Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band from Leyton in East London, formed in 1975. The band are directed by founder, bassist and songwriter Steve Harris. Since their inception, the group has released a collective total of thirty-five albums: fourteen studio albums, nine live albums, four EPs and eight compilations.
As pioneers of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, Iron Maiden achieved success during the early 1980s and after several lineup changes, went on to release a series of platinum and gold albums. These include the US platinum-selling landmark The Number of the Beast during 1982 and Piece of Mind in 1983. Their most recent studio effort, A Matter of Life and Death, was released in 2006 and peaked at number nine on the Billboard 200. The album was certified gold in the UK.
As one of the most successful heavy metal bands to date, Iron Maiden have sold more than 70 million records worldwide, without significant mainstream or radio support. The band won the Ivor Novello Awards for international achievement in 2002, and were also inducted into the Hollywood RockWalk in Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, California during their tour in the United States in 2005. Their influences include: Thin Lizzy, UFO, Deep Purple, Uriah Heep and Wishbone Ash. In 2009, after the band played to over 2 million fans around the world in 91 concerts and unprecedented ticket sales, Metal Hammer magazine proclaimed Iron Maiden to be the biggest and greatest metal band on the planet. The band have acheived more than 250 record certifications worldwide, which is considered the most by any Heavy Metal group.
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