle, Dublin, Ireland
6/28 – London Stadium, London, England
6/30 – OVO Hydro, Glasgow, Scotland
6/03 – Eurockéennes Festival, Belfort, France (Festival)
6/05 – Estadio Cívitas Metropolitano, Madrid, Spain
6/06 – MEO Arena, Lisbon, Portugal
6/09 – Hallenstadion, Zurich, Switzerland
6/11 – Veltins–Arena, Gelsenkirchen, Germany
6/13 – Stadio Euganeo, Padova, Italy
6/15 – Bürgerweide, Bremen, Germany
6/17 – Ernst Happel Stadium, Vienna, Austria
6/19 – Paris La Défense Arena, Paris, France
6/23 – GelreDome, Arnhem, Netherlands
6/25 – Deutsche Bank Park, Frankfurt, Germany
6/26 – Cannstatter Wasen, Stuttgart, Germany
6/29 – Waldbühne, Berlin, Germany
Aug. 02 – PGE Narodowy, Warsaw, Poland
17: 'The X Factor' (1995)
Blaze Bailey, on his first Iron Maiden album, tried in vain to fill the large shoes vacated by Bruce Dickinson. He got little help from band leader Steve Harris, who came up with a bunch of stubbornly overwrought tunes. What’s more, longtime producer Martin Birch had just retired, forcing Harris to cope on his own.
16: 'Virtual XI' (1998)
Marginally better than its predecessor, Virtual XI avoided similar production doldrums but not the lack of songwriting inspiration. (It also drew a blank with Americans, who missed the title’s soccer reference.) Having said all that, Virtual XI at least produced a classic sounding Maiden epic in “The Clansman.” Bailey’s departure, however, was inevitable.
15: 'No Prayer for the Dying' (1990)
Iron Maiden’s first album with guitarist Janick Gers was a calculated effort to strip down the band’s sound following the conceptual excesses of Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. It ended up as a lazy, uninspired collection, devoid of long-term keepers except for “Bring Your Daughter…to the Slaughter” – and Steve Harris had to twist Bruce Dickinson’s arm to keep that off his solo record.
14: 'Dance of Death' (2003)
Something of a comedown, Dance of Death followed the frenzied excitement awaiting Iron Maiden’s reunion with Dickinson and guitarist Adrian Smith, three years earlier. But it was still an embarrassment of riches by any definition. “Wildest Dreams” and “Rainmaker” were a knockout one-two-punch and the bombastic “Paschendale” may well be their absolute finest hour of the third millennium.
13: 'The Final Frontier' (2010)
Another reminder of Iron Maiden’s staying power, The Final Frontier arrived an entire decade after their return to glory as a sextet. And it was quintessential Maiden, with hardly a song dipping below the five-minute-mark and several new age epics (“Isle of Avalon,” “The Man Who Would Be King,” etc.) that were as grand as those classics from two decades before.
12: 'Fear of the Dark' (1992)
Iron Maiden wrapped up the first Bruce Dickinson era with a bang, somehow managing to appease their increasingly demanding fans while trying out a few new tricks. The title track may have been vintage Maiden, through and through, but “Wasting Love” was a bona fide ballad, and topical subjects largely replaced castle metal fantasy.
11: 'A Matter of Life and Death' (2006)
Iron Maiden flirted with conceptual continuity, and their recurring themes of religion, war and, yes, life and death arguably made this the band's most consistent third millennium LP. So much so, that Iron Maiden was emboldened to perform the album in its entirety on their subsequent tour and, even more amazingly, they encountered precious little resistance from fans.
10: 'Brave New World' (2000)
A musical omnibus, Brave New World evokes memories of those beloved ‘80s LPs while gazing ever forward, into the future. The returning Dickinson and Smith elevated Harris, Gers and Murray to new heights during moments like the title track, which embraced promising days ahead, and “Blood Brothers,” which appropriately focused on the renewed bonds of past fellowship.
9: 'Somewhere in Time' (1986)
Worn out after the record-breaking World Slavery Tour, Iron Maiden found it hard to match recent triumphs again. Steve Harris’ songs were relatively dependable, but he tempted fans’ wrath by experimenting with guitar synths – and Bruce Dickinson was a disappointing no show on the songwriting front. Luckily, Adrian Smith stepped up with “Wasted Years.”
8: 'Book of Souls' (2015)
Conceived in a whole new way, there’s as much gumption here as in anything Iron Maiden has done. The results offer much to thrill die-hard fans but just as much to challenge their preconceived notions.
7: 'Senjutsu' (2021)
Traveling from South America to East Asia, while refining – and apparently perfecting – the approach taken on ‘Book of Souls,’ Steve Harris seems to have fulfilled his ambition of turning Maiden into a no-holds-barred prog band, albeit with a taste for riffs and melodies that remain specifically theirs. Blue-collar Genesis, if you will, delivered with intricacy and a spirit of unity. The quick stings of "Stratego" and “Days of Future Past” make clear they remember where they came from, while the limelight is clearly on Harris’ epic closing trio “Death of the Celts,” “The Parchment" and “Hell on Earth.”
6: 'Seventh Son of a Seventh Son' (1988)
The last LP from Iron Maiden’s classic '80s lineup, Seventh Son of a Seventh Son was a progressive and conceptual tour de force, challenging listeners with cryptic musings on good and evil, as well as (gulp!) synthesizers. Chief songwriters Harris, Dickinson and Smith collaborated like never before, as if knowing they wouldn’t have another opportunity for more than a decade.
5: 'Iron Maiden' (1980)
This debut was slowed by production challenges and songwriting inconsistencies. But at their best (headbangers like “Prowler” and “Iron Maiden,” the intricate “Phantom of the Opera” or the rousing “Running Free”), there's no doubting Iron Maiden's future renown. Besides, the LP's significance far outweighs any human flaws, as it became a bellwether for the New Wave of British Heavy Metal.
4: 'Killers' (1981)
Iron Maiden solved their first album’s sonic riddles with help from producer Martin Birch, who gave shape to Steve Harris’ creative vision on favorites like “Wrathchild,” “Murders in the Rue Morgue” and the title track. Sadly, this also proved to be their last LP with Paul Di’Anno. He made way for Bruce Dickinson later that year, but not before earning a permanent spot in the hearts of many fans.
3: 'Piece of Mind' (1983)
Iron Maiden consolidated their classic lineup, with the newly arrived Nicko McBrain making an immediate impact on the blistering “Where Eagles Dare,” Dickinson proving his songwriting mettle on “Revelations,” and Harris delivering the goods, as usual, on “The Trooper,” “Dune” and “Flight of Icarus” (in partnership with Adrian Smith).
2: 'Powerslave' (1984)
No album epitomizes Iron Maiden at their peak quite like Powerslave, with its memorable Egyptian imagery courtesy of designer Derek Riggs. Highlights included heavy-metal staples like “Aces High,” “2 Minutes to Midnight” and the 13-minute colossus, “Rime of the Ancient Mariner.”
1: 'The Number of the Beast' (1982)
Iron Maiden’s definitive album established the standard by which all of their later efforts are still measured. Between the controversial title track’s occult fascinations, the chart-climbing immediacy of “Run to the Hills,” the patented gallop of “Hallowed be Thy Name” and deeper cuts that would qualify as all-time classics for anyone else, there’s simply no topping Number of the Beast.