Former singer with Iron Maiden Paul Di’Anno has been released from prison, serving only two months or so of his nine-month sentence for benefit fraud.
The 53-year-old, whose real name is Paul Andrews, was sentenced in March and told he would serve at least four-and-a-half months in prison. He had pleaded guilty to eight counts of benefit fraud amounting to more than £45,000 (AU$69,000) at Salisbury Crown Court.
He was released this week (Tuesday, May 24) after just over two months incarceration. He did not waste any time talking to the media, telling Metalunderground.com, “Back home again, and looking forward to Running Free Again, and seeing you all in a few weeks. Relieved to say, I managed not to drop the soap!”
Di’Anno is hoping to launch his Running Free Again tour later this year, where he is likely to play a few Iron Maiden tunes, as he has been doing since 1981 when he left the band to be replaced by Bruce Dickinson.
Di’Anno was actually the first vocalist Iron Maiden recorded with when he joined the band back in 1978. Since leaving the band he has released a number of solo albums, as well as worked with Battlezone and Killers. In recent years he has been living in Brazil, working with Brazilian musicians.
