Iron Maiden’s Nicko McBrain was diagnosed with laryngeal cancer in 2020.
The heavy metal band’s sticksman is thankfully cancer-free after having the tumour surgically removed within a week of the discovery.
The drummer gave an interview with the University Of Miami Health System last September, in which he shared how he knew something wasn’t right when his voice changed and he had to clear his throat more than usual while talking.
He said: “When I play drums with the band, I actually sort of scream and yell while I play, like a Judo guy slapping the mat.
“When you are lying down in a quiet room and you speak and hear your voice in your head and have a cold, you sound different. This happened to me.”
He continued: “I thought this is very reminiscent – this different sounding voice of mine – to when I finish a tour or after a show. I didn’t have a cold or any symptoms of illness at all. I started to feel that I was clearing my throat more when I was in conversations. So, I just took it on myself to call my doctor.”
The 70-year-old rocker was fortunate that the cancer was caught early at stage 1, and has implored anyone who notices changes in their voice to get checked out.
He said: “I thoroughly recommend that anyone who may feel there is something different with their voice to go and get it checked out. And don’t put it off. It was very good for me that I caught it in stage 1.”
Nicko’s doctor, David E. Rosow, commented: “Many cases present with a voice change like Nicko’s and often when the tumour is as small as one to two millimetres, which makes the tumour easier to completely remove. The prognosis with early (stage 1) tumours is excellent, with published cure rates of 95 per vent and up.”