Blaze Bayley

Blaze Bayley (born Bayley Alexander Cooke, 29 May 1963) is an English heavy metal singer. He was the lead singer of Wolfsbane from 1984 to 1994 (and currently since 2010, following reunions in 2007 and 2009). He was also the lead singer of Iron Maiden during Bruce Dickinson's absence from 1994 to 1999. Since then, he has pursued a solo career and has released ten studio albums. Bayley was born Bayley Alexander Cooke in Birmingham on 29 May 1963. His main inspiration to be a singer was when he saw Ronnie James Dio perform live at Birmingham Odeon on Dio's "Holy Diver" tour. At the time, Bayley was working a night job as a hotel porter. He would watch the rehearsals of a sixth form band who played Sex Pistols covers and some original material. It was the first time Blaze decided he would like to be a singer on stage. Bayley started his musical "career" as the lead vocalist of Wolfsbane, upon their formation in 1984. The first album, Live Fast, Die Fast, was released in 1989.