Legendary drummer Nicko McBrain has opened up on the effects that the have had on his playing ability with the band. Speaking at the Piper's Pub venue in Pompano Beach, Florida on Friday (July 19) during a show with his side project Titanium Tart (see what he did there?), Nicko described the serious medical emergency as "touch and go". "Strokes aren't fun," he continued (as transcribed by ).
"Some people get really bad reactions to 'em, like [they become] paralyzed, they can't speak, they can't walk and do whatnot. I couldn't play — I was paralyzed on the right side. Fortunately, the Boca Raton Regional Hospital had this incredible OT [occupational therapy] section, and there's a girl called Julie Blum that looked after me, and in three months, she had me playing again.
And it ain't the old Nicko, it's not the old one by a long shot, but at least it's part of me. And my band, bless their hearts, Steve Harris and the rest of the guys turn around and say, 'If you can't do something in a song, we just won't do that song.' "When we were rehearsing last year for , we were doing to open," he explained.
"Now there's a middle section, it's all snare drum on the record. I can't play it. As you probably noticed, those of you nerds that are in the audience that go, 'He didn't do the drum fill.
' Well, that's why, 'cause I fucking can't do it. So anyway, Steve turned around to me and I said, 'Okay, I've got an idea. if I do the double on the snare,' and I played it for him and he went, 'No.
Have you got anything else?' I went, 'Yeah I'll play it on the cymbal.' 'No. You got anything else?' 'That's me spent, mate.
' So he turned around and he thought about for about half a minute. He's standing in front of my drum set and he's going, 'Why don't you play it straight?' I went, 'What?' 'Play a straight fill through it. Go ahead.
' I went, 'You're a fucking genius, Harry.' And there's me, the drummer, supposedly, [I'm] supposed to come up with all these ideas, and there's Harry: 'Play it straight, Nick.' I didn't even think of that.
And so we rehearsed it from thereon in, and we play it straight, which I'm sure 90 percent of you don't give a fuck about that bit anyway." Later this year, Iron Maiden will resume their Future Past world tour via shows in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, the USA, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Argentina. Sign up below to get the latest from Metal Hammer, plus exclusive special offers, direct to your inbox! Merlin moved into his role as Executive Editor of Louder in early 2022, following over ten years working at Metal Hammer.
While there, he served as Online Editor and Deputy Editor, before being promoted to Editor in 2016. Before joining Metal Hammer, Merlin worked as Associate Editor at Terrorizer Magazine and has previously written for the likes of Classic Rock, Rock Sound, eFestivals and others. Across his career he has interviewed legends including Ozzy Osbourne, Lemmy, Metallica, Iron Maiden (including getting a trip on Ed Force One courtesy of Bruce Dickinson), Guns N' Roses, KISS, Slipknot, System Of A Down and Meat Loaf.
He has also presented and produced the Metal Hammer Podcast, presented the Metal Hammer Radio Show and is probably responsible for 90% of all nu metal-related content making it onto the site. "Emails were exchanged with Ian Anderson, containing something that could be described as music": Opeth's Mikael Åkerfeldt is unable to tell you what he'd like to tell you "The woody base of papyrus and patchouli leaves the senses longing for more in a rhythmic exchange of back and forth": Yes, Tony Iommi has released a new scent Blur's Damon Albarn disagrees with Bob Dylan's phone ban at gigs: "People won’t want to be on their phone if you’re engaging with them correctly".
