The mega mutton-chopped Blaze Bayley is to replace Evile on the bill on the Saturday of the Hellfire II Festival, as the Huddersfield thrashers understandably have been forced to cancel their appearance following the death of Mike Alexander last week.

Bayley is perhaps best known as the man who stepped into Bruce Dickinson’s shoes to front Iron Maiden for five years in the 1990s, when Dickinson decided to bugger off and go solo for a while. Since leaving Maiden upon the return of Dickinson, Bayley has continued to release solo albums, with the fifth one due sometime next year.

Watch the video to ‘Robot’ by Blaze Bayley

Hellfire II – in conjuction with Music Live – “The UK’s Biggest and Best Music Making Event” – will be taking over the NEC for three nights of rock’n'roll carnage. It’s gonna be a treat so get your tickets now.