According to consequence.net, Iron Maiden‘s drummer Nicko McBrain has revealed he had suffered a stroke back in January. The drummer issued a written statement and posted a video message Iron Maiden’s website, which informs fans that he was temporarily paralyzed on his right side.

“Hello Boys and Girls, I hope this message finds you all well! The reason I’m writing to you all today is to let you know of a very serious health problem that I have been through. In January I had a stroke, thank the Lord it was a minor one referred to as a TIA. It left me paralyzed on my right side from my shoulder on down, of course I was very worried that my career was over but with the love and support from my wife, Rebecca and family, my doctors, especially Julie my OT (Occupational Therapist) and my Maiden family.” said McBrain.

The musician adds: “I was able to bounce back to somewhere near 70% recovered. After 10 weeks of intense therapy it was almost time to start rehearsals for our tour. I feel it’s important to let you know about this now instead of earlier as I was mainly concerned with doing my job and concentrating on getting back to 100% fitness. I’m not there yet but by the grace of God I’m getting better and stronger as the weeks go by. Thank you all for a most wonderful and magical tour so far, you have all been so amazing.Well that’s it from me. God bless you all, stay safe and well and I look forward to seeing you all somewhere in time. Nicko.”

The artist has mostly recovered but he is still not close 100 percent, despite performing with Iron Maiden on their summer European dates, which ends with a August 4 performance at Germany’s Wacken Open Air festival.

Regarding McBrain’s stroke and recovery, Iron Maiden’s manager Rod Smallwood has said that the band was not sure if their drummer would be physically able to learn the “new and musically very complex set,” Smallwood adds “what Nicko has been able to achieve since his stroke shows incredible belief and willpower.” Brain’s stroke came after he was diagnosed with stage one laryngeal cancer in 2020, which has been surgically removed and has not returned.