Nicko McBrain, who set the beat for Iron Maiden since 1982, has officially retired.

The 72-year-old drummer from Hackney, London, released a statement Saturday (12/7) before the group's giant concert in Sao Paulo Brazil announcing his farewell.

"After much consideration, it is with both sorrow and joy, I announce my decision to take a step back from the grind of the extensive touring lifestyle," he wrote. "Today, Saturday, December 7th, Sao Paulo will be my final gig with Iron Maiden. I wish the band much success moving forward."

The gig was the band's last stop on the grueling Future Past Tour where they played 44 gigs in 2024 beginning in Perth, Australia, several months after McBrain had recovered from a stroke. While most of his body was able to bounce back, the drummer admitted he was no longer able to perform some of his faster fills.

And yet he still continued to rock, valiantly.

"He was a drummer before I was a singer," frontman Bruce Dickinson told the crowd of 45,000 at Allianz Parque who had been chanting Nicko's name. "He was a pilot before I was a pilot. And now he's done."

The singer noted McBrain isn't fully leaving the band, he's just not going to be playing on tour any longer.

McBrain replaced the popular Maiden drummer Clive Burr who appeared on the band's first three LPs: Iron Maiden, Killers and The Number of the Beast - the latter being the first album the group had Dickinson on the mic.

Fans were weary of more change from the burgeoning metal giants when McBrain, who plays barefoot, was announced as the new member after Burr was axed during the The Beast on the Road Tour.

But when fans listened to the first moments of the first song on the first album Nicko would record with Maiden, "Where Eagles Dare," they could rest assured the band was in good hands. Piece Of Mind was a hit, in part because of the precision he brought to the group.

Famously known for not utilizing a double bass drum, something that's standard for most metal drummers, McBrain joked that "one is hard enough."

He finally relented once, and only once, on "Face In The Sand" from 2003's Dance Of Death.

The Washington Tattoo podcast talked to Nicko a few months ago about the drummer's stroke:

"It happened on January the 19th, last year," he told the hosts. "I was actually having cataract surgery that day. And I guess there was a lot of stress and angst, with somebody messing with your peepers."

"About eight o'clock I thought, 'I'm gonna have a nap. I feel really tired.' And I woke up about 45 minutes later, and I'd had this stroke. And I thought it was pins and needles, but I couldn't feel the pins and needles. I picked my arm up, going, 'What's going on here?' And I could feel [the arm] but nothing was happening… And I let my arm go and it just dropped, and I'm, like, 'Oh, shit. Something ain't right,'" he said.

"And it didn't paralyze my leg, although my leg was wobbly. Which is a good thing, because my foot still worked. At least one saving grace — God gave me my right foot. It's not quite as good as it was, but… Anyway, I went to the doctors, or they took me to the hospital. I had a whole team of people work around me. It was like I was a superstar. And they didn't even know who I was."

After months of rest and physical therapy, McBrain was back and Maiden rolled on through the year of touring.

Earlier this week Maiden announced their new drummer will be Simon Dawson who plays in bassist Steve Harris' side project, British Lion.

Iron Maiden goes back on the road next year for their Run For Your Lives Tour. Get tickets on their website.

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