When you think of Iron Maiden, the operatic gymnastics of frontman Bruce Dickinson and the evocative cover art probably spring to mind, yet behind it all is Harris, who has written most of Maiden’s output, which includes classics of the genre such as Hallowed Be Thy Name, The Number Of The Beast, Rime Of The Ancient Mariner, Run To The Hills and Infinite Dreams.
Nikki Sixx, the co-founder and bassist of American bad boy heavy metal band Motley Crue, and primary songwriter of the band, penned songs such as Shout At The Devil, Looks That Kill, Wild Side and Girls, Girls, Girls.
Unlike Harris, Butler didn’t write all the music, which was a collaboration with Tony Iommi, adding Black Sabbath’s signature riffs, and Ozzy Osbourne causing a stir as frontman.
There are lead-singing bass-playing superstars throughout pop music: Sting, Paul McCartney, Lemmy Kilmister and Phil Lynott spring to mind, but non-singing band leaders are rare.
Black Sabbath’s bassist, Terence ‘Geezer’ Butler, was the principal lyricist for his group and responsible for writing classics such as War Pigs, Paranoid and N.I.B.
