Iron Maiden’s Adrian Smith offers update on rumored collaboration with Richie Kotzen
“I'm very excited about it, but I'm sworn to secrecy at the moment,” he says

Adrian Smith might be gearing up for the release of his first book, Monsters of River & Rock: My Life as Iron Maiden’s Compulsive Angler, but the Maiden electric guitar player also has something else more musical in the works, hinting at a rumored collaboration with Richie Kotzen.
"I'm very excited about it, but I can't say," he told Eonmusic. "I'm doing a lot of singing, but the person I'm working with, we're sort of splitting the vocals. But that'll be coming. I'm very excited about it, but I'm sworn to secrecy at the moment."
As for whether there’s a possibility of any live dates from the project, Smith said, "Hopefully, hopefully. It depends on the bloody virus, you know? At the moment, everything's screwed, so…"
@misteradriansmith and I discussing the magic of writing songs in C-sharp minor. Richie Kotzen
A photo posted by @richie_kotzen on Feb 18, 2020 at 9:26am PST
Recently, Kotzen has posted photos his Instagram page of he and Smith spending time together, leading to speculation that the Winery Dogs singer and guitarist has been working with the Maiden man on new material.
Elsewhere in the interview, Smith answered affirmatively when asked if he might have a “guitar book” in him as a follow up to Monsters of River & Rock.
“Yeah, I was bitten by the bug when I was a kid, you know; Ritchie Blackmore, Paul Kossoff, all those people, I was just fascinated,” he said.
“I actually started off as a singer / guitarist. I was more of a singer because I hadn’t really played a guitar. I kind of blagged my way into [Maiden guitarist] Dave Murray’s world – he was already quite competent – by saying I was a singer. So we started jamming, and I learned as I went along.
Get The Pick Newsletter
All the latest guitar news, interviews, lessons, reviews, deals and more, direct to your inbox!
“But yeah, I had a love/hate relationship with the guitar. I used to beat myself up about it. I was never really taught by anyone, I didn’t have a mentor; it was all self-taught.
“Don’t forget, at the time when I joined Maiden, we were going out with Judas Priest; we had Yngwie Malmsteen open up for us; Michael Schenker, and I was thinking; I grew up idolizing Michael Schenker, and he’s opening up for me? I just felt a bit of insecurity about it – not so much now, but because I didn’t really have any training."
Rich is the co-author of the best-selling Nöthin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored History of the '80s Hard Rock Explosion. He is also a recording and performing musician, and a former editor of Guitar World magazine and executive editor of Guitar Aficionado magazine. He has authored several additional books, among them Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, the companion to the documentary of the same name.
“I heard the Money solo and thought, ‘This is amazing!’ So I sent David a telegram saying, ‘Remember me? I'm in a band now called Roxy Music’”: Phil Manzanera on his friendship with David Gilmour, and the key to the Pink Floyd man's unmistakable tone
“It’s really quite genius, but also hard to learn – it sounds insane, but sometimes the easiest songs still get me nervous”: Kiki Wong reveals the Smashing Pumpkins song she had the most trouble with