Heavy metal music
Critics disagree over who can be thought of as the first heavy metal band. Most credit either Led Zeppelin or Black Sabbath, with American commentators tending to favour Led Zeppelin and British commentators tending to favour Black Sabbath, though many give equal credit to both. A few commentators—mainly American—argue for other groups including Iron Butterfly, Steppenwolf or Blue Cheer. Deep Purple, the third band in what is sometimes considered the "unholy trinity" of heavy metal (Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, and Deep Purple), despite being slightly older than Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin, fluctuated between many rock styles until late 1969 when they took a heavy metal direction.
List of Iron Maiden concert tours
Iron Maiden are a British heavy metal band, founded in 1975 by bassist Steve Harris in London, England. After several personnel changes in the 1970s, the band settled on a lineup of Harris, Paul Di'Anno (lead vocals), Dave Murray (lead and rhythm guitars), Dennis Stratton (backing vocals, lead and rhythm guitar) and Clive Burr (drums), before they set out on their first professional tour, the Metal for Muthas Tour which supported the compilation album of the same name. After taking on a supporting slot with Judas Priest on their British Steel Tour and setting out on their own headline tour in support of their debut album, "Iron Maiden", the band supported Kiss on the European leg of their Unmasked Tour, following which Stratton was dismissed because of musical differences. Guitarist Adrian Smith was hired, following which Iron Maiden set out on a short series of UK dates before recording their second studio album, "Killers".