Dave Murray is one of
Iron Maiden's guitarists. Even though he is not the most well-known Iron Maiden member with the
general public, it is almost impossible to imagine Iron Maiden without him.
David Michael Murray was born on December 23, 1956 in London. Like fellow Iron Maiden member Steve Harris, he was a fanatical football player (soccer, as some like to call it). When he was 15, he got into rock music. Soon after, he got himself a guitar and started learning how to play the damn thing. His first band was Stone Free, with Adrian Smith (who joined Iron Maiden at the end of 1980), but the band didn't last too long.
After playing in several small bands, Dave met a guy called Steve Harris. Although many people think Dave helped Steve in forming Iron Maiden, this is in fact not true. Iron Maiden formed in early 1976, while Dave joined them a few months after, in late 1976. After an argument with vocalist Dennis Wilcock, Dave was fired at the very end of 1976. He then joined Adrian Smith's band Urchin, but left them to rejoin Iron Maiden again halfway during 1977, after Dennis Wilcock had left. He's been in the band ever since, and can be heard on all the albums.
He hasn't recorded any solo albums, and doesn't write too many songs for Iron Maiden (usually only one per album), but he really enjoys playing the guitar, and he can always be seen with a big smile on his face when he's playing live on stage.
Dave did play guitar on Nicko McBrain's solo single, Rhythm Of The Beast in 1990, which was part of Nicko's drum clinic.
Dave got married on April 2, 1985 to Californian-born Tamar. They have a daughter, Tasha, and the three of them live on the island of Maui, in Hawaii.
Sources: Official Iron Maiden fanclub newsletters, the official Iron Maiden website, various fan websites, various magazine articles.