The family of former Iron Maiden frontman Paul Di’Anno has revealed the singer’s cause of death.
Di’Anno, the singer on Maiden’s first two albums, passed away in October after dealing with numerous health issues in recent years. His former bandmate Steve Harris and current Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson each paid tribute to the influential metal singer in the wake of his death, with Dickinson eulogizing Di’Anno during an Iron Maiden concert in Minnesota just days later.
Now, Di’Anno’s family has opened up about his cause of death, revealing that his passing, due to a heart complication, was instantaneous and “hopefully painless,” in their own words.
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The following statement was posted on Di’Anno’s Facebook page on Monday (November 11th):
“Dear fans and friends, we have received permission from Paul’s family to bring you the news of Paul’s cause of death, after the results of the autopsy have been received. His sisters Cheryl and Michelle confirmed the following: ‘Basically he had a tear in the sac around the heart and blood has filled inside it from the main aorta artery and that has caused the heart to stop.’ Paul’s death was instantaneous and hopefully painless. May he rest in peace.
This weekend, an In Memoriam show was held at Underworld Camden, where many of Paul’s fans, friends, colleagues and family members came. With a magnificent musical set, his musical colleagues said a worthy farewell to their friend.”
As the statement mentioned, a tribute show was held for Di’Anno last Thursday (November 7th) at Underworld Camden, a venue the singer had sold out for a show in 2023 and planned to play again before his death. The evening featured performances by Electric Gypsy, Gypsy’s Kiss, and Hi-On Maiden, all of whom were slated to support portions of a planned future-Di’Anno tour, which sadly didn’t happen.
Those bands, plus other musical colleagues such as Terry Wapram (ex-Iron Maiden) and Tino Troy (Praying Mantis), played songs from Di’Anno’s catalog and shared anecdotes from the stage. Limited merchandise that had already been printed for the aforementioned tour was also for sale.
In recent years, Di’Anno dealt with serious health issues, including two knee replacement operations from past motorcycle accidents that left him confined to a wheelchair. On the advice of his doctors, he originally announced his retirement from touring in 2020.
But Di’Anno — who didn’t receive royalties from Iron Maiden songs after being paid out at the time of his departure — instead formed a new band, Warhorse, alongside Czech musicians Ante Pupačić and Hrvoje Madiraca. With Warhorse, Di’Anno returned to performing live, and the trio released a self-titled debut album in July of this year.
That same month, Di’Anno also had the chance to meet Bruce Dickinson for the first time following the latter’s solo concert in Zagreb, Croatia. Coincidentally, Di’Anno was nearby for a promotional signing event for the release of the Warhorse album.
Below you can watch footage from the tribute concert to Di’Anno at Underworld Camden.
