The pivotal moment in Paul Di’Anno’s singing career, which he never fully escaped, was his departure from the iconic heavy metal band Iron Maiden in 1981. Di’Anno joined the band in 1978, during which he contributed to an EP and two groundbreaking albums. However, conflicts with bandleader Steve Harris over the band’s musical direction, along with Di’Anno’s erratic behavior, ultimately led to his dismissal.
The legacy of Iron Maiden followed Di’Anno, who passed away at the age of 66, as he navigated a series of briefly successful musical endeavors that often referenced his time with one of the world’s most prominent bands. After leaving Iron Maiden, he fell into a troubled lifestyle plagued by substance abuse. In promoting his 2010 autobiography, “The Beast,” he opened up about his struggles, detailing episodes of violent outbursts, explicit encounters, and confrontations with gangs and the authorities, including a prison sentence in Los Angeles in the early 1990s for a knife attack on a girlfriend while under the influence.
Born Paul Andrews in Chingford, Essex, Di’Anno had a Brazilian father and an English mother. He also went by the surname Taylor after his mother’s remarriage. In his youth, he worked as a butcher and chef while performing with a punk band. His break came in 1978 when he met Harris at the Red Lion pub in Leytonstone and subsequently auditioned for Iron Maiden. Adopting the stage name Di’Anno, he introduced a raw and compelling vocal style that resonated with the band’s music.
Di’Anno’s powerful, raspy vocals were instrumental in the success of Iron Maiden’s acclaimed 1979 EP, “The Soundhouse Tapes,” and their self-titled debut album released a year later. The early band lineup, which included Di’Anno, Harris, drummer Clive Burr, and guitarists Dave Murray and Dennis Stratton, cultivated a strong following in London, particularly at the Ruskin Arms. They were heralded by the music press as part of the “new wave of British heavy metal.”
Iron Maiden enjoyed minor hits with their lead single “Running Free” and gained widespread attention in 1985 when “Phantom of the Opera” was featured in a commercial for the energy drink Lucozade, featuring athlete Daley Thompson.
By the time of his departure, Di’Anno was struggling with the band’s evolving sound and the lengthy touring schedule. He turned to substance use, consuming large quantities of cocaine and alcohol, leading to his eventual firing from Iron Maiden. In return for his share of the band’s recordings, he received £50,000, and the group soon replaced him with Bruce Dickinson, who would lead them to unprecedented success.
Following his exit, Di’Anno formed various heavy metal bands, releasing a self-titled album with his new band “Di’Anno” in 1984, which saw limited success. He briefly joined Gogmagog and spent much of the 1980s with another band, Battlezone. From 1990 onward, he led a band named Killers and, despite ongoing personal challenges and legal troubles, managed to earn a living through tours in Europe and Brazil, where he spent his later years.
In 2011, Di’Anno was sentenced to nine months in prison in the UK for fraud after claiming £45,000 in benefits by citing back nerve damage as his inability to work, though he was released early for good behavior. By 2020, he faced genuine health issues, including lymphedema of the knee, which forced him to perform from a wheelchair. However, after a successful crowdfunding campaign and support from Iron Maiden, his condition improved.
Throughout his life, Di’Anno was married five times and had six children, but maintained a level of privacy regarding details about his family, apart from his first wife, Beverley.