After several personnel changes, they released their self-titled debut album in 1980 with vocalist Paul Di'Anno, guitarists Dave Murray and Dennis Stratton, and drummer Clive Burr, quickly becoming one of the leading proponents of the new wave of British heavy metal movement.

[2] Later that year, vocalist Bruce Dickinson replaced Paul Di'Anno, marking the beginning of a series of top-ten high-impact releases.

[3] They issued The Number of the Beast,[4] becoming the band's first release to top the UK charts, and received a Platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America.

The line-up remained unchanged until Adrian Smith left the band during the pre-production stage of their last Gold-certified album in the US, No Prayer for the Dying (1990); he was replaced by Janick Gers.

[27][28][29][30][31][32] According to MD Daily Record all audio-visual catalogue of the band has sold in over 200 million copies worldwide, including regular albums, singles, VHS', DVDs and all compilations.