Iron Maiden’s EDDIE Creator Derek Riggs Doing Signing Before Illinois Show

Derek Riggs, the man who is behind the most famous heavy metal icon of all time, Iron Maiden Ed The Head, will be doing an exclusive autograph session and meet and greet before Iron Maiden’s show in October. Derek Riggs will be setting up at the Short Fuse Brewing Company at 5000 North River Rd. in Schiller Park, Illinois from around 3 PM to 11 PM on Wednesday, October 23.

There will be prints, books, and other items available to purchase and personal items may also be brought in to get signed, which cost $30 to get autographed. There may be those however who are asking, "Just WHO IS Derek Riggs?":

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Derek Riggs's Impact On Me

The first album from Iron Maiden, that I ever purchased was Powerslave, and the first thing that hooked me in was the cover of the album. Little did I know that this band would be one of the most important bands in my life. But it was more than just the band that influenced me, it was the artwork, particularly on the older albums.

Riggs quickly became my favorite artist in the sense that his style was so grungy, and realistic, but at the same time dark, and had a little bit of a twist of fantasy to it. I eventually got his illustration of the Mummy Eddie tattooed on my arm. I spent a lot of time on his site admiring all the work he's done, not just with Iron Maiden, but with other bands as well.

Who Is Derek Riggs?

Not many know about Derek Riggs, the man. At times he’s been misquoted or has had words put in his mouth about Iron Maiden that were untrue, so not many interviews are public with him. But at heart, he’s a great guy from Portsmouth, England whose self-taught artistry made him the creator of the most recognizable figure in heavy metal.

He has done everything from Acrylic paints to digital prints and is a master of both, which for being self-taught, is pretty damn impressive. Today, Derek continues to create and tour the country at various Cons, doing signings.

Who Is Ed The Head?

The original drawing for Ed the Head was a work called Electric Matthew Says Hello, but after Iron Maiden secured a record deal with EMI Derek Riggs was commissioned to draw various covers for singles and the album cover. Riggs would go on to do the album covers and creative art for the band up until No Prayer For The Dying and the live albums that followed it.

It was after this that he stopped doing artwork for Iron Maiden full-time. He has an occasion done some artwork for the band for various tours, singles, and album covers, but nothing on the scale he did in the 80s and 90s.

Iron Maiden will be playing the future past tour on Thursday, October 24.