Iron Maiden crowned Europe's greatest band in The Euros Of Rock
They triumph against Queen in the final
Last updated 12th Jul 2021
Iron Maiden have been crowned the champions of Planet Rock’s The Euros of Rock after triumphing against Queen in the final.
Coinciding with the Euros 2020 tournament, over the past four weeks Planet Rock has been hosting The Euros of Rock polls on Twitter and hundreds of thousands of votes have been cast.
Just like the Euros, 24 bands took part in the group stage of the tournament with acts including Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Massive Wagons, Motörhead, Fleetwood Mac, Rammstein, Whitesnake, Saxon, U2, Europe and Thin Lizzy going head-to-head with each other in the polls.
16 bands made the knockout stages before these were whittled down to the Quarter Finals, Semi Finals and the grand Final over the weekend between Iron Maiden and Queen.
Although Iron Maiden will be devastated that their beloved England lost to Italy on penalties in the Euros 2020 final last night (11th July), they will take some solace from being crowned the best band in Europe by Planet Rock listeners.
Voting in the final was open from 10am on Friday to 9am this morning, and Iron Maiden picked up 55.6% of the 6,015 votes cast compared to Queen’s 44.4%.
In the group stages, Iron Maiden trounced Rammstein and U2, and they edged past Thin Lizzy to top the group with three wins out of three games.
Iron Maiden went on to beat Thunder, Whitesnake and Thin Lizzy in the knockout stages on their path to the final against Queen.
The Euros of Rock championship table:
Iron Maiden’s victory in The Euros of Rock comes ahead of a mystery announcement from the band on Thursday (15th July).
Over the past two weeks, speculation has been growing that Iron Maiden are primed to announce their 17th studio album thanks to a very clever cryptic campaign.
It all started when Belshazzar's Feast (aka the story of the Writing on the Wall in the bible) posters appeared at Download Pilot festival and Bruce Dickinson wore a T-shirt emblazoned with the same image the following week.
In the most recent development, following Iron Maiden's Tim's Twitter Listening Party for 'Seventh Son of a Seventh Son' on Friday night (9th July), the band shared a 34-second video filmed inside a theatre.
In the clip, Bruce Dickinson tells the camera: "July the 15th. Rain or shine, heaven or hell, man or beast, you're invited to Belshazzar's Feast… But your mum can't come."
If you’re not fully clued up on Iron Maiden’s cryptic activity, you can read Planet Rock’s original article RIGHT HERE and find yet more information HERE and HERE.
Iron Maiden album cover clues:
As part of the campaign, Iron Maiden have been posting snippets of songs as Instagram stories accompanied by images of the albums the tracks are lifted from.
The album sleeves feature tiny clues alluding to WOTW (Writing on the Wall) and the Belshazzar’s Feast image.
Iron Maiden tease Belshazzar's Feast and WOTW:
Iron Maiden – ‘Iron Maiden’
Iron Maiden – ‘Iron Maiden’
Graffitied onto the wall to the right of Eddie the Head are the initials WOTW – aka Writing on the Wall.
Iron Maiden – ‘Killers’
Iron Maiden – ‘Killers’
There are two clues on the 'Killers' album cover – one is the mountain from the Belshazzar's Feast image above the row of shops, and the second is minuscule WOTW letters drawn onto a window in the block of flats.
Iron Maiden – ‘The Number of the Beast’
Iron Maiden – ‘The Number of the Beast’
Again, there are two clues on 'The Number of the Beast' – the Belshazzar's Feast mountain is Photoshopped just below Lucifer's crotch, and tiny 'WOTW' letters are held aloft by a figure in the flames.
Iron Maiden – ‘Piece of Mind’
Iron Maiden – ‘Piece of Mind’
The initials WOTW – Writing on the Wall – are crudely scratched onto the padded wall of Eddie's cell.
Iron Maiden - 'Powerslave'
Iron Maiden - 'Powerslave'
The 'WOTW' hieroglyphs can be found written vertically above Eddie's hand, while the Belshazzar's Feast mountain is on the right hand side of the pyramid.
Iron Maiden - 'Somewhere in Time'
Iron Maiden - 'Somewhere in Time'
On 'Somewhere in Time', a Belshazzar's Feast poster can be seen on the wall of the department store beneath cyborg Eddie's leg. The 'WOTW' can be seen very clearly as graffiti on the right hand side of the album cover.
Iron Maiden - 'Seventh Son of a Seventh Son'
Iron Maiden - 'Seventh Son of a Seventh Son'
The mysterious mountain from the Belshazzar's Feast poster is on the left of Iron Maiden's 'Seventh Son of a Seventh Son' album cover on top of one of the icebergs.
Iron Maiden - 'No Prayer for the Dying'
Iron Maiden - 'No Prayer for the Dying'
The Belshazzar's Feast poster is on Eddie's tombstone.
Iron Maiden - 'Fear of the Dark'
Iron Maiden - 'Fear of the Dark'
The Belshazzar's Feast poser is beneath Eddie's tree leg.
Iron Maiden - 'The X Factor'
Iron Maiden - 'The X Factor'
The WOTW is scrawled on the wall behind poor Eddie's lobotomised head.
Iron Maiden - 'Virtual XI'
Iron Maiden - 'Virtual XI'
There's that now familiar Belshazzar's Feast mountain/volcano/tower in the flames behind Eddie.
Iron Maiden - 'Brave New World'
Iron Maiden - 'Brave New World'
The Belshazzar's Feast mountain/volcano/tower looks almost Mount Fuji-esque in the background of the futuristic London.
Iron Maiden - 'Dance of Death'
Iron Maiden - 'Dance of Death'
The Belshazzar's Feast mountain is beneath the grim reaper Eddie, while one of the goats is wearing a Belshazzar's Feast T-shirt.
Iron Maiden - 'A Matter of Life and Death'
Iron Maiden - 'A Matter of Life and Death'
One of Eddie's zombie soldiers on the left hand side of the album cover is wearing a Belshazzar's Feast T-Shirt. Meanwhile, the chalk counting marks on the tank tot up to 17 - alluding to Iron Maiden's 17th studio album.
Iron Maiden - 'The Final Frontier'
Iron Maiden - 'The Final Frontier'
The key that the alien Eddie is holding is the Chinese symbol for death. Meanwhile the Eddie skull and crossbones picture has the number 17 beneath it.
Iron Maiden - 'The Book of Souls'
Iron Maiden - 'The Book of Souls'
When you zoom in closely and adjust the brightness of the album cover, you can make out XVII (number 17) scratches on Eddie's body. There also appears to be an XVII and the Chinese symbol for death in Eddie's eyes.
Now read:
Eddie the Head through the years
Iron Maiden's legendary career in photos