About

Anton Maiden was the stage name of the late Swedish Internet celebrity Anton Gustafsson. Gustafsson rose to fame in the late 90s with his album Anton Gustafsson tolkar Iron Maiden, and can be considered an early example of Internet phenomena.

Internet Presence

Before the release of his album, Gustaffson had been known by his friends for his covers of songs by the heavy metal band Iron Maiden.^[1] After being discovered by the record label Lunacy Records, Anton released the album Anton Gustafsson tolkar Iron Maiden on September 15, 1999. The album received mixed critical reviews; Gustaffson, however, became an Internet celebrity in his home country of Sweden.^[5] At his peak, Gustaffson's covers were downloaded over 1800 times a week.^[4]

Gustaffson created his own website in 1999.^[2] This website received over 25,000 hits each month, though he later expunged any information about his music project from it.

Death and Legacy

Gustafsson committed suicide in 2003 after a struggle with depression. A fansite was created, which has over 100,000 views as of April 2015.^[3]

Search Interest

References