Get to Know New Iron Maiden Touring Drummer, Simon Dawson Audio Ink Radio

Get to Know New Iron Maiden Touring Drummer, Simon Dawson

2024-12-10

Iron Maiden is bringing on Simon Dawson to serve as the metal band’s touring drummer, and he’s already familiar with the band. – Author: Cat Badra, photo via John Mcmurtrie

Over the weekend, the guys of Iron Maiden dropped the news that longtime drummer Nicko McBrain was stepping down from touring. The legendary metal band issued a statement from Iron Maiden manager Rod Smallwood on behalf of co-manager Andy Taylor and the rest of the band members, thanking McBrain for “being an irrepressible force behind the drum kit for Maiden for 42 years and my friend for even longer.”

In a post on Saturday, December 7, McBrain announced that even though he was retiring from touring, he would, “however, remain firmly part of the Iron Maiden family working on a variety of projects, my long time managers, Rod Smallwood and Andy Taylor, have in mind for me.” He added that he’ll “also be working on a variety of different personal projects and focusing on my existing businesses and ventures, including The British Drum Company, Nicko McBrain’s Drum One, Titanium Tart, and of course, Rock-N-Roll Ribs.”

Meet New Iron Maiden Touring Drummer Simon Dawson

So, it’s good news that McBrain isn’t technically leaving Maiden, but the band is in need of a touring drummer. That’s where Simon Dawson comes in.

On Monday, December 9, Iron Maiden announced that Dawson will be their touring drummer going forward. They also said that Dawson would be on their 50th Anniversary run in 2025.

Dawson is a familiar face, as he’s played in bass player Steve Harris’ other band, British Lion, for more than a decade. In Iron Maiden’s full announcement, they explained that “Iron Maiden are delighted to announce that stepping in behind the kit for 2025 is a name familiar to many of our fans – Simon Dawson, a former session drummer and Steve’s rhythm section partner of the past 12 years with British Lion.”

Maiden added, “A native of Suffolk, England, Simon first teamed up with Steve Harris back in 2012. He debuted on three tracks on the first British Lion album and all of the second critically acclaimed ‘The Burning,’ plus the many subsequent tours in the US, UK, Europe, Australia, Japan, New Zealand &, most recently, both Mexico and South America.”

Simon Dawson Already Has Chemistry With Iron Maiden

As for some fun facts about Dawson, he’s British. Since Iron Maiden is a British heavy metal band, it makes sense that he’s also British, but they could have gone with a drummer from any part of the world.

Dawson also has some experience with groove metal, which will come in handing when trying to fill the gap left by McBrain. Back in the 1990s, Dawson was a member of thrash and groove metal band Dearly Beheaded, and their stuff is super dark and groovy in the best way.

As already mentioned, Dawson has worked with Harris as the drummer of Harris’ British Lion for 12 years. That’s probably the biggest tie he has to Iron Maiden and why he got the gig. Harris already knows what it’s like to work with Dawson, so he knows what to expect. The two obviously have chemistry together, and you need that in a rhythm section. British Lion have also consistently toured since 2013, so there’s no rust here. It sounds like Iron Maiden is keeping it in the family with their Dawson pick.

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Cat Badra

Meet the expert - Cat Badra is a music writer for Audio Ink Radio and a range of other music, sports and lifestyle publications. She's a graduate of Michigan State University with a master's degree in theater and speech. Contact her at cat@audioinkradio.com.

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