Blaze Bayley is an English heavy metal singer, who started his career as singer of Wolfsbane in 1984, before joining Iron Maiden in 1994. Following his departure from Iron Maiden in 1999, he began a solo career with his eponymous band BLAZE, which featured guitarists Steve Wray and John Slater, bassist Rob Naylor and drummer Jeff Singer. His current main touring band is the melodic death metal band Absolva, which features Chris Appleton (Guitar), Tom Atkinson (Guitar), Luke Appleton (Bass), and Martin McNee (Drums).

History In September 2004, Bayley parted ways with his band, who by that point had been joined by Dave Knight (drums) and Wayne Banks (bass), replacing Naylor and Singer respectively, the drummer position was filled by Jason Bowld (Pitchshifter) by late 2003. His new band included bassist Nick Douglas (Doro), guitarists Oliver Palotai (Uli Jon Roth) and Luca Princiotta, and drummer Daniel Loble. By 2005, Douglas and Loble had been replaced by Christian Ammann and Daniel Schild respectively.

By January 2007, Bayley had parted ways with this backing band. In March that same year, Bayley announced his new band, now under the name Blaze Bayley, featuring Rico Banderra on drums, Nick Bermudez on guitar, David Bermudez on bass and Rich Newport on guitar. By 2008, Newport and Banderra had been replaced by Jay Walsh and Lawrence Paterson respectively. In 2010 Paterson was replaced by Claudio Tirincanti.

In March 2011, Bayley split with all members except Tirincanti. His new backing band featured guitarists Steve Deleu and Dave Andrews, and bassist Nick Meganck. By 2012 his backing band featured Tirincanti, as well as bassist Matteo "Lehmann" Grazzini and guitarist Andrea Neri. Also in 2012, he performed acoustic shows with classical guitarist Thomas Zwijsen.

In 2014, Bayley started touring with the band Absolva as his backing band, at this point they consisted of guitarists Chris and Luke Appleton, drummer Martin Mcnee and bassist Dan Bate. By September, Bate had left and was replaced by Karl Schramm. The band were also reduced to a trio when Luke stopped performing with the band due to his commitment to Iced Earth. Although he returned as a guest for shows between 2018 and 2019, before returning full time in 2021 after Iced Earth's hiatus.

In April 2025, Schramm departed both bands, and Luke took up bass, his original instrument. In September 2025, former Absolva guitarist Tom Atkinson returned to Absolva and started performing with Blaze Bayley as well. Main band Current ImageNameYears activeInstrumentsRelease contributionsBlaze Bayley 1999–presentvocals all releasesChris Appletonall releases from Live in Prague (DVD release only) (2014) onwardsLuke Appletonall releases from Circle of Stone (2024) onwardsMartin McNee2013–presentdrums all releases from Live in Prague (DVD release only) (2014) onwardsTom Atkinson2025–presentrhythm and lead guitarsno releases

Former ImageNameYears activeInstrumentsRelease contributionsJohn Slater1999–2004guitars Steve WrayRob Naylor 1999–2003bass Jeff Singerdrums Phil Greenhouse2003noneWayne Banks2003–2004bass Blood & Belief (2004)Jason Bowld 2004drums Oliver Palotai 2004–2007guitars noneLuca PrinciottaDaniel Löble2004–2005drums Nick Douglasbass Christian Ammann2005–2007Daniel Schild drums David Bermudez 2007–2011bass Nicolas Bermudezguitars Rich Newport 2007Alive in Poland (2007)Rico Banderradrums Jay Walsh2007–2011guitars Lawrence Paterson2007–2010drums Claudio Tirincanti2010–2012Dave Andrews2011guitars noneSteve DeleuNick Meganckbass Live in Prague (DVD release only) (2014)Thomas Zwijsen2012guitars Andrea Neri The King of Metal (2012)Matteo Lehmann bass Dan Bate2013–2014Live in Prague (DVD release only) (2014)Karl Schramm2014–2025all releases from Infinite Entanglement (2016) to Circle of Stone (2024)

Timeline

Former line-ups B L A Z E(March 1999 – January 2003)Blaze Bayley – vocals John Slater – guitars Steve Wray – guitars Rob Naylor – bass Jeff Singer – drums B L A Z E(January – April 2003)Blaze Bayley – vocals John Slater – guitars Steve Wray – guitars Rob Naylor – bass Phil Greenhouse – drums B L A Z E(April 2003 – December 2003)Blaze Bayley – vocals John Slater – guitars Steve Wray – guitars Wayne Banks – bass Phil Greenhouse – drums B L A Z E(January 2004 – September 2004)Blaze Bayley – vocals John Slater – guitars Steve Wray – guitars Wayne Banks – bass Jason Bowld – drums B L A Z E(October 2004 – December 2005)Blaze Bayley – vocals Oliver Palotai – guitars Luca Princiotta – guitars Nick Douglas – bass Daniel Löble – drums B L A Z E(December 2005 – January 2007)Blaze Bayley – vocals Oliver Palotai – guitars Luca Princiotta – guitars Christian Ammann – bass Daniel Schild – drums Blaze Bayley band(March 2007 – October 2007)Blaze Bayley – vocals Rich Newport – guitars Nicolas Bermudez – guitars David Bermudez – bass Rico Banderra – drums Blaze Bayley Band(November 2007 – April 2010)Blaze Bayley – vocals Jay Walsh – guitars Nicolas Bermudez – guitars David Bermudez – bass Lawrence Paterson – drums Blaze Bayley Band(April 2010 – March 2011)Blaze Bayley – vocals Jay Walsh – guitars Nicolas Bermudez – guitars David Bermudez – bass Claudio Tirincanti – drums Blaze Bayley(March 2011 – December 2011)Blaze Bayley – vocals Dave Andrews – guitars Steve Deleu – guitars Nick Meganck – bass Claudio Tirincanti – drums Blaze Bayley(January 2012 – December 2012)Blaze Bayley – vocals Thomas Zwijsen – guitars Andrea Neri – guitars Lehmann – bass Claudio Tirincanti – drums Blaze Bayley(December 2013 – November 2014)Blaze Bayley – vocals Chris Appleton – guitars Luke Appleton – guitars Dan Bate – bass Martin McNee – drums Blaze Bayley (December 2014 – March 2025)Blaze Bayley – vocals Chris Appleton – guitars Luke Appleton – guitars Karl Schramm – bass Martin McNee – drums Blaze Bayley (April 2025 – September 2025)Blaze Bayley – vocals Chris Appleton – guitars Luke Appleton – bass Martin McNee – drumsBlaze Bayley (September 2025 – present)Blaze Bayley – vocals Chris Appleton – guitars Luke Appleton – bass Martin McNee – drums Tom Atkinson – guitars

Other projects "Trinity" with Geoff Tate and "Ripper" Owens

From 2016, Blaze joined former Queensryche singer Geoff Tate and former Judas Priest vocalist Tim Owens in the touring project "Trinity" Blaze Bayley – vocals Kelly Gray - Guitars Scott Moughton - Guitars Tim Fernley - Bass Scott Mercado - Drums

"Metal Singers" with Udo, "Ripper" Owens and Mike Vescera In 2015 the four singer toured South America together

Blaze Bayley – vocals Lely Biscasse - Guitars Raphael Gazal - Guitars Lennon Biscasse - Bass Guto Franceschet - Drums

Bayley vs Di'Anno

From 2012, former Iron Maiden singers Blaze Bayley and Paul Di'Anno started a partnership doing some co-headlining tours and sharing the same roster of musicians.

- Russian Federation and occasionally Scandinavia:

Blaze Bayley – vocals Andrey Smirnov Vladimir Litsov – guitars Ilya Mamontov – guitars Nikolay Korshunov – bass Andrey Ischenko – drums Sergey Serbrennikov – drums

- For their Australia/New Zealand tour Bayley and Di'Anno shared Australian musicians: Blaze Bayley – vocals Doug Dalton – guitars Jimmy Lardner-Brown – guitars Stu Tyrrell – bass Dom Simpson – drums

- For the Scandinavian gigs and occasionally Great Britain: Blaze Bayley – vocals Richie Nielsen – guitars John V – guitars Are Gogstad – bass Rick Hagan – drums

- For some Italian and French gigs the two singers have been backed by official Iron Maiden tribute band Children of the Damned from Italy:

Blaze Bayley – vocals Carlo Micheletti – guitars Andrea Moretti – guitars Francesco Bevini – guitars Matteo Panzavolta – bass Gianluca Calanca – drums

Metal vs Blues

In 2015 Blaze started a cooperation with US-Italian band Twin Dragons with the shows "Metal vs Blues Rock", with these musicians:

Blaze Bayley - vocals Nazzareno Zacconi - guitars Don Roxx - guitars Fabio Cerrone - bass Manuel Togni - drums

North America

- Starting from 2013 Bayley hit the stage for brief US tours with an all star project named The Foundry, involving members of Disturbed, Adrenaline Mob, Danzig, Black Simphony, Scorpions, Fates Warning and Twisted Sisters:

Blaze Bayley – vocals Rick Plester – guitars John Moyer – bass Bobby Jarzombek - drums (James Kottak – drums 2013) (A.J. Pero – drums 2014-2015) (Shawn Austin – guest on vocals 2013)

- In Mexico 2016 he has been backed by metal band Overfire:

Blaze Bayley – vocals Paco Lorenzana - guitars Adrián Toussaint - guitars Eduardo Mandujano - bass Miky Estrada - drums

- In Canadian Tour of September 2016 his musicians were from bands Insurgent Inc and Maiden Québec.

Blaze Bayley - vocals Luis-Alberto Sanchez - guitars Leandro Alves - guitars Math Gagnon - bass Olivier Forest - drums

- In Canadian tour of October 2014 he was backed by Maiden Québec:

Blaze Bayley – vocals Steven Bergeron – guitars Leandro Alves – guitars Math Gagnon – bass Jef Rastoldo – drums

- In the US tour of 2011 the singer performed with the following band:

Blaze Bayley – vocals Rick Plester – guitars M.G. Jones – guitars Matt Maclean – bass Bill Legue – drums (Chris Declercq – guest on guitars)

South America

- In most of South American tours Blaze (initially with Zwijsen) has been backed by musicians of "The Best Maiden Tribute" and Tailgunners from Brazil:

Blaze Bayley – vocals Thomas Zwijsen – guitars Lely Biscasse – guitars Raphael Gazal – guitars Lennon Biscasse – bass Guto Franceschet – drums

- In Argentina 2016 he used two different bands: Blaze Bayley - vocals Diego Lombardo - guitars Emiliano Bracamonte - guitars Salvador Sauan - bass Eric Flägel - drums

Blaze Bayley - vocals German Catelli - guitars Damian Nahuel Ros - guitars Julian Chuña Acuña Chapczuk - bass Cristian Cuppari - drums

- In Colombia 2016 with the band ADS: Blaze Bayley - vocals Adrian Dark Storm - guitars Jose Alfredo García - guitars Daniel Mantilla - bass Alejandro Rueda - drums

- In Chle 2016 has been backed by the band Genghis Khan: Blaze Bayley- vocals Diego Garcia - guitars Ivàn Moya - guitars Felipe Duràn - bass Carlos Osorio - drums

Unplugged

- For acoustic touring Blaze recently involved those musicians:

Thomas Zwijsen – guitars Anne Bakker – violin Michelle Sciarrotta – guitars Olivier Arpin and Stephan Laroche – guitars Andrea Neri – guitars Jase Edwards – guitars Nazzareno Zacconi - guitars

Occasional

- In September 2014, celebrating 20 years after joining Iron Maiden, he toured with a special set with this band from Slovakia:

Blaze Bayley – vocals Juro Gasinec – guitars Tibor Buso – guitars Jan Kicin – bass Lubo Franek – drums

- For the Italian summer tour of 2011, soon after the dissolution of Blaze Bayley Band, the singer has occasionally performed with the following lineup:

Blaze Bayley – vocals Andrea Neri – guitars Lorenzo Carancini – guitars Simone Massimi – bass Roberto Pirami – drums

- In March 2013 the line-up was:

Blaze Bayley – vocals James Cornford – guitars Peter Welsh – guitars More (band) Jim Houghton – bass Ray Whisker – drums

- In one festival in France of 2012 Neil, bandmate of Lehmann in Neurasthenia, has performed on guitars as stand-in for Andrea Neri

- Bayley occasionally performed full shows with the bands Seven (Czech Republic), Trooper (Romania), John Steel (Bulgaria), Hammerheart (Slovakia), Apsent (Turkey, first gig ever after the dissolution of Blaze Bayley Band), Lunar Explosion and Flash of The Blade (Italy)

References