IRON MAIDEN
Formed on Christmas Day 1975 by bassist Steve Harris, Iron Maiden is one of the most influential heavy metal bands in history, having sold over 100 million albums worldwide. Beyond their landmark music catalog, the franchise encompasses a rich narrative universe centered on their iconic undead mascot, Eddie the Head. Iron Maiden's expansive multimedia intellectual property spans feature-length documentary films, graphic novels, video games, pinball machines, and tabletop board games.
Cronologia
Panoramica
Founded on Christmas Day 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris, Iron Maiden emerged as a pioneering force in the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. Over a career spanning half a century, the group has amassed over 100 million album sales globally across seventeen studio albums, thirteen live albums, four EPs, and eight compilation records—all while achieving immense commercial success without mainstream radio reliance.
What elevates Iron Maiden from a music titan into a full-scale multimedia franchise is its legendary undead mascot, Eddie the Head. Conceived visually by artist Derek Riggs in 1980, Eddie evolved from a concert backdrop prop into a shape-shifting entity reincarnated across historical, sci-fi, and mythological realms.
The Iron Maiden IP extends far beyond concert venues, encompassing major theatrical documentaries like Flight 666, mobile action RPGs like Legacy of the Beast, physical Stern pinball machines, comic book series from Heavy Metal and Z2 Comics, tabletop board game expansions from CMON, and extensive official visual art histories. Led by Harris, Bruce Dickinson, Dave Murray, Adrian Smith, Janick Gers, and touring drummer Simon Dawson following Nicko McBrain's 2024 live retirement, the franchise remains a pillar of music and pop-culture collectibles.
Origini
The story of Iron Maiden began on Christmas Day 1975, when London bassist Steve Harris formed the group immediately after departing his former band, Smiler. Harris drew inspiration for the name from a movie adaptation of Alexandre Dumas's The Man in the Iron Mask featuring actor Patrick McGoohan. The band's formative years were defined by relentless local gigging and rapid lineup changes.
Original singer Paul Day was replaced by Dennis Wilcock, whose Kiss-inspired theatricality introduced fake blood and fire to their stage shows. Guitarist Dave Murray joined early on, cementing a lifelong partnership with Harris despite early lineup disruptions. In late 1978, a pivotal audition at Leytonstone's Red Lion pub brought in vocalist Paul Di'Anno, whose raspy vocal edge gave the band its defining grit.
On New Year's Eve 1978, Iron Maiden self-recorded their legendary three-track demo, The Soundhouse Tapes. Selling out all 5,000 pressed copies within weeks, the release generated immense underground momentum. After hiring guitarist Dennis Stratton and drummer Clive Burr, the group signed a major record contract with EMI in December 1979. Their self-titled 1980 debut album crashed the UK charts at number four, formally launching Iron Maiden as leaders of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal.
Personaggi
I PEZZI DI IRON MAIDEN
Collezionismo
For serious pop-culture and music collectors, Iron Maiden represents an exceptionally active and lucrative market. Unlike standard musical acts, Maiden's collecting appeal centers heavily around physical representations of Eddie the Head alongside rare historical vinyl pressings. Holy grail items in the vinyl arena include pristine copies of the original 1978 The Soundhouse Tapes 7-inch demo—limited strictly to 5,000 copies—and complete sets of the 1990 The First Ten Years 12-inch vinyl single box set.
In the physical toy and tabletop sphere, CMON expanded Eddie's reach into board gaming with three official Zombicide: Iron Maiden Character Packs, producing 15 detailed custom Eddie miniatures cross-compatible with titles like Cthulhu: Death May Die, Massive Darkness 2, and Ankh: Gods of Egypt. High-end arcade collectors pursue the Stern Iron Maiden: Legacy of the Beast Pinball machine, designed by Keith Elwin with art by Zombie Yeti. Meanwhile, print collectors seek out Z2 Comics' 40th-anniversary Piece of Mind graphic novel anthology, Bruce Dickinson's The Mandrake Project deluxe hardcovers, and Thames & Hudson's 50th-anniversary visual history book Iron Maiden: Infinite Dreams. From digital crossover items like Dead by Daylight DLC skins to physical fine-art prints of Derek Riggs' album artwork, Eddie remains one of the most collectible icons in modern rock history.
Eddie the Head was added as an unlockable playable skater character in the 2002 video game Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4.
