IRON MAIDEN has shared a new five-minute video tribute to the band’s longtime drummer Nicko McBrain, featuring behind-the-scenes footage of his final gig with the British heavy metal legends, which took place this past weekend in São Paulo, Brazil.

The 72-year-old British musician, whose real name is Michael Henry McBrain, announced his retirement on Saturday, December 7 in a statement on MAIDEN’s web site and social media. He also said that night’s concert at Allianz Parque in São Paulo, Brazil would mark his final show with the legendary rock band.

IRON MAIDEN singer Bruce Dickinson addressed McBrain’s retirement before launching into the third song, “The Writing On The Wall”, of MAIDEN’s set at Allianz Parque. He said: “Tonight is a very special night, as some of you, I think probably all of you, will know, because this morning we announced, Nicko announced that he was stepping back for playing live drums with IRON MAIDEN.

“For 42 years Nicko’s been in this band,” Bruce continued. “He was a drummer before I was a singer, he was a pilot before I was a pilot, and now he’s not leaving the band, but he’s just not playing live with us anymore.

“So, we have a lot more music to get to tonight, and I want the rest of the night to be a celebration of Nick, a celebration of the joy that he’s brought to everybody around the world, not just here in Brazil,” Dickinson added. “All right? And with that, on we go!”

Tapped to replace Clive Burr in 1982 after touring activities for “Number Of The Beast” concluded, McBrain brought a degree of finesse and technicality that was largely missing from IRON MAIDEN’s early output. Whereas Burr was often lauded for his heavy-handed, punk-oriented style, McBrain was largely the opposite, playing with a degree of dexterity and flair that helped primary songwriter Steve Harris take MAIDEN down more adventurous paths. He eventually became the third longest-tenured member of MAIDEN, behind Harris and guitarist Dave Murray.

McBrain spent his early drumming years playing for the likes of Pat Travers and French rockers TRUST, eventually falling onto the radar of Harris and MAIDEN during the group’s initial European tour.