Editing Iron Maiden (section)

===Early years (1975–1978)===
[[File:Cartandhorses.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Cart and Horses]], located in Maryland Point, [[Stratford, London|Stratford]], was where Iron Maiden played some of their first shows in 1976. The building was officially named "The Birthplace of Iron Maiden".{{sfnm|1a1=Wall|1y=2004|1p=29|2a1=Bushell|2a2=Halfin|2y=1985|2p=9}}]]

Iron Maiden were formed on Christmas Day, 25 December 1975, by bassist [[Steve Harris (musician)|Steve Harris]] shortly after he left his previous group, Smiler. Harris attributed the band's name to a film adaptation of ''[[The Man in the Iron Mask (1939 film)|The Man in the Iron Mask]]'' from the novel by [[Alexandre Dumas]], as the title reminded him of the [[iron maiden|iron maiden torture device]].{{sfn|Barton|1979}} They originally used the name Ash Mountain, but most of the band members preferred the name Iron Maiden. After months of rehearsal, Iron Maiden made their debut at St. Nicks Hall in Poplar on 1 May 1976,{{sfn|EMI|2004}} before taking up a semi-residency at the [[Cart and Horses]] Pub in [[Maryland, London|Maryland]], [[Stratford, London|Stratford]].{{sfn|Wall|2004|p=29}} The original line-up was short-lived, with vocalist [[Paul Mario Day]] being the first to go as, according to Harris, he lacked "energy or charisma on stage".{{sfn|Wall|2004|p=32}} He was replaced by Dennis Wilcock, a [[Kiss (band)|Kiss]] fan who used makeup and fake blood during live performances{{sfn|Wall|2004|p=32}} and had earlier played with Harris and Doug Sampson in the band Smiler.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-02-27 |title=Interview: Steve Harris on Iron Maiden's Foundation {{!}} Bacon's Archive |url=https://reverb.com/news/interview-iron-maidens-steve-harris |access-date=2024-12-08 |website=reverb.com |language=en}}</ref> Wilcock's friend, guitarist [[Dave Murray (musician)|Dave Murray]], was invited to join, much to the dismay of the band's guitarists Dave Sullivan and Terry Rance.{{sfn|Wall|2004|p=33}} Their frustration led Harris to temporarily disband Iron Maiden in 1976,{{sfn|Wall|2004|p=33}} though the group reformed soon after with Murray as the sole guitarist. Harris and Murray remain the band's longest-serving members and have performed on all of their releases.

[[File:Harris 1.jpg|thumb|left|[[Dave Murray (musician)|Dave Murray]] and [[Steve Harris (musician)|Steve Harris]] in [[Somewhere Back in Time World Tour|2008]]. Harris and Murray are the only members to have performed on all of the band's albums.]]
Iron Maiden recruited another guitarist in 1977, Bob Sawyer, who was sacked for embarrassing the band on stage by pretending to play guitar with his teeth.{{sfn|Wall|2004|p=44}} Tension ensued again, causing a rift between Murray and Wilcock, who convinced Harris to fire Murray,{{sfn|Wall|2004|p=46}} as well as original drummer Ron Matthews.{{sfn|EMI|2004}} A new line-up was put together, including future [[Cutting Crew]] member [[Tony Moore (musician)|Tony Moore]] on keyboards, Terry Wapram on guitar and drummer [[Thunderstick|Barry Purkis]] (better known today as Thunderstick). After a single gig with the band in January 1978, Moore was asked to leave as Harris decided keyboards did not suit the band's sound.{{sfn|Wall|2004|p=48}} Dave Murray rejoined in late March 1978, and when Terry Wapram disapproved he was sacked. A few weeks later, Dennis Wilcock decided to leave Iron Maiden to form his own band, V1, with Wapram, and drummer [[Thunderstick|Barry Purkis]] also left. Former Smiler drummer Doug Sampson was at Dennis' and Thunderstick's last gig, and joined the band afterwards.

Harris, Murray and Sampson spent the summer and autumn of 1978 rehearsing while they searched for a singer to complete the band's new line-up.{{sfn|Wall|2004|p=52}} A chance meeting at the Red Lion, a pub in [[Leytonstone]], in November 1978 evolved into a successful audition for vocalist [[Paul Di'Anno]].{{sfn|Wall|2004|p=54}} Steve Harris said, "There's sort of a quality in Paul's voice, a raspiness in his voice, or whatever you want to call it, that just gave it this great edge".{{sfn|Wall|2004|p=53}} At this time, Murray would typically act as their sole guitarist, with Harris commenting, "Davey was so good he could do a lot of it on his own. The plan was always to get a second guitarist in, but finding one that could match Davey was really difficult".{{sfn|Wall|2004|p=64}}