Steve Harris

Stephen Percy Harris (born 12 March 1956) is an English musician, bassist, keyboardist, singer, backing vocalist, primary songwriter and founder of the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden. He has been the band's only constant member since their inception in 1975 and one of only two to have appeared on all of their albums, the other being guitarist Dave Murray. Harris has a recognisable and popular style of bass playing, particularly the "gallop" which can be found on several Iron Maiden recordings, such as the singles "Run to the Hills" and "The Trooper". In addition to his role as the band's bass player, writer and backing vocalist, he has undertaken many other roles for the group, such as producing and co-producing their albums, directing and editing their live videos and performing studio keyboards and synthesizers. He has been cited as one of the greatest heavy metal bassists. On 24 September 2012, Harris released his debut solo album, British Lion, which was followed on the 17 January 2020 by The Burning.

Harris' eldest daughter, Lauren, is a singer and classically trained actor who supported Iron Maiden with her solo outfit in 2006 and 2008. In 2008, she released a solo album, entitled Calm Before the Storm, and is currently a member of a band called Kingdom of I, after forming Six Hour Sundown. In addition, Harris' oldest son, George, plays guitar in a band, the Raven Age, who were the opening act on Iron Maiden's The Book of Souls World Tour in 2016, and also in the Legacy of the beast tour 2019. His second-oldest daughter, Kerry, works as a Production Assistant for Iron Maiden while his third-oldest daughter, Faye, is a fashion writer for HuffPost.In 1993, Harris was divorced from his wife, Lorraine, whom he met 16 years previously. He later said this was "probably the toughest time I've ever faced," and the changes in his personal life are credited with inspiring the mood of the following Iron Maiden album, 1995's The X Factor. Harris has four children with Lorraine: Lauren, Kerry, Faye and George, and two children with current partner Emma: Stanley and Maisie.Since the 1980s, Harris has owned a Grade II listed building in Sheering Essex, in the grounds of which he built his own recording and editing studio, "Barnyard". In November 2012, the nine-acre property was put on sale.A keen footballer, Harris played for amateur clubs as a child and was later scouted by Wally St Pier and asked to train for West Ham United, of whom he has been a fan since he was 9 years old. Although he had aspired to play professionally up to that point, Harris would eventually realise that "it wasn't really what [he] wanted to do." Nevertheless, Harris still plays football regularly with his own team, "Maidonians", and still supports West Ham, staying in contact with the club and having their crest on his most-used Precision Bass. Harris also plays tennis, and is a photographer.

Harris was born at Whipps Cross University Hospital in London Borough of Waltham Forest and grew up in Leytonstone where he was aspiring to be a professional footballer. Scouted by Wally St Pier, Harris was asked to train for West Ham United. After gaining an interest in rock music in his early teens, he realised that he no longer desired to play football professionally. In particular, he was greatly influenced by The Beatles.Initially Harris wanted to play drums, but did not have enough space for a drum kit in his house and so decided on the bass instead. Entirely self-taught, his first bass was a copy of a Fender Precision model which cost him £40 in 1971.Just ten months after he bought his first bass, Harris joined a band, initially known as Influence and later Gypsy's Kiss, featuring Bob Verscoyle (lead vocals), Dave Smith (guitar) and drummer Paul Sears. After a short number of gigs at the Cart and Horses pub in Maryland Point, Stratford and the Bridgehouse in Canning Town, the band split up and Harris auditioned for a band called Smiler in February 1974. In this outfit, Harris began writing his own songs and worked with future Iron Maiden members Dennis Wilcock and Doug Sampson, but left the band after they refused to play his material, claiming it was too complicated.