Speaking with Dave Everley at Metal Hammer, former Iron Maiden frontman Paul Di'Anno discussed being fired from the band in 1981 after only two albums, the self-titled debut and Killers. Following is an excerpt from the chat, which appears in the latest issue of Metal Hammer.

Di'Anno: "I don’t blame them for getting rid of me. Obviously, the band was Steve’s (Harris / bass) baby, but I wish I’d been able to contribute more. After a while that got me down. In the end I couldn’t give 100 per cent to Maiden anymore and it wasn’t fair to the band, the fans or to myself. The two albums I made with the band were pivotal (to the metal genre). Later on in my life, when I met Metallica, Pantera and Sepultura and they told me that those albums were what got them into music, it made me incredibly proud."

The organizers of the Beermageddon Festival 2020, taking place in Bromsgrove, England have announced Ides Of March - featuring former Iron Maiden frontman Paul Di'Anno backed by other former Maiden members - as the Sunday headliner on August 30th. This will be Di'Anno's last live performance.

Check out the official press release below:

Fronted by Paul Di'Anno and including four former Iron Maiden members, we will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the release of Iron Maiden's debut album in a headline Beermageddon set from Ides Of March. The lineup has been specially formed for this totally unique occasion and this will be a one-off and never-to-be-repeated performance..

The band lineup consists of Paul Di'Anno - Vocals (ex-Iron Maiden), Terry Wapram - Guitar (ex-Iron Maiden), Terry Rance - Guitar (ex-Iron Maiden), Doug Sampson - Drums (ex-Iron Maiden), Speed Harris - Bass (Hi-On Maiden).

This will be vocalist Paul Di'Anno's final ever live performance. After experiencing serious health difficulties in recent months, Paul has now taken the advice of his doctors and will retire from the live stage in 2020 after the Ides Of March performance at Beermageddon. It is going to take one mighty effort for Paul to pull off this performance but he is determined to go out in style and give his fans one memorable final thank you and goodbye.

Paul said: "It's been a tough four years waiting to play again. I hope to be standing for this show and I'm really looking forward to it. Standing up would be great - if not, Hell on wheels coming to ya!"

The Ides Of March setlist for Beermageddon will include plenty of surprises with some songs being played live for the first time in literally decades. Stand by for further announcements during the run-up to August.

Guitarist Terry Wapram said: "Really looking forward to working with these guys. Our paths have crossed many times but we never played together. Should be a killer line-up and a very special night."

A forthcoming biographical documentary movie on Paul's life is currently in the making and the producers will be filming the Beermageddon performance on 30th August. The movie is being created and directed by Wes Orshoski, the creator of Lemmy - The Movie and more details about the movie will be released during 2020.

Jim Beerman, festival organiser added "Beermageddon has always been about creating magical moments, and as an old school metal head I can think of nothing better than closing this years festival with Ides of March, musicians who have played such a pivotal role in the history of metal, playing songs, from aruguably one of the greatest debut albums ever released, plus so much more, it doesn't get any more magical than that."