Metal legends Iron Maiden are facing yet another lawsuit. According to The Sun, the band is being sued by their former singer Dennis Willcock, who sang for Maiden in 1976 and 1977, for allegedly stealing the lyrics to some of their classic early songs. Willcock claims to have written the lyrics to the tracks "Prowler", "Charlotte The Harlot", "Phantom Of The Opera", "Iron Maiden" and "Prodigal Son", which were recorded and released by Iron Maiden on their first two albums, Iron Maiden (1980) and Killers (1981). A spokesperson for the band called the allegations "outrageous" and "absolutely ridiculous" when asked for comment.

The lawyer Barry McKay has filed a new suit against bassist Steve Harris and guitarist Dave Murray, as well as the band's publishing company Imagem London Limited. He's acting on behalf of Maiden's early singer Dennis Willcock and Terry Wilson-Slesser of Beckett. They are suing over £2,000,000 in disputed lyric credits and resulting damages.

Willcock was replaced in the band by Paul Di'Anno. He claims never knew his lyrics were used because he never listened to the band's albums.

Wilson-Slesser alleges that Iron Maiden's "Hallowed By Thy Name" lifted lyrics from Beckett's track "Rainbow's Gold", in particular the line "Catch your soul he's willing to fly away", which similarly appeared in "Hallowed By Thy Name" as "Catch my soul 'cos it's willing to fly away".

Another lawsuit was filed by retired band manager and lawyer Barry McKay, who took Harris and Murray to court over "Hallowed Be Thy Name", claiming Maiden reproduced major parts of another song, "Life's Shadow", co-written nearly a decade earlier by musician Brian Quinn, under the name Brian Ingham. Iron Maiden reached an out-of-court settlement for £100,000 earlier this year.

Iron Maiden are currently touring on their Legacy Of The Beast European Tour 2018.

Source:	thesun.co.uk
Band profile:	Iron Maiden