In 1988, Iron Maiden were enjoying soaring success – but as they prepared for their biggest UK show to date, tragedy awaited around the corner. Headlining the Monsters Of Rock festival at Donington in 1988 should’ve been the crowning glory on a hugely successful period for Maiden, but the day – 20 August, 1988 – will forever be connected with tragedy. As the mammoth show approached, Maiden were on a victory lap. The recently-released Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son had gone to Number One in the UK, their second record to hit top spot, and they had played stadium shows in countries all over Europe. 

That day at Donington, though, would be bigger than them all. The festival had been going since 1980 but the capacity would be a record that year – an estimated 107,000 people were in attendance. Before Maiden took to the stage, though, during a performance by the-then up and coming Guns N’ Roses, catastrophe struck. “It was the biggest ever Monsters Of Rock, a fantastic bill with Iron Maiden, Guns N’ Roses, Kiss,” promoter Stuart Galbraith told Classic Rock. “It was one of the best events, but definitely the worst experience of my career.”

GN’R bassist Duff McKagan remembers witnessing the horrific events unfold from the stage. “It was real scary,” he said. “We all went like: ‘Woah!’. It was kids piled on kids horizontal on the ground. And more people kept falling on them. It took twenty minutes to get everybody out. We stopped the show, and they finally pulled the last couple of people out.”

Two young men had lost their lives in the crush, and Galbraith sat down with Iron Maiden’s manager Rod Smallwood to work out what to do. “It was decided not to tell Maiden about the tragedy,” Galbraith recalled. “I considered whether or not to tell the band,” added Smallwood, “but decided against it as it would serve no purpose and make it immensely difficult for them to play with their hearts in it, which would let down an awful lot of fans. I ensured there was no access to the band so they could not hear about this.”