Overview: Di’Anno: Iron Maiden’s Lost Singer is the story about a pair of fans of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden who launched a crowdfunding campaign to help Paul Di’Anno (aka The Beast), the band’s iconic original singer (on the band’s first two albums, Iron Maiden and Killers), get back on his feet literally, emotionally and professionally.

Blu-ray Verdict: Neglected by healthcare workers in the U.K., wheelchair-bound Di’Anno leaves his home in the middle of the pandemic and travels to Croatia, where he rides an emotional rollercoaster, running out of money, reuniting with his former Maiden bandmates and falling in love -- all while his health makes a dramatic turn-around thanks to the goodwill of fans, doctors and nurses.

Di’Anno makes a heroic, risky and drama-filled return to the stage as Metallica’s James Hetfield and Gene Simmons of Kiss, as well as members of Slayer and Megadeth make appearances and testify to Di’Anno’s importance and lasting impact.

Directed by Wes Orshoski (who also made films about Motörhead and The Damned), not only is this a most wondrous rock and roll love letter to the man in question, but it also acts as a video biography, of sorts, showcasing just how important to Iron Maiden he was; for those first two albums are legendary, my friends. LEGENDARY!

Sadly, and at age 66 he passed in 2014 - which is also way too young - but I really love the two albums they put out with Paul. He brought more of a punk/thrash feel to the music, whereas his replacement Bruce Bickinson leaned much more heavily into the theatrics and grandiosity that came to define metal in that era.

As we learn, come 1981, Di’Anno was demonstrating increasingly erratic behavior, particularly due to his drug usage, about which Di’Anno has gone on record as saying, It wasn’t just that I was snorting a bit of coke, though. I was just going for it non-stop, 24 hours a day, every day. The band had commitments piling up that went on for months, years, and I just couldn’t see my way to the end of it. I knew I’d never last the whole tour. It was too much. Di’Anno was subsequently dismissed following the Killer World Tour with the band already having selected his replacement; the aforementioned Bruce.

The life and career of pioneering heavy metal frontman Paul Di’Anno, the powerhouse voice heard on Iron Maiden’s early albums, is celebrated here in this riveting, at times soulfully heartbreaking documentary. In a strikingly raw and intimate film, Orshoski captures the late singer riding an emotional rollercoaster toward the end of his life.

Bonus Features:
Includes exclusive Slide Show of rare photos and bonus promotional Trailers for metal fans of all ages!

DI’ANNO: Iron Maiden’s Lost Singer (Official Trailer)

Official Purchase Link