Other bands and collaborations

Maiden's history meets other bands through shared musicians, recordings and tours. Some connections lasted for years; others produced a single session. These listening routes follow the people involved, with the longer solo careers collected in our projects guide.

Samson

Bruce Dickinson sang on Samson's Head On and Shock Tactics before joining Maiden. Clive Burr had already played drums in Samson, but Thunderstick occupied the drum seat on those Dickinson albums.

The Dickinson guide starts with Samson and follows his solo albums. Burr's biography follows his later work in Trust, Stratus, Elixir and Desperado.

Janick Gers: White Spirit and Gillan

Janick Gers played guitar in White Spirit before joining Ian Gillan's band. White Spirit's “Back to the Grind” and “Cheetah” appear in the Neat singles collection, which identifies Gers's part in the group.

Gillan's Double Trouble arrived in November 1981 with Gers on guitar. It combined a new studio album with live recordings. “Restless” and “Nightmare” introduce the studio material; the concert half lets listeners hear him playing the band's earlier songs. Demon's release notes distinguish that original double album from its later vinyl edition.

Magic followed in 1982. “Bluesy Blue Sea” offers another starting point. The expanded reissue adds B-sides and other tracks to the original record.

Gers discusses White Spirit, Gillan and the years between Gillan and Maiden in our 2003 interview. His first album with Dickinson was Tattooed Millionaire, made before he replaced Adrian Smith in Maiden.

Nicko McBrain: earlier bands and Titanium Tart

Nicko McBrain worked with Streetwalkers, Pat Travers and Trust before Maiden. The band's announcement of his autobiography identifies those chapters in his career. Trust's Marche ou crève provides a recorded example: its album credits name him on drums. Burr followed McBrain into Trust and played on the 1983 album Trust IV, also known as Idéal, as his biography recounts.

McBrain also plays Maiden songs in smaller rooms with Titanium Tart. In the 2022 Florida club announcement, he described the shows as a chance to play for fun and prepare for Maiden's next tour. Guitarist Mitch Tanne, his Rock-n-Roll Ribs business partner, joined him in that lineup.

McBrain's December 2024 announcement ended his regular Maiden touring and named Titanium Tart among his continuing projects.

Dennis Stratton: Lionheart and Praying Mantis

Dennis Stratton's Maiden recording career centres on the debut album. Lionheart followed his departure, with Steve Mann and Rocky Newton among his collaborators. Hot Tonight introduced their recorded work in 1984. The band's 2016 reunion led to Second Nature in 2017; the label biography follows those two periods and the later The Reality of Miracles.

Stratton also spent years with Praying Mantis. Tino Troy's reissue notes for Time Tells No Lies recall the 1990 Japanese reunion with Stratton and Paul Di’Anno. Live at Last documents their concert collaboration; subsequent Mantis albums continued with changing singers.

Our 2003 Stratton interview gives him room to discuss Maiden, Lionheart and Praying Mantis in his own words. For listening, pair Hot Tonight with Live at Last: the first presents Lionheart's songs, the second a shared concert repertoire.

Doug Sampson: Airforce

Doug Sampson played drums on The Soundhouse Tapes. Airforce gives listeners a later body of work beyond those early Maiden recordings. The band's label traces its beginnings to 1986, with guitarist Chop Pitman and bassist Tony Hatton alongside Sampson. Its history describes Judgement Day as a retrospective collection, released in 2016.

Strike Hard followed in 2020 and Acts of Madness in February 2025. Try “Among the Shadows” or “The Fury” from the latter for Airforce's own material. The album also includes Maiden's “Strange World”, reconnecting Sampson with an early song.

Gogmagog and Hear 'n Aid: shared recordings

Gogmagog brought Gers, Di’Anno and Burr together with Neil Murray and Pete Willis. Gers describes it in the 2003 interview as a brief Jonathan King recording project in 1985. The resulting EP, I Will Be There, also appears in Di’Anno's account of his later bands.

Hear 'n Aid brought Dave Murray and Adrian Smith into a much larger charity recording. Their contribution to “Stars” sits in the rhythm and melody parts. In Steve Newton's introduction to his 1985 interview with Ronnie James Dio, Newton distinguishes their part from the featured guitar solos. Listen for the ensemble as well as the guest singers and soloists.

Return to solo projects and other bands, the member profiles or the interview archive.