Some visitors pop in for a quick meeting. Others arrive towering over the doorway, muttering cryptically and demanding industrial-strength attention.
For longer than a decade, the mysterious and iconic figure known only as Eddie – the legendary mascot for Iron Maiden – has been a regular visitor at Area 51’s culture bunker headquarters in leafy North Warwickshire. Usually, he’s there for a quiet cuppa, a chat with the 51 staff and also to get spruced up in preparation for yet another globe-conquering world tour with one of rock music’s most recognisable and popular bands.
The folks at Area 51 are sworn to secrecy and refuse to engage anyone asking awkward and prying questions about their relationship with metal’s most iconic character.
What we can say is this: for well over ten years, Area 51 has worked closely alongside the band and its management team to keep Eddie way out and way ahead of the competition.
As well as being a perennial fixture of Maiden’s album artwork and appearing in all of their record covers and across their merchandise that includes t-shirts, posters, and even action figures, Eddie appears on stage with the band at all their live gigs and even features in video games and a pinball game!
Although he’s often been referred to as a Zombie type of character, in fact, Eddie has assumed different guises relating to them themes of different albums and their associated world tours: appearing variously as a cyborg, a lobotomised mental health patient, an Egyptian mummy, a soldier, a Samurai warrior and even a supernatural all-seeing being emerging from the sky.
So, when your audience numbers in the multiple of millions, expectations are understandably high when it comes to Eddie’s public image. Area 51 and Eddie meet regularly to help him loom large over crowds and deliver unforgettable moments night after night. The folks at 51 have quietly played their part in helping keep Eddie’s mystery and mystique alive and kicking.
