“Brian said we’d frightened the life out of them. I thought: ‘Good, we’ve done our job’”: The time Queen thought Iron Maiden – their support act – had upstaged them
Nowadays, they’re one of the biggest metal bands – nay, artists – in the world. But Iron Maiden are where they are after 50 years plus of hard graft, which has included supporting some of the biggest names on the planet.
And in a new interview with Classic Rock, founder and bandleader Steve Harris comments on the unspoken and somewhat healthy rivalry that often occurs between headliners and support acts.
Over their multi-decade career, Iron Maiden have supported a who’s who of rock and roll’s elite, including Kiss, Judas Priest and Queen. And the biggest lesson Harris learned from supporting the former two? “Be nice to people,” he says.
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“I’m not naming names,” he says. “But there [were] a lot of things going around, with headline bands worrying you were going to go down better than them. I’ve always felt you should give up if you’re worried about support bands.”
He continues: “Any band supporting us, their job is to go out there, push us hard and try and take our audience.”
Harris recalls an interaction at the inaugural edition of Rock in Rio in 1985, which found Iron Maiden supporting headliners Queen. As he remembers, following their set, guitarist Brian May tracked him down before Queen’s set.
“Brian said we’d frightened the life out of them. I thought: ‘Good, we’ve done our job.’ Of course it didn’t make any difference to Queen, they still went down amazing. But it’s good to ruffle feathers.”
Iron Maiden’s members are now all in their late 60s and early 70s, but there remains a strong sense of physicality to their live shows.
“In the early days when we had frontmen that didn’t move so much, I had to cover the stage more. It was my job,” says Steve Harris. “After Bruce arrived, I didn’t need to be in the middle of the stage – despite what he says!”
“But I always wanted to keep moving. These days it takes more effort to get across the stage, without slipping over in my own sweat. I’ve always done a lot of sports, though. I still do a lot of running and I just played tennis this morning.”
Iron Maiden have a string of tour dates planned for the remainder of 2026. For a full list of shows, head to their official website.
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
