1. Blaze Bayley was born on Bayley Alexander Cooke, 29 May 1963 and is an English heavy metal singer.
33 Facts About Blaze Bayley
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Blaze Bayley was the lead singer of Wolfsbane from 1984 to 1994.
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Blaze Bayley was the lead singer of Iron Maiden from 1994 to 1999.
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Blaze Bayley was born Blaze Bayley Alexander Cooke in Birmingham on 29 May 1963.
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At the time, Blaze Bayley was working a night job as a hotel porter.
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Blaze Bayley started his career as the lead vocalist of Wolfsbane, a band formed in 1984.
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In 2007, Wolfsbane regrouped for a special one-off performance, with Blaze Bayley resuming vocal and frontman duties.
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Blaze Bayley was chosen as Bruce Dickinson's replacement after hundreds of auditions.
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Blaze Bayley went on tour with the band in support of the album.
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In 1999, Blaze Bayley was dismissed from Iron Maiden during a band meeting, after suffering from difficulties with his voice due to extensive touring and performing songs outside his vocal range.
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Likewise, Blaze Bayley has performed Iron Maiden songs originally recorded by the Dickinson and Paul Di'Anno led line-ups at some concerts.
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Blaze Bayley recruited guitarist Steve Wray, guitarist John Slater, bassist Rob Naylor and drummer Jeff Singer, and signed a deal with German label SPV, releasing his debut studio album Silicon Messiah in 2000.
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In February 2007, Blaze Bayley Band added guitarists Nicolas Bermudez and Rich Newport, bassist Dave Bermudez, and drummer Rico Banderra and recorded the live DVD album Alive in Poland, released later that year.
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Blaze Bayley announced that Rich Newport had left the band to pursue a "career" as a guitar teacher later on that year, and Jay Walsh would replace him onstage for the remainder of the tour.
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Blaze Bayley announced the addition of drummer Lawrence Paterson, formerly of British metal bands Chokehold and Shadowkeep at the same time.
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In July 2008, Blaze Bayley Band released their debut studio album, The Man Who Would Not Die.
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Blaze Bayley announced that the band had started recording for their new album on 28 September 2009.
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Blaze Bayley claimed that the band's idea of where to go next and hers were not in the same direction.
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On 10 July 2010 Blaze Bayley Blayley claimed live on stage that his current album was his best-selling as a solo-artist shedding some light on the recent changes in his line-up and management.
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On 31 March 2011, Blaze Bayley announced that he would continue as a solo performer working with different musicians.
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Alongside the reunion and new recordings of Wolfsbane, Blaze Bayley played a two-week acoustic solo tour in the UK in September 2011 with fellow Wolfsbane guitarist Jase Edwards plus a few unplugged gigs in Italy with Andrea Neri on guitar.
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In February 2012 Bayley toured Russia with Paul Di'Anno, starting a partnership between the two ex-Iron Maiden singers who hit the road as "Blaze VS Paul" and "Double Trouble Tour" in 2012 and 2013.
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On 26 December 2011, in a personal Christmas message on his website Blaze Bayley announced that his new album The King of Metal would be released on 8 March 2012.
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Blaze Bayley then hit the US for a special tour with an all-star band named The Foundry, with guitarist Rick Plester, bass player John Moyer and Scorpions drummer James Kottak, plus vocalist Shawn Austin.
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Later in the year, Blaze Bayley reached Canada for some acoustic gigs and then toured again with Di'Anno in Finland, Russia and Ukraine.
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Blaze Bayley announced Soundtracks of My Life, a double-CD best of, as a tribute to his 30th anniversary as a singer, released in November 2013, and followed by an extensive world tour the following year.
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In Slovakia and Germany, with other musicians, Blaze Bayley then celebrated his 20th anniversary of joining Iron Maiden with a small tour with an exclusive set focused on songs of his period in the band.
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In June 2016, Blaze Bayley was onstage as guest vocalist with Disturbed at Download Festival in England, performing The Who's "Baba O'Riley".
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The 25th anniversary of Blaze Bayley joining Iron Maiden was marked in 2019.
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Blaze Bayley has continued to work with the British heavy metal musicians from Absolva.
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On 14 February 2007, Blaze Bayley married Debbie Hartland, his long-time girlfriend, on Gran Canaria.
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Blaze Bayley died on 27 September 2008 after having suffered a stroke two days before.
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On 21 December 2022, Blaze Bayley got engaged to his girlfriend Kate Ross at Stonehenge on the Winter Solstice.