Iron Maiden guitarist Adrian Smith discusses band longevity

Iron Maiden guitarist Adrian Smith has reflected on the band’s longevity and their ongoing ‘Run for Your Lives’ world tour. Despite being active for over 50 years, Smith states that the band enjoys performing live as much as, if not more than, during their earlier years.

Smith noted a significant trend in their audience, observing an increasing number of younger fans attending shows alongside longtime devotees and multiple generations of families. This growing demographic contributes to the high energy of their performances.

The current tour focuses on the band’s early catalog, drawing from their first nine studio albums released between 1980 and 1992. The setlist includes songs that had been absent from their performances for many years, such as ‘Murders in the Rue Morgue’ from the album ‘Killers’. Smith described the process of revisiting these older tracks as feeling natural, comparing the muscle memory to riding a bicycle.