Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band from Leyton in East London, formed in 1975. The band is 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 landmarks The Number of the Beast in 1982, Piece of Mind in 1983, Powerslave in 1984, the acclaimed live album Live After Death in 1985, Somewhere In Time in 1986, and Seventh Son of a Seventh Son in 1988. Their most recent studio effort, A Matter of Life and Death, was released in 2006 and peaked at number nine on the Billboard 200 and at number 4 in the UK. The album was certified gold in the UK. It is also one of the few rock albums to be certified platinum in India.
As one of the most successful heavy metal bands to date, Iron Maiden have sold more than 100 million records worldwide, including 75 million albums through EMI Records. 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 Judas Priest, Led Zeppelin, The Who, Thin Lizzy, UFO, Deep Purple, Queen, Uriah Heep and Wishbone Ash. As of October 2009, the band has played just over 2000 live shows during their illustrious career.
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