Steve Harris

Harris was born on 12 March 1956 in the back room of his grandmother's house in Leytonstone, then part of Essex, where he grew up aspiring to be a professional footballer. Scouted by Wally St Pier, Harris was asked to train for West Ham United during his early teen years. After becoming interested in rock music in subsequent years, he realised that he no longer desired to play football professionally and envisioned a career in music instead. In particular, he was greatly influenced by the Beatles. Harris attended Leyton Senior High School for Boys (now Leyton Sixth Form College) where he studied architecture. Initially Harris wanted to play drums, but did not have enough space for a drum kit in his house; he decided on learning bass instead. Entirely self-taught, his first bass was a copy of a Fender Precision model which cost him £40 in 1971. Just ten months after he bought his first bass, Harris joined a band, initially known as Influence and later Gypsy's Kiss. After playing a small number of gigs, that band split. Harris joined a band called Smiler in February 1974. In this band, Harris began writing his own songs and worked with future Iron Maiden members Dennis Wilcock and Doug Sampson, but left as the band claimed his songs were too complicated and refused to play them. Harris claims to have played 30 to 40 shows with Smiler before he departed in 1975.

Harris met psychotherapist Lorraine Jury in 1977, they later married and had four children. Harris's daughter, Lauren, is a singer and classically trained actor who supported Iron Maiden with her solo band in 2006 and 2008. In 2008, she released a solo album entitled Calm Before the Storm, after which she formed the band Six Hour Sundown. She later joined Kingdom of I, Harris's son George plays guitar for the Raven Age, who opened for Iron Maiden on three international tours. His daughter Kerry works as a Production Assistant for Iron Maiden, and his younger daughter Faye is a fashion writer for HuffPost. In 2024, Faye married Tyrone Wood, the son of Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood. Harris and Jury divorced in 1993. Harris later said this was "probably the toughest time I've ever faced," and the changes in his personal life are credited with inspiring the mood of the following Iron Maiden album, 1995's The X Factor. Harris has since fathered two more children with his current partner Emma. Starting in the 1980s, Harris owned a Grade II listed building in Sheering, Essex, on the grounds of which he built his own recording and editing studio. In November 2012, the nine-acre property was put on sale. The property was sold in March 2022, having been on the market for a number of years, for £3,950,000. Harris now lives primarily in the Bahamas. …