'To Hell And Back With The Beast': Second Book About PAUL DI'ANNO's Final Years To Be Released This Spring

The book “To Hell And Back With The Beast (And Mini Beast)” about the final years of former IRON MAIDEN singer Paul Di’Anno is available for pre-order at www.maidencroatia.com.

In the sequel to “666 Days With The Beast”, which was made available last December and sold out very quickly, Stjepan Juras, a Croatia-based MAIDEN fan and author of many MAIDEN-related books, who had been managing Di’Anno and taking care of Paul while he was getting physiotherapy treatments in Croatia, dives into the most turbulent period of Paul‘s career, including the joint tour with KK’S PRIEST, recounting events that almost led to Paul’s concerts in Birmingham and Glasgow being canceled. Thankfully, the tour went ahead in full and ended triumphantly at London’s O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire. It was followed by a return to Croatia for rehabilitation and a concert at the legendary Boogaloo club in Zagreb, where Paul “settled” old debts from 2009 with fans who had been left disappointed. A major comeback tour in the U.K. followed, with Juras describing both triumph and disaster, including stories that will, for the first time, reveal completely transparent details about what happened behind the scenes and the immense effort it took to keep the tour going. Readers will also experience firsthand the major conflicts before the Winterstorm festival and after the concert in Blackpool, as well as the controversies that arose at the Weston-super-Mare concert.

Following that, there was a major European tour filled with so many twists and controversies that “it’s a miracle everything ended as planned,” according to Juras. “During this tour, a pivotal moment occurred in Amsterdam when Paul faced a terrifying ‘prophecy’ that haunted and terrified him until the end of his life, and which ultimately came true,” Stjepan says. “A scandal at the Athens concert almost led to the cancellation of his Australian tour, while in Germany, we witnessed a public verbal attack on his former band, ARCHITECTS OF CHAOZ. Another scandal occurred in Turin, Italy, this time involving drug-related issues, which nearly caused me to leave the tour and part ways with Paul, as I never tolerated or allowed any drug use near me. The final sold-out concert in Paris ended in controversy from statements made on stage, leaving many in shock. Then came Australia, which was so controversial that it made the news in Australian mainstream media and reached global headlines. You’ll read about the story of going to Australia with shock and disbelief, as you’ll never have the chance to read anything like this anywhere else. After that, there’s the story of the highly successful tour in Chile and everything that happened on that journey, followed by tales from Uruguay and Paraguay, and a story from Argentina that took place exactly one year ago and is considered by many chroniclers as one of the most shocking stories in rock and roll history. And indeed, it’s so shocking and scandalous that I still can’t believe it happened. After that come the very sad days when my father waited for me to return from the tour so he could see me one last time before he passed away. A very sad and deeply personal event that breaks me every time I think about it.”

Tentatively due in late May or early June, “To Hell And Back With The Beast (And Mini Beast)” will be printed in the same number of copies as the first edition (666). The name of each buyer will be listed individually on the inside cover of the book. Each book will come with the author’s signature and hand numbering.

You can pre-order “To Hell And Back With The Beast (And Mini Beast)” via PayPal or with credit and debit cards at www.maidencroatia.com.

The third in Juras‘s “Beast” trilogy of books, “The Last Days Of The Beast”, will go on public pre-sale from August 12, 2025, while the secret pre-sale will be open to all previous buyers on August 10, 2025.

Di’Anno was laid to rest on November 21, 2024 at the City Of London Cemetery And Crematorium in Manor Park, East London, United Kingdom.

Di’Anno, whose real name was Paul Andrews, passed away on October 21, 2024 at his home in Salisbury at the age of 66.

An official statement shared to Di’Anno‘s Facebook page on November 11, 2024 with permission from the late musician’s family revealed that his cause of death was caused by a “tear in the sac around the heart.”

“Dear fans and friends,” the statement began. “We have received permission from Paul‘s family to bring you the news of Paul‘s cause of death, after the results of the autopsy have been received.”

It continued, “His sisters Cheryl and Michelle confirmed the following: ‘Basically he had a tear in the sac around the heart and blood has filled inside it from the main aorta artery and that has caused the heart to stop.’ Paul‘s death was instantaneous and hopefully painless. May he rest in peace.”

Born in Chingford, East London on May 17, 1958, Paul first came to prominence as lead singer of English heavy metal band IRON MAIDEN between 1978 and 1981. He sang on their groundbreaking debut album “Iron Maiden” and the influential follow-up release, “Killers”.

Since leaving IRON MAIDEN, Paul Di’Anno had a long and eventful recording career with BATTLEZONE and KILLERS as well as numerous solo releases and guest appearances.

Despite being troubled by severe health issues in recent years that restricted him to performing in a wheelchair, Paul continued to entertain his fans around the world, racking up well over 100 shows since 2023.

His first career retrospective album, “The Book Of The Beast”, was released in September 2024 and featured highlights of his recordings since leaving IRON MAIDEN.

In December 2022, Di’Anno spent time in Split, Croatia recording an album with his new project called WARHORSE. The band was formed earlier that year by Di’Anno and two guitarists/authors, Hrvoje Madiraca and Ante “Pupi” Pupačić. The resulting LP was made available in July 2024 under the PAUL DI’ANNO’S WARHORSE banner.

WARHORSE previously recorded three songs, two of which — “Stop The War” and “The Doubt Within” — were released in May 2022 as a special DVD single along with Paul‘s video message to all fans who bought the single and thus helped raise funds for his knee operation.

The WARHORSE single marked Di’Anno‘s first music release after a seven-year hiatus due to severe health issues.

Di’Anno, who finally underwent his knee surgery in September 2022, played the first show since the operation on October 1, 2022 at the Keep It True Rising II festival in Würzburg, Germany.

In May 2022, Di’Anno came face to face with MAIDEN bassist and founder Steve Harris for the first time in three decades before the band’s concert in Croatia. Also in May 2022, Paul played his first full solo concert in seven years at the Bikers Beer Factory in Zagreb. The show was filmed and parts of it will be included in the upcoming Di’Anno documentary, which is being helmed by Wes Orshoski, co-director and producer of the acclaimed 2010 film “Lemmy” about the MOTÖRHEAD icon, and 2015’s “The Damned: Don’t You Wish That We Were Dead”, about punk rock legends THE DAMNED.

Photo credit: Marco Benjamin Alvarado (courtesy of Central Press for Conquest Music)