Paul Mario Day fronted an early version of metal legends Iron Maiden back in the mid-‘70s and would also go on to front More, Wildfire and Sweet. It was sadly reported that the 69-year-old singer passed away earlier this week due to complications from cancer.
“We are deeply saddened that Paul Mario Day, Iron Maiden’s first ever vocalist back in 1975, has passed away,” Iron Maiden wrote on social media. “Our thoughts and heartfelt condolences go out to Paul’s family and friends. Paul was a lovely person and good mate. Rest in peace Paul.”
Sweet guitarist Andy Scott also paid tribute to Day on social media writing: “Paul Mario Day RIP. In 1985 Mick Tucker and myself put together the first new line-up of SWEET after the hiatus of the original band. We needed a singer and when Paul arrived for the audition we looked no further. Our first dates were in Australia, total sell-outs which boded well for the future. Europe followed suit and 3 sold out nights at the Marquee in London produced a live album, video and DVD. ‘Live at the Marquee’ did well in various charts around the world and Paul’s vocal performance has stood the test of time.
Scott continued: “PMD was the original singer with Iron Maiden and had a stint with the band More before joining Sweet. He passed away peacefully at his home in Australia.”
Around 10 years ago, Day talked in an online post claiming that he had co-written the band’s song “Strange World.” “This is my opinion,” he wrote. “When I sang in Iron Maiden, it was a new pub band and nobody wanted to see or hear them. We were all nobodys all trying to make the best music we could and fighting for an audience. In 1976, photos/recording were next to impossible to have if you were poor boys from East London, so I cannot prove I wrote the words and melody for ‘Strange World’. As for before the time of albums and recording deals, I would say it was creative theft, not deliberate, as probably I would have done the same thing myself to keep it clean and simple. I think, however, if it made me a mega amount of money in the future, I would have done the right thing and made amends. As back then we were all pulling for the same side and it still hurts to think the first-ever song I ever composed was on a big-selling album and nobody knows it was me. Not to mention how I scrape to earn a living while Mr. Harris is living like a god!”
Day was apparently axed from the band due to a lack of stage presence. “I’ve got to let you know, that was my first real band,” Day previously told the Danish webzine Power Of Metal. “I never, ever sung with a drummer before, so I had zero experience. I just used to sing with records at home and had the patience to do. Steve was saying, ‘You’ve got to get better. You’ve got to be more in the audience’s face. You’ve got to be commanding. You’ve got to be a hero.’ And I agreed with him, but I didn’t actually know how to make that happen. I got warning for maybe three months: ‘Get it together. Get it together.’ And I wanted to, I just didn’t know how to do it.“
