Throughout the history of Rock in Rio, the Iron Maiden established a strong relationship with the festival. Still, the band chose not to perform at the edition that celebrates the 40th anniversary of the event, as the singer recently revealed. Bruce Dickinson.
The legendary metal band made its debut in Brazil at the inaugural edition of Rock in Rio, which took place in 1985. Since that show, the group has returned to the country many times, including new performances at the festival.
Bruce Dickinson’s group played at RIR in 2001 for the second time and then returned to the stage of the prestigious festival in 2013, 2019 and 2022.
As it became a kind of established figure of the Brazilian event, many Iron Maiden fans were hoping that the band would be one of the names confirmed at this year’s edition of Rock in Rio.
However, even before the announcement of shows in Brazil this year, many fans realized that there would be a scheduling conflict with the festival dates when the group announced the Japanese leg of their tour “The Future Past World Tour”.
Why won’t Iron Maiden play at Rock in Rio 2024?
O frontman Bruce Dickinson, who is passing through Brazil on tour for his most recent solo album, The Mandrake Projectrecently spoke with g1 about the decision not to accept the invitation to join this year’s Rock in Rio line-up. He said (via Igor Miranda):
We played there a few times. So let’s take a break this year. We need some time to get down to Australia, New Zealand, Japan. We haven’t been there in a while. Let’s let another band headline Rock in Rio. Maybe in the next edition.
It is worth remembering that the band performed at two consecutive editions of Rock in Rio. After a show in 2019, Dickinson and company promptly accepted the proposal to play at the next edition of the event – originally scheduled for 2021, but held in 2022 due to the pandemic .
At the time, the vocalist justified the choice in a statement released by the festival, saying:
When we were offered the chance to come back to Rock in Rio and play on opening night next year, of course we all immediately agreed. Maiden fans know that this festival is very special to us because of our long history together. The vibe of Rio is unique and the passion of the crowd never ceases to be electrifying.
You can remember an excerpt from Iron Maiden’s last show at Rock in Rio at the end of the article!
Iron Maiden in Brazil
Although Iron Maiden will not be one of the attractions at Rock in Rio, the group has already scheduled its return to Brazil.
The band performs on the 6th and 7th of December at Allianz Parque, in São Paulo, with their tour “The Future Past”, which has a repertoire dedicated to the albums Somewhere in Time (1986) and Senjutsu (2021). You can secure your ticket here.
