Iron Maiden: Around the World in 66 Days

Heavy metal giants Iron Maiden have announced that they will once again take to the skies to tour the globe. The band will board Ed Force One in 2011 to continue their Final Frontier World Tour.

Today (November 2), at 6:00 PM GMT, the band revealed that they, their crew, and their massive amount of equipment would be travelling via the band's own Boeing 757 to a selection of concert destinations starting February 2011. Iron Maiden will fly 50,000 miles on their continuing tour, playing 29 shows and visiting 26 cities in 13 countries across 5 continents (with frontman Bruce Dickinson again in the pilot's seat, of course).

Dickinson commented on the tour in a statement on the band's official website:

"We were taken aback by the fantastic reaction from everyone to Ed Force One during the 2008/09 World Tour. As our fans all know from the Flight 666 film, which documented the trials and tribulations we underwent in order to get the whole project literally off the ground, the end result was well worth all the effort and complex logistics we had to deal with! The band and crew enjoyed themselves so much travelling that way, it seemed only logical to set up this part of The Final Frontier tour in the same way so we could get to see as many fans as possible all over the World, only this time we're pushing the boundaries even further and going to more places Maiden has never been before... in true Frontier style!! We very much look forward to playing in Singapore, Indonesia and South Korea for the first time, as well as revisiting our fans everywhere else.

"The set list will be different to this year's tour. Of course we will play more songs from the new album and some other recent material, but we will include a healthy dose of older fan favourites as we will be playing to so many new faces who we know will want to hear those songs live for the first time. We will cram into the plane as much of the production we used this year as is physically possible, including of course Eddie, and intend to replicate the spectacular light show in as many places as we are able. All in all it promises to be a fantastic trip for everyone!! So see you all soon." (Read More)

Black Sabbath/Deep Purple/Iron Maiden Supergroup to Record Single

Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi and Deep Purple vocalist Ian Gillan are set to record together once again - but this time they will do so with Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain and former Deep Purple pianist Jon Lord. The supergroup are set to record a single for an Armenian music school. Using the moniker Whocares, their first charity single will be titled "Out of My Mind."

In 1989, Iommi and Gillan were involved in the recording of the infamous Deep Purple track "Smoke on the Water." This song was later re-recorded in order to raise money for those affected by the Leninakan earthquake that struck Armenia in 1988. In October of 2009, the pair returned to Armenia to see how the funds raised had helped the local community. (Read More)

Iron Maiden to Play Indonesia?

The Jakarta Post has reported that British heavy metal legends Iron Maiden will perform in the Indonesian cities of Jakarta and Bali in February 2011. According to TempoInteraktif.com, local promoter Tommy Pratama has gone on record saying, "They [Iron Maiden] have confirmed it."

According to sources, the Jakarta show will most likely be held on February 17 or 18 with the Bali show following two days later.

Longtime Maiden manager Rod Smallwood recently told The New York Times that over 800,000 copies of the band's latest album, The Final Frontier, had been shipped to retailers worldwide by the end of August. (Read More)

Janick Gers Chats About New Iron Maiden Album with Talking Metal Pirate Radio

On July 11, Iron Maiden guitarist Janick Gers appeared on Talking Metal Pirate Radio and talked about the making of the band's newest album, The Final Frontier. The nine-minute clip, which was shot, produced and edited by Jay Bones, can now be streamed via Blabbermouth.net.

The Final Frontier is Iron Maiden's 15th studio release. It sold 63,000 copies in its first week of release in the U.S. and entered the Billboard 200 chart at No. 4. To date, the album has registered the following first-week chart positions:

Norway: #1
Finland: #1
United Kingdom: #1
Sweden: #1
Switzerland: #1
Canada: #1
Netherlands: #2
Australia: #2
Ireland: #3
U.S.: #4
Belgium: #6 (Read More)

Iron Maiden's The Final Frontier on the Way to No. 3 on Billboard Chart

The Final Frontier, Iron Maiden's latest release, is estimated to sell between 65,000 and 75,000 copies during its first week of release in the U.S. alone. The estimate, which was projected by industry website Hits Daily Double, was based on the one-day sales report compiled after the album hit record store shelves on August 17. In fact, the numbers are so high that the veteran British metallers will secure the No. 3 position on next week's Billboard 200 chart.

The Final Frontier is Iron Maiden's 15th studio album. In the U.K., the album has already sold 22,000 copies this week alone, meaning the band is on its way to a No. 1 chart position in their home country. Also, The Final Frontier has sold three times as many copies as Eminem's Recovery - an album which sits just slightly ahead of Maiden's release on the Billboard chart. (Read More)