10 Worst Rock Band Member Replacements
2. Blaze Bayley Replaces Bruce Dickinson - Iron Maiden
One of the greatest replacements in rock music history is when Paul Di'Anno, the singer for Iron Maiden on their first two albums, made way for a man who would become intertwined with the band forevermore, Bruce Dickinson.
Brucey made an immediate impact, as his first Maiden album was the seismic The Number of the Beast. He oversaw several more smash hits, but this romance was not to last. By 1993, he was gone too.
The rest of the band clearly knew they were never going to find someone to live up to Dickinson's talents, so they hired the guy with the coolest name instead.
Blaze Bayley, real name Bayley Cooke, served as Dickinson's replacement for two albums, The X Factor and Virtual XI. How did that go? Oh, they both routinely rank amongst the worst Maiden albums of all time. Right...
Bayley's voice was totally different to Dickinson's, which automatically put him in a compromising position. He also didn't possess nearly as much range or charisma, and the whole sad affair finally came to an end when Bruce returned for Maiden's 2000 album, Brave New World.
That album was significantly better, by the way.