Iron maiden drummer Nicko McBrain is sharing some details about his health.
McBrain suffered a stroke with partial paralysis in January and addressed his issues during a recent concert by his side project Titanium Tart.
He told the crowd, “I’ve gotta be honest with you, it was a touch and go last year for me, because, as you probably know… If you don’t, strokes aren’t fun. Some people get really bad reactions to ’em, like [they become] paralyzed, they can’t speak, they can’t walk and do whatnot. I couldn’t play — I was paralyzed on the right side. Fortunately, the Boca Raton Regional Hospital had this incredible occupational therapy section, and there’s a girl called Julie Blum that looked after me, and in three months, she had me playing again.”
He went on to explain, “And it ain’t the old Nicko, it’s not the old one by a long shot, but at least it’s part of me. And my band, bless their hearts, Iron Maiden bassist Steve Harris and the rest of the guys turn around and say, ‘If you can’t do something in a song, we just won’t do that song.’”