Iron Maiden’s forthcoming tour of Australian won’t be impacted by the band’s induction into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame, Billboard can exclusively confirm.
The British heavy metal giants are tapped for the shrine’s class of 2026, following nominations in 2021 and 2023, and sitting near the top of most lists of Rock Hall snubs over the years.
Maiden is one of eight acts in the performer category that will be elevated during the annual induction ceremony on Nov. 14 in Los Angeles.
Small problem. The rockers will be in Australia at that time for their Run For Your Lives World Tour. Those shows get underway Nov. 11 at Adelaide Entertainment Centre, before hitting Melbourne’s AAMI Park (Nov. 13) and Sydney’s Allianz Stadium (Nov. 15) – marking the band’s first-ever stadium dates in this part of the world.
Those concerts won’t be affected, the band’s manager Rod Smallwood has confirmed.
“As the most observant have already noticed, the band will be on tour in Australia around the November date of the Induction ceremony for the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in Los Angeles,” Smallwood explains in an email to Billboard. “In accepting, Iron Maiden made it very clear to the R&R HoF that the fans always come first and that the shows will of course go on.”
Megadeth are special guests on the Australasian run, which starts Nov. 7 with the first of two shows at Spark Arena in Auckland, New Zealand. The Australia lap begins Nov. 11 at Adelaide Entertainment Centre and wraps-up Nov. 19 with a second, and recently-added, show at Brisbane Entertainment Centre. TEG Dainty is producing the seven-date, five-city trek.
The tour down under will mark Iron Maiden’s eighth, dating back to November 1982.
“We would like to assure all our fans in Australasia that the Australian and New Zealand dates will remain unaffected,” Smallwood adds, “and we look forward to bringing the Run For Your Lives Tour to them on the penultimate stop of our 50th anniversary celebrations.”
There’s no rust on Iron Maiden which, in addition to its Rock Hall induction and ongoing global tour, is the subject of a feature-length documentary, Iron Maiden: Burning Ambition, due out in cinemas May 7 through Universal Pictures International (UPI).
Formed in East London in 1975, Iron Maiden are titans of the heavy genre, with 17 studio albums, over 100 million records sold, and more than 2,500 performances across 64 countries. In September 2021, the band earned its highest charting album ever on the Billboard 200 as Senjutsu debuted at No. 3.
“Run For Your Lives” Australia and New Zealand Dates
Nov. 7 — Spark Arena, Auckland
Nov. 8 — Spark Arena, Auckland
Nov. 11 — Adelaide Entertainment Centre
Nov. 13 — AAMI Park, Melbourne
Nov. 15 — Allianz Stadium, Sydney
Nov. 18 — Brisbane Entertainment Centre
Nov. 19 — Brisbane Entertainment Centre
