Blaze Bayley (born Bayley Alexander Cooke, 29 May 1963) is an English heavy metal singer. He was the lead singer of Wolfsbane from 1984 to 1994 (and currently since 2010, following reunions in 2007 and 2009). He was also the lead singer of Iron Maiden during Bruce Dickinson's absence from 1994 to 1999. Since then, he has pursued a solo career and has released ten studio albums. Early life Bayley was born Bayley Alexander Cooke in Birmingham on 29 May 1963. His main inspiration to be a singer was when he saw Ronnie James Dio perform live at Birmingham Odeon on Dio's "Holy Diver" tour. At the time, Bayley was working a night job as a hotel porter. He would watch the rehearsals of a sixth form band who played Sex Pistols covers and some original material. It was the first time Blaze decided he would like to be a singer on stage. Career Wolfsbane (1984–1994, 2007–present) Bayley started his musical "career" as the lead vocalist of Wolfsbane, upon their formation in 1984. The first album, Live Fast, Die Fast, was released in 1989. Prior to this, they had recorded three demos – Wolfsbane (1985), Dancin' Dirty (1987) and Wasted but Dangerous (1988). This last one was recorded at Square Dance Studios in Derby, England. They were the supporting act for Iron Maiden's UK division of their No Prayer on the Road tour in 1990. Wolfsbane's second release, an EP titled All Hell's Breaking Loose Down at Little Kathy Wilson's Place, was released the same year. The band's second full studio album, Down Fall the Good Guys, was released in 1991, giving them their only UK chart entry with their single "Ezy" charting at No. 68. Def American dropped Wolfsbane as they felt that the band were not selling well enough. This did not stop the band from being voted as the UK's best unsigned act in 1993. The same year, the band released a live album, Massive Noise Injection, through the Bronze Company label. The band released their third studio album, the self-titled Wolfsbane, in 1994, again on the Bronze Company label. A limited edition of this album included the EP Everything Else. When Bruce Dickinson departed fellow English heavy metal band Iron Maiden in 1993, Bayley was chosen between hundreds of auditions. Wolfsbane disbanded afterwards. In 2007, Wolfsbane reformed for a one-off performance, with Bayley again taking up