Ex-IRON MAIDEN Singer BLAZE BAYLEY: Why I Like To Have A Free Meet-And-Greet At Every Concert

March 3, 2020

British heavy metal vocalist Blaze Bayley, who fronted IRON MAIDEN more than 20 years ago, was recently interviewed by Brazil's Metal Domination. You can now watch the chat below.

Asked what has kept him motivated to keep going for so long as a solo artist, Blaze said: "I am very lucky. I have wonderful fans that, when I really thought, 'Am I good enough? Should I continue?' they would sent me e-mails, and I would see an e-mail, 'Blaze, please make another album.' 'Blaze, please return to Brazil.' 'Blaze, we love you. We want you to go…' And it would give me the confidence to go, 'Well, maybe I can make another album.' And since those days when I started, I've made 11 studio albums and I've been to Brazil many, many times. And it is part of that feeling and that spirit that I share with my fans in Brazil that make it possible for me to continue. Sometimes it's difficult, and when I need inspiration, I think of my tours in Brazil with IRON MAIDEN, my solo tours, my tours acoustic.

"I'm completely independent," he continued. "I'm not crowd funded. I have no big record company. I am funded by Blaze Bayley fans. When my fan buys my CD, I get the money and I make the next CD. No one else is involved — it's me and my fans. And so at every concert, I like to have a free meet-and-greet so that I can say 'thank you' personally to every fan."

Bayley will release a new studio album in March 2021. Blaze and guitarist Chris Appleton have already putting together new material and early reports from the singer are that the results so far are "very exciting."

In April, Blaze will release "Live In Czech", a live album and DVD recorded last fall at the Melodka venue in Brno, Czech Republic. The theme of the tour followed on from Blaze's "Infinite Entanglement" trilogy of albums and the setlist particularly featured some of the more epic songs from the trilogy which hadn't previously been included in concert setlists. The set also contained a selection of songs from his albums with IRON MAIDEN during the 1990s.

In September, Blaze plans to reissue his 2002 album "Tenth Dimension" with new packaging and upgraded artwork. There will also be a vinyl version for the first time. To go with that reissue, Blaze will embark on a European tour in September-November, featuring a "Tenth Dimension" setlist.

Bayley fronted IRON MAIDEN from 1994 until 1999. The two MAIDEN albums he appeared on, "The X Factor" and "Virtual XI", sold considerably less than the band's prior releases and were their lowest-charting titles in the group's home country since 1981's "Killers".

Since leaving IRON MAIDEN in 1999, Bayley has released a number of albums, including three under the moniker BLAZE and six under his own name. He also appeared on 2012's "Wolfsbane Saves The World", the first album of new material by WOLFSBANE since the group's self-titled 1994 effort.

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