With his exuberant personality and booming Brummie brogue, Blaze Bayley was always going to stand out. Frontman for rising stars Wolfsbane in the mid-80s to early 90s, in 1994 he got the call-up to join Iron Maiden, singing in the group during one of their most difficult periods.
When Bruce Dickinson rejoined Maiden in 1999, Blaze continued on alone, first with his solo venture Blaze, and then also with a resurrected Wolfsbane intermittently from 2007 onwards. We put him to the torch with your questions.
Do you plan to ever tour the US again?
Ok_imfc, Instagram
“It’s really challenging for smaller artists. I’m an independent artist; I’ve got lots of fans in the US, but they all live so far apart it’s impossible to get them all together for a gig. It’s actually so much easier to go to Canada, so I might end up there first.”
Which cut X Factor song do you wish had made it onto the album?
Unchained_Colours, Instagram
“Justice Of The Peace. We did the three B-sides from The X Factor when we did the anniversary tour, and once we got them polished up, Justice… was really cool. Those three songs, it would’ve been great to have more time to mix them and put them on the record. It went so well, we might bring it back on my October tour.”
“When I was diagnosed with depression, I didn’t even know what it was.”
Blaze Bayley
How do you look after yourself with such a busy schedule?
Daniel Armstrong, Facebook
“I don’t – I had a heart attack! Touring is unhealthy, and that’s even without booze and drugs, because there is erratic sleep and long travels sitting in a van. But how I’ve got to where I am is that I’m straight-edge. I think about my health a lot. It’s been seven years since I stopped drinking completely.”
Hammer: What made you quit?
“Mental health – I’ve always had problems. When I was diagnosed with depression 25 years ago, I didn’t even know what it was. I’d heard of it, but I didn’t realise you could get medication for it. I’d already stopped drinking on show days or the day before a show, but when I was off tour I slipped back into the habit of drinking – doing things you shouldn’t, like drinking alone, so I decided to stay stopped. Anyone who thinks they might have a problem, I urge you to try quitting and give it six months. I’ve been seven years [sober] on June 19, and the people who I know who’ve been on this journey… we’d never go back.”
Which songs on [2000 solo Blaze album] Silicon Messiah did you originally write for Brave New World?
Kilian Alpert, Facebook
“Born As A Stranger and A Ghost In The Machine. I’d read the book Stranger In A Strange Land by Robert Heinlein, and that was it. I was very interested in what was happening with artificial intelligence and was very interested in what [American computer scientist and author] Ray Kurzweil was saying about it. Those two ideas, especially Born As A Stranger, were the first things I tried with musicians when I was putting the band together. I might do one of those at Eddfest, actually.”
Would you ever write a daily column called Blaze Daily?
Mark Enschrøde, Facebook
“My problem is that I suffer from laziness. Doing something on a daily basis, that feels like actual work! I’ve got enough with my two radio shows, recording them every week. That’s plenty for me, man! Once a month, I might do something; I’d probably call it ‘Cooking With Blaze’ and it’d be stuff like my signature dish, fish finger curry. There are variations of that – my sausage and mushroom curry is also worthy of a mention.”
Wolfsbane’s [1990 track] Kathy Wilson is an under-appreciated masterpiece. Did you write any more sci-fi-themed tunes at the time?
Outshined1969, Instagram
“No, it was a one-off. We love science fiction, especially that 50s thing where it’s the paranoia for Communism and its all a metaphor for what was happening. We loved doing that album [All Hell’s Breaking Loose Down At Little Kathy Wilson’s Place], but we felt cheated in a way. We never had a Kathy Wilson tour. It sounds like sour grapes, but we did the Iron Maiden support tour and everything went really well, but because of how our deal was structured, the record company never gave us our own tour afterwards. That’s why we think the album didn’t get to where it should have.”
“Iron Maiden was banned by the church.”
Blaze Bayley
What new metal bands are you digging these days? Bobthrash, Instagram
“I’m loving Green Lung and Wytch Hazel. There’s a few actually – Monster Truck aren’t new, but they’re new to me. Jayler and Tailgunner, too. Things are going to change over the next three years, and these bands are going to come into their own. If all of them can make a great studio album, I think it’ll push them to be the next wave.”
If the Maiden offer hadn’t existed, would you have stayed in Wolfsbane?
Horia Argintaru, Facebook
“I don’t know. That’s a challenging question. We were very loyal to each other, but the horrible reality was that we’d been dropped by the label and had no record deal. Our manager said, ‘Lads, you’ve got nothing.’ Grunge was coming up and we refused to become like that, because we were proud of the music we were making on The White Album [1994’s Wolfsbane], which we’re actually remastering. I don’t think we could’ve carried on much longer. I had no plans at that point to do anything solo – that only came after Maiden.”
Will Maiden ever release a DVD/live album of your era?
Anders Bogelöv, Facebook
“No, there’s very little footage of that era. I’ve moved something like six times since then, so most of what I’d kept has just disappeared or got lost. If you look at [2003 DVD set] Visions Of The Beast, I’ve got six songs on there. That’s probably as close as we’re going to get. Actually, what we do have is Chile. I’m famous for losing my temper there…”
Hammer: Tell us more…
“There were six people spitting at the band. Because of diseases, everybody was cautious and had to stand at the back. Maiden had never played there – they’d been banned by the church. But [in 1996], after Bon Jovi, Metallica, Black Sabbath… all the big bands had come, the greatest metal band of them all was going to Chile. So you can imagine the expectation, and these guys were ruining it for everyone.
But the Chilean equivalent of the BBC set up in the theatre and filmed that whole gig without permission. Because the police there were wearing guns and it was all a bit edgy, nobody felt like we could say, ‘You can’t film this.’ So I think there is one full gig. It went pretty well and I sounded good – meltdown aside!”
Are you still writing a book around the Infinite Entanglement Trilogy?
Saanichman, Instagram
“Yep! I hit a problem with my laptop and arthritis in one of my fingers, but I spoke to someone who writes books and they explained how to use dictation. So when I come back from the next big break – probably end of next year – I’ll finish it up. I’ve got about a third done.”
Would you record with Maiden again, given the chance?
Rated.R_metalhead, Instagram
“We’ve never had any animosity. One of the things that Bruce and Paul Di’Anno didn’t have was, they’d not seen Maiden as a fan. I saw them at Birmingham Odeon three times on three different tours. I’d got every studio album. Walking into it, I hoped it would last, but I knew if it ever ended I’d be tagged an ex-member of Iron Maiden. Which, as a fan… great! Iron Maiden are as important culturally as Star Wars.”
Hammer: And if they asked?
“If there was a project where they’d want the two voices, I’d be absolutely fine. Why would I be against that?! It’d be fun! My dream was to do a gig where Paul, Bruce and me could share a stage. For fans, it’d be absolute madness. At the same time, if I wrote something where I thought, ‘This could do with Bruce’, I’d ask him, same as anybody else!”
Do you still have something to prove?
Jordan R.A. Mills, Facebook
“As an artist, there are things I want to do. With [2024 solo album] Circle Of Stone, I felt I really managed to express a lot of the passion and darkness, using my voice in a way that I hadn’t before. But I’ve done it all: had a Top 10 single, played around the world, done gigs in stadiums and arenas. I’m living my dream of being a professional heavy metal singer: I don’t have to prove anything.”
Blaze’s UK tour starts on October 1.