Iron Maiden’s Paul Di’Anno, who was once the band’s frontman, died aged 66 last week penniless and alone. The rocker was sacked from the metal band despite having two hit albums with the rest of the group. According to reports, his weakness for partying and drugs caused tension among the band and saw him kicked out when he was 23 years old.
During the later years of his life, Paul was in a wheelchair and signed away his royalty rights for £50,000. The musician, born Paul Andrews, grew up in Chingford, Essex, and joined Iron Maiden in 1978 before leaving in 1981. He was replaced by Bruce Dickinson over 40 years ago. He was found unresponsive in his ground-floor apartment in Wiltshire last week.
Bruce led a silence for Paul and said of his predecessor: “So, Paul, if you’re listening, this is a little message from Minneapolis to wherever you are, upstairs or downstairs, you’re having fun! Minneapolis, for Paul Di’Anno, scream for me!”
Paul had been using a wheelchair following knee injuries after an accident on stage in 2015, which developed into sepsis and saw him hospitalised for several months.
His neighbour told MailOnline: “Two nurses or carers greeted the paramedics and let them into the property. I think it must have been them who found Paul and raised the alarm.”
The neighbour said Paul was “always smiling and waving” whenever we went past.
Following his passing, a statement from Paul’s label read: “On behalf of his family, Conquest Music are sad to confirm the death of Paul Andrews, professionally known as Paul Di’Anno.”
It added: “He sang on their groundbreaking debut album Iron Maiden, and the influential follow-up release, Killers.
“Since leaving Iron Maiden, Paul Di’Anno had a long and eventful recording career with Battlezone and Killers as well as numerous solo releases and guest appearances.
“Despite being troubled by severe health issues in recent years that restricted him to performing in a wheelchair, Paul continued to entertain his fans around the world, racking up well over 100 shows since 2023.”
The statement concluded: “Conquest Music are proud to have had Paul Di’Anno in our artist family and ask his legion of fans to raise a glass in his memory.”