What happened to Paul Mario Day? Iron Maiden's singer list explored as original vocalist dies at 69

Iron Maiden's original lead singer, Paul Mario Day, has died at the age of 69 on July 29, 2025. He reportedly passed away from cancer at his residence in Australia. The singer built a large fan base during his time as the main vocalist for around a year with the heavy metal band.

Throughout his career, Paul worked with other groups besides Iron Maiden, including More, Wildfire, Sweet, and others. Notably, More confirmed the news of Mario Day’s death through Facebook with two separate posts, both sharing the same statement. One of the posts included a video, while the other featured some photos of Paul.

The band paid tribute to Paul Mario Day’s contributions, including his role in the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, also known as NWOBHM. In addition, the band wrote in the caption:

“It is an honour for us to continue to play his music and we will always think of him every time we hit the opening notes to ‘Warhead.’ We send our deepest condolences to Paul’s family and friends and also the many fans around the world who love his music.”

Another band, Sweet, also expressed their grief on the same platform and opened up about how Paul Mario Day started working with them many years ago.

“In 1985 Mick Tucker and myself put together the first new line-up of Sweet after the hiatus of the original band. We needed a singer and when Paul arrived for the audition we looked no further,” Sweet wrote.

The band announced that their initial shows in Australia and Europe were sold out. This was followed by the release of their live album, Live at the Marquee. Sweet wrote in the tribute post that the project reached the top of the charts, adding that Mario Day’s vocal performance deserves credit for the same. They also acknowledged Paul’s work with Iron Maiden and Sweet.

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Iron Maiden’s lineup went through many changes: List of singers and other members

Iron Maiden, the London, England-based group, delivered many hits in their career. Over the years, the group collaborated with multiple record labels like EMI. According to Louder Sound, the group was formed by Steve Harris, who was among the original members of the band.

Harris played in another band called Smiler, and the decision to form Iron Maiden came from a situation where he could not convince the members to let him perform on songs he created. In 2015, Steve recalled the experience in an interview with Guitar World and said:

“I wanted to do my first real song with Smiler, but when I brought it to them they said, ‘Oh, sh*t, this has too many time changes. We’re not bloody doing this. I couldn’t handle that attitude, so I left and formed Iron Maiden.”

He further said that his writing material included different combinations. Harris mentioned that he was inspired by artists and groups like Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, and King Crimson.

Steve Harris has continued to be a part of Iron Maiden as a backing vocalist alongside Adrian Smith and Bruce Dickinson. Others include Dave Murray, Nicko McBrain, and Janick Gers. Among the former members, there were other singers like Paul Mario Day, Dennis Wilcock, Paul Di’Anno, Dennis Stratton, and Blaze Bayley.

There have been three touring members for Iron Maiden, including Michael Kenney, Brent Diamond, and Simon Dawson. Many guitarists have played with the band over the years, such as Terry Rance, Dave Sullivan, Bob Sawyer, Terry Wapram, Paul Cairns, Paul Todd, and Tony Parsons. Tony Moore was the keyboardist for a brief period, alongside Thunderstick, who was the drummer for a year.

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The band’s self-titled debut album was released in 1980. Their third major project, The Number of the Beast, reached the top spot on the Billboard charts, along with other albums such as Piece of Mind, Powerslave, Somewhere in Time, and more. The band has released many hit singles like Wildest Dreams, The Trooper, and Different World.