Derek Riggs, the artist who created Iron Maiden’s universally recognized mascot Eddie the Head, has revealed that the original incarnation of the monster was a punk. Riggs made his comments in a brand new interview with eonmusic, at Pasadena Comic Con on January 29.
Eddie, who has appeared on every Iron Maiden release (bar a small handful) since the band’s inception in 1980, has gone on to adorn posters, shirts, and countless other mediums, and is recognizable the world over.
The mascot for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominated band, Eddie is the ultimate metal icon, however, his genesis was driven by Riggs’ desire to appeal to punks, according to the artist.
Says Derek, who conceived the creature towards the end of the 1970s; “Eddie was supposed to be a punk. It was the late 1970s; metal had died, prog rock had died, and punk was the only show in town. I wanted to paint record covers, so I was going around trying to sell jazz covers and other stuff, and not really knowing which direction to go in because all of a sudden, everything was changing. I thought, well, maybe I should try and paint punk.”
Added into the mix was the grim social situation in England at the time, which also informed the character; “I was trying to work out something that punks might understand or relate to because England was horrible back then. I mean, we had four million unemployed at the worst part, and it's only as big as California, England, so that's a lot of people.”
The outspoken Riggs, who worked with Iron Maiden for a decade from 1980 - 1990 also talked about the evolution of Eddie over the years, and in particular how he was unhappy about the decision to restore him to his former state in 1990, following years of scarring.
Said Derek; “He keeps his scars because that's his experiences, that's his life”, he said. “I thought it was a fucking stupid idea [to reset him]. But then were adamant. "We can't think of anything else to do with Eddie"; you never thought of it in the first place, did you!? You wrote a song and then I made the album covers. But they didn't get that because they couldn't think it up, and all of a sudden it couldn't be done.”
Read the full interview at eonmusic.
