Iron Maiden Pay Tribute to Late Original Singer Paul Mario Day

Iron Maiden paid tribute to their original lead singer Paul Mario Day, who died on Tuesday at the age of 69.

“We are deeply saddened that Paul Mario Day, Iron Maiden’s first ever vocalist back in 1975, has passed away,” the band wrote in a statement on social media, which you can see below. “Our thoughts and heartfelt condolences go out to Paul’s family and friends.

“Paul was a lovely person and good mate,” Iron Maiden continued. “Rest in peace, Paul.”

How Paul Mario Day Joined — and Got Fired From — Iron Maiden

Day joined Iron Maiden in December 1975 at the age of 19. His tenure lasted less than a year, as Maiden kicked him out in October 1976 and replaced him with Dennis Wilcock.

READ MORE: Every Iron Maiden Song Ranked From Worst to Best

“I never really was in a band, I just worked with guitar players in bedrooms, just sort of learning, experimenting, because I wasn’t really a singer. I just felt I could sing,” Day told the Danish webzine Power of Metal (via Blabbermouth) in 2019. “They liked me and straight away, I was singing some of Steve [Harris]‘s songs. He wrote some songs before the Iron Maiden period, they were in the old band. I sang and he wanted me to stay. I seemed to fit and then we started rehearsing. Then all the songs were being written and I was singing his songs.”

Iron Maiden ultimately dismissed Day due to his reported lack of stage presence. “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,” Day recalled.

Following his dismissal from Iron Maiden, Day formed the new wave of British heavy metal band More, singing on their 1981 debut album Warhead. He fronted the band Wildfire from 1983 to 1984, and in 1985 he joined Andy Scott and Mick Tucker’s reformed Sweet, performing on their 1986 album Live at the Marquee.