In 2002, the members of IRON MAIDEN were shocked to learn that their former drummer, Clive Burr, was suffering from MS. They played three nights in March at Brixton Academy in his honour, donating the £250,000-plus profits from the concerts and merchandising into a newly formed Clive Burr Multiple Sclerosis Trust Fund. The fund also received generous donations from the record company EMI and publisher BMG Music from the commercial single releases of "Run to the Hills" and "Number of The Beast" (which leapt into the U.K. charts at No 3 earlier this year). There were kind donations from all over the world of heavy metal, and tremendous support from the fans through numerous fund raising initiatives and very generous individual contributions.

Three years on, the money raised has helped enormously to provide treatment and support and to improve the quality of Clive's life. For example: the Trust has helped Clive to secure his house, funded specialist treatments in this country and with experts in Europe and the USA, has provided specialized equipment, assisted with transport and travel and helped Clive with his living expenses.

The Trust was also able to help some other MS sufferers who have longstanding connections with the band by assisting with the provision of vehicles specially adapted to carry wheelchairs.

The Clive Burr MS Fund needs replenishing if it is to continue to ease and improve the quality of Clive's life, and others'. To help do this, IRON MAIDEN will stage a very special benefit performance at Hammersmith Odeon on Friday, September 2. The show, featuring songs from their first four albums ("Iron Maiden", "Killers", "The Number of the Beast" and "Piece of Mind"), will by then have toured Europe and North America playing to almost one million delighted fans and this will be the final date of the tour and the very last time some of the songs in the set will played live by the band.

All the profits from the show and the merchandising will be donated to the Trust and can then lift the fund back into action. All tickets will be £40 — and there will be no comps — not even for band families or management!!

Manager Rod Smallwood commented, 'We think our fans will fully understand the need to charge a slightly higher price for this special gig — there are many things the Trust needs to do such as modifications to Clive's house to improve wheelchair access that would make Clive more comfortable. We were really pleased that Hammersmith Apollo was available, as the band have a lot of history there and great memories. It's a terrific venue to play from a fan's perspective and will be huge contrast from our headline appearance at the massive Reading Festival on Sunday 28th August. We just hope they will reopen the old backstage bar! The first time we played Hammersmith Odeon (as it was previously known) was on 14th March 1980 supporting JUDAS PRIEST just before the first album came out. The first headline appearance was during the 'Killers' tour in 1981, and of course Clive was with us on those occasions. In total we have played there 21 times including a succession of 5 sold-out shows during the 1988 'Seventh Tour of a Seventh Tour' as an addition to the arena tour for that album. So it's a very appropriate place to play a gig for Clive and to end a tour based on our first four albums."

Tickets, priced £40, will be offered to current fan club members first, and a special application form has today been sent by post directly to all members of the official Fan Club, IRON MAIDEN FC. Any remaining tickets will then go on sale to the public Monday, August 1 through normal box office channels. Due to the large number of members of IRON MAIDEN FC, the band are limiting it to two tickets only per member on a first-come first-served basis.