Derek Riggs | |
|---|---|
 Riggs at the 2022 Phoenix Fan Fusion | |
| Born | 13 February 1958 |
| Nationality | British |
| Known for | Painting, drawing, graphics |
| Notable work | Iron Maiden album covers |
| Website | derekriggs |
Derek Riggs (born 13 February 1958) [1] is a contemporary British artist best known for creating the band Iron Maiden's mascot, "Eddie".
Born in Portsmouth, England, Riggs is a self-taught artist, both in his traditional painting and in his digital work. [1] He began drawing and painting as early as he can remember. [2] He also attended art school, but he was expelled after complaining about the course. [1] Riggs' most famous achievement is his work with Iron Maiden and his creation of Eddie, the band's mascot and subject of their album and single covers. [3] Riggs' first picture of Eddie was originally entitled "Electric Matthew Says Hello," [4] and was actually painted for a possible punk cover. [5] Iron Maiden's management came across it while looking through Riggs' portfolio, [6] and asked him to add hair to the figure to make it look less punk-like. [5] The resulting picture was used for the debut album, Iron Maiden , released in 1980, and Riggs went on to work with Iron Maiden throughout the 1980s and into the '90s, creating many of the band's famous album covers. [3] In 1992, however, the band decided to accept contributions from other artists for their next album, Fear of the Dark , resulting in much less input from Riggs in recent years. [7]
For a long time, Riggs did his paintings with acrylics and alkyd, which is a fast-drying oil-based paint. However, after realizing the chemicals were affecting his health, he switched to digital painting in the early 1990s. [8]
Riggs has also designed the cover of World's Only Female Tribute to Iron Maiden , the self-titled debut album by the all-female tribute band, the Iron Maidens, a piece which was inspired by the Killers album, featuring a similar "Kinky Sex Shop" which featured in the Iron Maiden artwork. [9]
He has also worked with Iron Maiden lead vocalist Bruce Dickinson for his album Accident of Birth , [10] Stratovarius for their album Infinite , [11] Gamma Ray for their Power Plant album, [12] Artension on their 2004 album Future World , [13] Gillman on their 2003 album Cuauhtemoc, [14] and with many other bands and companies most of which are featured on his website.
Riggs currently resides in Riverside County, California, US. [15] [16] He has seasonal affective disorder. [16]
As a fan of Iron Maiden, game designer Tim Schafer named the main character of 2009's video game Brütal Legend Eddie Riggs, which is a combination of Eddie The Head and Derek Riggs. [17]
The Number of the Beast is the third studio album by English heavy metal band Iron Maiden. It was released on 22 March 1982 in the United Kingdom by EMI Records and in the United States by Harvest and Capitol Records. The album was their first to feature vocalist Bruce Dickinson and their last with drummer Clive Burr.
The X Factor is the tenth studio album by English heavy metal band Iron Maiden, released on 2 October 1995 through EMI Records. CMC International released the album in North America. It is the first of two albums by the band to include Blaze Bayley, formerly of Wolfsbane, as vocalist, replacing Bruce Dickinson who left the band following their previous tour to pursue a solo career. It also saw the departure of the band's longtime producer Martin Birch, who retired shortly after the release of their previous album, Fear of the Dark (1992). The album takes a darker tone than the band's first nine releases, due to the lyrics being based on personal issues surrounding Steve Harris at the time, who was in the midst of a divorce. This is reflected in the cover artwork, which graphically depicts the band's mascot, Eddie, being vivisected by a machine.
Powerslave is the fifth studio album by the English heavy metal band Iron Maiden, released on 3 September 1984 through EMI Records in Europe and its sister label Capitol Records in North America. It was re-released by Sanctuary and Columbia Records in the United States in 2002.
Somewhere in Time is the sixth studio album by English heavy metal band Iron Maiden. It was released on 29 September 1986 in the United Kingdom by EMI Records and in the United States by Capitol Records. It was the band's first album to feature guitar synthesisers.
Killers is the second studio album by English heavy metal band Iron Maiden. It was first released on 16 February 1981 in the United Kingdom by EMI Records and on 11 May in the United States by Harvest and Capitol Records. The album was their first with guitarist Adrian Smith, and their last with vocalist Paul Di'Anno, who was fired after problems with his stage performances arose due to his alcohol and cocaine use. Killers was also the first Iron Maiden album recorded with producer Martin Birch, who went on to produce their next eight albums until Fear of the Dark (1992).
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son is the seventh studio album by English heavy metal band Iron Maiden. It was released on 11 April 1988 in the United Kingdom by EMI Records and in the United States by Capitol Records. Like The Number of the Beast (1982) and later Fear of the Dark (1992), The Final Frontier (2010), and The Book of Souls (2015), the album debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart. The lead single "Can I Play with Madness" was also a commercial success, peaking at No. 3 in the UK Singles Chart.
Maiden Japan, released as Heavy Metal Army in Japan, is a live EP by the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden. The title is a pun of Deep Purple's live album Made in Japan.
Fear of the Dark is the ninth studio album by English heavy metal band Iron Maiden. Released on 11 May 1992, it was their third studio release to top the UK Albums Chart, and the last to feature Bruce Dickinson as the group's lead vocalist until his return in 1999.
No Prayer for the Dying is the eighth studio album by English heavy metal band Iron Maiden. It is their first album to feature Janick Gers on guitar, who replaced Adrian Smith. Smith left the band during the pre-production phase, unhappy with the musical direction it was taking, and only having contributed to one song, "Hooks in You". Gers previously worked with singer Bruce Dickinson on his first solo album, Tattooed Millionaire, and had also worked with Ian Gillan, former Marillion singer Fish, and new wave of British heavy metal band, White Spirit.
Live After Death is a live album by English heavy metal band Iron Maiden, originally released in October 1985 on EMI in Europe and its sister label Capitol Records in the US. It was recorded at Long Beach Arena, California and Hammersmith Odeon, London during the band's World Slavery Tour.
Eddie is the mascot for the English heavy metal band Iron Maiden. He is a perennial fixture of the group's artwork, appearing in all of their album covers and in their merchandise, which includes T-shirts, posters and action figures. On top of this, Eddie features in all of the band's concerts, as well as in the first-person shooter video game, Ed Hunter, the mobile game, Iron Maiden: Legacy of the Beast and a pinball game with the same name in 2018.
Best of the Beast was Iron Maiden's first "best of" album, released in 1996 in three formats: a 34 track vinyl, a 27 track CD, a 16 track CD and MiniDisc. The vinyl edition is, to date, the band's longest record release, running for over three hours.
Ed Hunter is a greatest hits album and video game released in 1999 by English heavy metal band Iron Maiden and Synthetic Dimensions. The game objective consists of following Iron Maiden's mascot, Eddie, through various levels depicting the band's past album covers. The accompanying CDs have the group's most popular songs, as selected by fans on the band's official website.
"Run to the Hills" is a song by the English heavy metal band Iron Maiden. It was released as their sixth single and the first from the band's third studio album, The Number of the Beast (1982). It is their first single with Bruce Dickinson as vocalist. Credited solely to the band's bassist, Steve Harris, Dickinson contributed to the song but could not be credited due to a contractual agreement with his former band Samson. Run to the Hills remains one of the band's most popular songs, with VH1 ranking it No. 27 on their list of the 40 Greatest Metal Songs, No. 14 on their list of the Greatest Hard Rock Songs, and Rolling Stone ranking it No. 10 on their list of the 100 greatest heavy metal songs
Beast over Hammersmith is a live album by the English heavy metal band Iron Maiden, released on 4 November 2002. Recorded 20 years previously, during The Beast on the Road tour at the Hammersmith Odeon, the footage was specially co-produced and mixed by Steve Harris and Doug Hall to be a part of the Eddie's Archive box set. Even though this album contains material from The Number of the Beast, it was actually recorded two days prior to its release, although "Run to the Hills" had already been released as a single. The album became officially available for the very first time on vinyl as part of the Number of the Beast 40th anniversary special edition on 18 November 2022.
"Purgatory" is Iron Maiden's fifth single, released on 15 June 1981, and would be their last with singer Paul Di'Anno. It served as the second single from Killers. The single was reissued in 1990, on the same CD and 12" vinyl as the EP Maiden Japan, in the First Ten Years box set.
"Twilight Zone" is the fourth single by Iron Maiden, released on 2 March 1981 and is the lead single to the 1981 LP Killers. The song did not appear in the original album in February, but was included in the U.S. release in June and the international 1998 remaster. At the time of its release, it was the band's second-most successful single, peaking at No. 31 in the UK Singles Chart. It is the band's first single to feature guitarist Adrian Smith. In the 1990 box set, The First Ten Years, it is on the same CD and 12" vinyl as the previous single, "Women in Uniform".
"The Number of the Beast" is a song by the English heavy metal band Iron Maiden. It is Iron Maiden's seventh single release, and the second single from their 1982 studio album of the same name. It was reissued in 2005 and also prior to that in 1990 in The First Ten Years box set on CD and 12" vinyl, in which it was combined with the previous single, "Run to the Hills".
"Flight of Icarus" is a song by the English heavy metal band Iron Maiden. It was their eighth single, the first from their fourth studio album, Piece of Mind (1983), and their first in the United States, where it was one of their few with substantial airplay, peaking at a personal best No. 8 on the Billboard Top Album Tracks chart. It was a lesser success in the UK, peaking at No. 11 on the UK Singles Chart.
"Wasted Years" is a song by the English heavy metal band Iron Maiden. It is the band's fourteenth single released and the first from their sixth studio album, Somewhere in Time (1986). It is the only song on the album that features no synthesizers. Released in 1986, it was the first single solely written by guitarist Adrian Smith, who also sings backing vocals. It reached number 18 in the UK Singles Charts.
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