Nicko McBrain did not ask anyone in Iron Maiden to contribute to his autobiography, and he says that was the point.
Hello Boys And Girls! came out on 22 October through Harper Nonfiction. Speaking to Rock Of Nations, McBrain said he wanted his own memories carte blanche, without anybody else's version arriving first. He has not read Bruce Dickinson's book yet, although he owns a signed copy and intends to, and he says he started Adrian Smith's book but found it was more about fishing than anything else.
The firmer part of the story is about the manager. Rod Smallwood asked him to leave out a chapter that would upset the band. “Rod, this is my story. It's not yours,” McBrain says he answered. “And you may not like it, but it's going in.” If it upsets someone, he added, they will tell him and he will deal with it then.
He joined the band in 1982, recorded Piece of Mind the year after, and retired from touring in December 2024 after forty two years, with Simon Dawson taking the live seat. He is on a spoken word tour of Europe with the book now.