One of the world’s best-selling and most iconic heavy metal bands is planning to return to Israel, 25 years after its last show in the Jewish state, Israel Hayom reported.
According to the report, Iron Maiden is planning a concert in Israel next year as part of its upcoming 2019-2020 world tour.
While no decision has been announced, the band is reportedly planning to appear at Tel Aviv’s Bloomfield Stadium in late May, with a tentative date of May 30th.
The group ‘Bring Iron Maiden to Israel’ has claimed in a Facebook post that a formal announcement regarding the Tel Aviv show is expected on November 7th.
If the group does confirm the Tel Aviv show, it will be the first time in a quarter century since Iron Maiden has played in Israel. The band’s first – and thus far only – appearances in the Jewish state were three shows in late September 1995, during its ‘The X Factor’ tour, with performances in Jerusalem, Haifa, and Tel Aviv.
The appearances did not feature the band’s long-time singer, Bruce Dickinson, however, who had split from Iron Maiden in 1993, returning six years later, in 1999.
Last December, Dickinson appeared in Tel Aviv for a stop on his ‘Spoken Word’ tour, presenting his life story at the Tel Aviv Opera House.
Iron Maiden, one of the so-called ‘New Wave of British Heavy Metal’ bands founded in the mid-1970s, rose to prominence in the 1980s with albums including ‘The Number of the Beast’, ‘Piece of Mind’, and 1984’s ‘Powerslave’.
By 2017, band had reportedly sold over 100 million albums worldwide, and between 1980 and 2018 played 2,174 concerts.