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Iron Maiden<\/a><\/strong> drummer Nicko McBrain<\/strong> sadly suffered a stroke back in January 2024<\/a>. In a statement on the band’s website at the time, McBrain<\/strong> revealed it was a minor transient ischemic attack (TIA) that left part of his right side paralyzed. Despite the stroke, McBrain<\/strong> has still been out there tearing it up with Iron Maiden<\/a><\/strong> live, though he notes it’s not quite the same as it used to be.<\/p>\n In an interview with The Washington Tattoo<\/em> podcast, McBrain<\/strong> said he’s sadly not able to do some of the fills he used to be able to play. Which is still incredible considering it’s only the faster fills McBrain<\/strong> can’t play, and not more of the basic stuff. The man did<\/em> have a stoke, after all.<\/p>\n “The first three months of a stroke is where you have the most recovery. After that, the next three months, it’s a little less and then the three months after that, and so on and so forth. I’m over \u2014 almost a year and a half now, but it will be next week. What’s the date? Yeah, 10 days’ time. So I’m still not back to where I wanna be.<\/p>\n “I’ve probably got\u2026 I can’t do, I can’t do\u2026 So if this is a tempo, I can’t do a 16-note roll going into 32nd<\/sup>-note rolls anymore. What happens is I can play eighth notes, like that kind of groove. I can do doubles, but when I try and play that 16th<\/sup> at that speed, instead of going up and down, it wobbles from left to right, when I start playing fast, when I try to play fast.<\/p>\n “So I’ve had to adjust my fills now. I mean, I don’t play ‘The Trooper’ fill anymore because I can’t get it\u2026 It’s the speed of it. I can do everything slow, but I’ve had to make sure that as long as I can keep the groove of the song, which is normally\u2026”<\/p>\n McBrain<\/strong> later noted that he works out a lot of what he can and can’t play with his Iron Maiden<\/a><\/strong> cover band Titantium Tart<\/strong>. McBrain<\/strong> also reveals that he feels he’s peaked in terms of his recovery and what he’ll be able to play again, which again \u2013 dude’s still out there killing it.<\/p>\n “We had the rehearsal [for the spring 2023 Iron Maiden<\/a><\/strong> tour] starting in April, end of April. So I had that three months \u2014 March, February, March, April. I had 12 weeks of recovery, basically, before I went and had rehearsal. And, so today my routine now is I do the eight on eight to warm up and try and get my fingers working, but they’re not\u2026 I’m at the stage now where I’ve peaked.<\/p>\n “I’ve noticed in some of the rehearsals \u2014 I play with the Titantium Tart<\/strong> band I’ve got, which are doing the same set that I’m playing with Maiden<\/a><\/strong> later this year; we’re doing exactly the same set. I’ve got a couple of gigs coming up this weekend. We rehearse once a week. I’ve got a rehearsal tonight and tomorrow. So, I’m allowed to be out to try these things out. And they’re not working.<\/p>\n “So, I’ve reverted back to what I was doing with the band last year, which was playing straighter on those kind of fills. [The song] ‘Fear Of The Dark’, I’m getting the triplets again and a couple of the hi-hats snap. Those kind of things. It’s all about the tempo of the songs. When they’re fast, I have a struggle. When they’re slow, I can do it.”<\/p>\n \n