Iron Maiden Tour
Paul Di'Anno and Steve Harris performing at the Manchester Apollo
Tour by Iron Maiden
Associated album	Iron Maiden
Start date	1 April 1980
End date	21 December 1980
Shows	103 (1 cancellation)
Iron Maiden tour chronology
Iron Maiden Tour (1980) Killer World Tour (1981)

The Iron Maiden Tour was a 1980 concert tour by Iron Maiden in support of their eponymous debut album. The band's first solo headlining tour, it followed the co-headlined Metal for Muthas Tour from earlier in the same year. The tour commenced with a British leg from 1 April to 23 August, although this included one concert in Finland, before the band supported Kiss on their Unmasked Tour from 24 August to 16 October,^[1] immediately following which guitarist Dennis Stratton was sacked and replaced with Adrian Smith.^[2] After Smith was hired, the band decided to undertake another British tour, taking place from 21 November to 21 December.^[3]

The tour would see them perform in mainland Europe for the first time,^[4] as well as record their first live video at the Rainbow Theatre, London on the last night of the tour.^[3]

Tour dates[link]

Reference^[7]

Setlist[link]

1. "The Ides of March" (Intro) (from Killers, 1981)
2. "Sanctuary" (from Iron Maiden, 1980)
3. "Prowler" (from Iron Maiden, 1980)
4. "Wrathchild" (from Killers, 1981)
5. "Remember Tomorrow" (from Iron Maiden, 1980)
6. "Charlotte the Harlot" (from Iron Maiden, 1980)
7. "Killers" (from Killers, 1981)
8. "Another Life" (from Killers, 1981)
9. Drum solo
10. "Transylvania" (from Iron Maiden, 1980)
11. Guitar solo
12. "Strange World" (from Iron Maiden, 1980)
13. "Innocent Exile" (from Killers, 1981)
14. "Phantom of the Opera" (from Iron Maiden, 1980
15. "Iron Maiden" (from Iron Maiden, 1980)
16. "Running Free" (from Iron Maiden, 1980)
17. "Drifter" (from Killers, 1981)
18. "I've Got the Fire" (Montrose cover)

Notes:

• All songs played from Killers were unreleased at this time.
• "Women in Uniform" (Skyhooks cover) was performed at some venues only.

See also[link]

• List of Iron Maiden concert tours

References[link]

1. ^ Wall, Mick (2004). Iron Maiden: Run to the Hills, the Authorised Biography (3rd ed.). Sanctuary Publishing. p. 151. ISBN 1-86074-542-3. 
2. ^ Wall, Mick (2004). Iron Maiden: Run to the Hills, the Authorised Biography (3rd ed.). Sanctuary Publishing. p. 163. ISBN 1-86074-542-3. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Wall, Mick (2004). Iron Maiden: Run to the Hills, the Authorised Biography (3rd ed.). Sanctuary Publishing. p. 172. ISBN 1-86074-542-3. 
4. ^ Wall, Mick (2004). Iron Maiden: Run to the Hills, the Authorised Biography (3rd ed.). Sanctuary Publishing. p. 155. ISBN 1-86074-542-3. 
5. ^ "Marquee advert, Sounds Magazine". http://www.ironmaidencommentary.com/pictures/bootlegs/1980/1980-04-02_ad.jpg. Retrieved 2012-01-17. 
6. ^ Bushell, Garry; Halfin, Ross (1985). Running Free, The Official Story of Iron Maiden (2 ed.). Zomba Books. p. 84. ISBN 0-946391-84-X. 
7. ^ Bushell, Garry; Halfin, Ross (1985). Running Free, The Official Story of Iron Maiden (2 ed.). Zomba Books. p. 85. ISBN 0-946391-84-X. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Iron Maiden

• Official website
• Iron Maiden Tour Dates

Look up iron maiden in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Iron maiden or Iron Maiden may refer to:

• Iron maiden (torture), a historical torture device

Music[link]

• Iron Maiden, a British heavy metal band
  • Iron Maiden (album), the band's self-titled debut album
    • "Iron Maiden", the debut album's title song
• "Iron Maiden", a song by Ghostface Killah from the album Ironman

Film[link]

• The Iron Maiden, a 1962 British comedy film which was released in the U.S. as Swinging Maiden

Books, comic books, games[link]

• Eiserne Jungfrau, also known as "Iron Maidens" in English, characters of 07th Expansion Sound Novel Umineko no Naku Koro ni
• Iron Maiden and Iron Maiden II, battleships from the anime series Trinity Blood
• Iron Maiden (comics), a fictional Russian super villain from Marvel Comics
• The Iron Maiden, a novel from the Bio of a Space Tyrant series by Piers Anthony
• Iron Maiden, a supervillainess who battled the comic book T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents
• Iron Maiden, a type of enemy in Resident Evil 4
• Neon Genesis Evangelion: Iron Maiden, a video game
• Neon Genesis Evangelion: Iron Maiden 2nd, a video game
• Iron Maiden Jeanne is a character in the series "Shaman King"

Other uses[link]

• Iron Maiden, a nickname for a high entrance/exit turnstile
• Iron Maiden, nickname of the KC-135 Stratotanker, a U.S. Air Force mid-air refueling airplane
• Iron Maiden, a nickname of former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (along with "Iron Lady")

See also[link]

• Iron Lady

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

David Ellefson
Dave Ellefson offstage in Kiev, Ukraine, in March 2011
Background information
Birth name	David Warren Ellefson
Also known as	Junior
Born	(1964-11-12) November 12, 1964 (age 47) Jackson, Minnesota, US
Genres	Heavy metal, thrash metal, speed metal, power metal, hard rock
Occupations	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Bass, guitar, vocals, piano
Years active	1983–present
Associated acts	Megadeth, Soulfly, Avian, Temple of Brutality, F5, Killing Machine, Ministry, Hail
Website	Dave Ellefson's Web Site
Notable instruments
BC Rich Basses Peavey Basses Jackson basses 1978 Fender Precision Bass Modulus Quantum Basses

David Warren "Dave" Ellefson (born November 12, 1964) is a bassist and founding member of the American thrash metal band Megadeth. He also goes by "Junior." He currently resides in Scottsdale, Arizona. He also has various side projects which include Temple of Brutality, F5, and Killing Machine.^[1]

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

Ellefson was born in November 12, 1964 in Jackson, Minnesota, US to a Norwegian-American family. He then became an accomplished rhythm guitarist and honed his songwriting skills while leading several of his own bands through the club scene of North America's Midwest region.

The Original Megadeth years (1983-2002)[link]

Other than guitarist, vocalist, and primary lyricist Dave Mustaine, Ellefson was the only constant member of Megadeth from the time of their establishment in 1983 to the group's dissolution in 2002 (Mustaine subsequently reformed Megadeth but without Ellefson). To differentiate between the two Daves, Mustaine referred to Ellefson as "Dave Junior", which was often shortened to "Junior". He appeared on every album and tour from 1985's thrash record Killing Is My Business... And Business Is Good! up until 2002's Rude Awakening. Ellefson's original playing style involved using his fingers, however, as Megadeth progressed and the music became more complex, he tended to prefer playing with a pick/plectrum. Ellefson was credited with some Megadeth songs, including "Family Tree" from 1994's Youthanasia (in the 2004 remastered collection of the CD however, the track is credited to Mustaine, Ellefson, Friedman, Menza, but Dave Mustaine credited the Rust in Peace-era line-up with the entire Youthanasia album as a tribute to the band's success at the time of the record's initial release).^[2]

Feud with Mustaine[link]

Mustaine resurrected Megadeth in 2004 to record the album The System Has Failed. Ellefson and Mustaine had a severe disagreement over royalties and rights to Megadeth's name and back catalog resulting in Ellefson filing an unsuccessful lawsuit. Though the two once enjoyed a close friendship, considerable animosity developed between Ellefson and Mustaine to the point that on Ellefson's website, Megadeth was not mentioned in his biography, only in the discography.

In a mid-2005 podcast, Ellefson did not mention his past with Megadeth at all, instead concentrating on discussing his current projects. Mustaine felt Ellefson was unfairly using the Megadeth name when advertising for an amplifier for Peavey. On Blabbermouth.net, Mustaine claims to have had dinner with Ellefson at Christmas in 2005 to talk things through; this got them on good terms, as Mustaine has stated that they spoke on the phone numerous times afterward.^[3] In 2010 Mustaine and Ellefson agreed to keep any unresolved issues in the past and were working on building and maintaining their friendship again.

Wikisource has original text related to this article: David Ellefson v Megadeth

Post Megadeth career and return (2003-Present)[link]

Dave Ellefson on stage.

Ellefson formed F5 following Megadeth's 2002 disbandment. The band featured Ellefson on bass, Dale Steele on vocals, Steve Conley on lead guitar, John Davis on rhythm guitar and Jimmy DeGrasso on drums. Their first album, "A Drug for all Seasons" was released in 2005. F5 appeared in support for Disturbed in February 2006 and toured the American Mid-West in the summer of 2006. Ellefson also appeared on the new Killing Machine record "Metalmorphosis" in 2006 alongside former Megadeth drummer Jimmy DeGrasso and has also been working with Temple of Brutality. Ellefson is currently a member of the melodic power metal band Avian which features singer Lance King. He commented in an interview with Alternative-Zine.com that "Megadeth was really just a starting point for me, creatively"^[4]

Ellefson currently works for Peavey Electronics Corporation as an artist relations representative.

Ellefson played five tracks for the Soulfly album Prophecy and also played on one track on Dark Ages.

He has recently worked with underground emcee/Record producer Necro for his album entitled Death Rap.

Ellefson is also a member of a tribute band called "HAIL". Ellefson, Jimmy DeGrasso (Mike Portnoy for 2010), Tim "Ripper" Owens and Andreas Kisser formed the band in late 2008.^[5] The band, as of April 2009, is touring Europe.^[6]

Ellefson participated in the Christmas Rock project Northern Light Orchestra, he performed bass on many of the 17 cuts produced by rock drummer Ken Mary and also at the live show Christmas in April Orpheum Theatre, Phoenix, Arizona.

On February 8, 2010, Dave Ellefson got a text message from now Megadeth drummer Shawn Drover, saying "if ever there was a time for you and Dave to talk, now is it.".^[7] Dave Ellefson called Dave Mustaine and the two talked out everything and decided they missed being friends. After the phone call, the news was released that David Ellefson would return to the Megadeth lineup. Ellefson was quoted saying "it felt like I never left" after their first rehearsal together.^[8]

Christianity[link]

Ellefson told HM Magazine that he, like Dave Mustaine is a committed Christian. "Well, I was actually brought up in a Christian household, so I have, you know, a pretty broad knowledge of it; and strayed from it for quite a while. And, now that I have children, I actually do go to church, so I’ve kinda sorta returned to it, you know?"^[9]

When asked about how he came to be a Christian, Ellefson came out to be surprisingly similar to Mustaine. “My faith has been with me from birth really as I was baptized in the Lutheran Church when I was an infant and raised in that setting my whole life. My family went to church on Sundays, my dad was on church committees, my mom sang in the church choir, and I was confirmed as a teenager too. In fact my mother’s Wurlitzer organ was my first musical experience and how I learned to play.”

He was also asked that if he was a Christian his whole life, and how he felt about being in Megadeth and doing the things that he did. “I will say that my adult religious beliefs were strengthened once I got cleaned up off dope and booze back in 1990 by way of 12 step programs. That really brought me back to putting God at the center of my life again and as a result I experienced the best years of my career, too. That was paramount for me because being 25 years old, and playing in a metal band, God was certainly not considered “cool” and is still not something most metal fans want to have their heroes proclaim in public! However, the reality is that even in my days of drug use, for me from age 15 to 25, my Christian upbringing always haunted me a bit because I knew I was doing the wrong thing living that lifestyle. Fortunately, getting cleaned up seemed to be in the cards for me so I’m glad I was able to get through it because so many people don’t seem to be able to make it through that. At the end of the day there is no escaping God’s will… He will always win!”

One of the things that helped him to come back to Christ was that he was having children with his wife, and he started to remember how he was brought up, and the appreciation he had for it. He wanted his kids to be brought up in the church, and after several incidents in the studio that he thought was very strange, he felt God was calling him to come back to the church. After calling his wife and telling her that, she said, “well, I’m glad this is all happening, because the worship leader was asking if you could come sit in this Sunday because their normal bass player isn’t going to be able to make it this week. That’s when he decided, “Okay God, I get it”. And then started his entrance into the Christian Music Scene.^[10]

In an article titled CODA - Ready for a MEGA Life, Ellefson indicated that in the fall of 2007 he began the new MEGA Life Ministries worship service in Scottsdale, AZ. "Oddly, the service has become one of my most rewarding and musically invigorating gigs I’ve ever had…a gig that literally landed in my lap and not something I had to chase down either. Not only are the parishioners respectful (no bar fights, spilled drinks and foul mouthed hecklers in the crowd like many secular gigs full of rational people) but it’s a musical event my whole family participates in. Plus, I’d finally had been given the venue to put into practical application the very words I’d been trying to live by for many years which is 'Play music for God, not us'." ^[11]

"Worshiping Satan, it’s like, ‘Is that the best you can do?’ He’s kind of a small fry guy. You’re kind of limiting your resources a little bit there, if you go down that road.^[12]

Ellefson has recently begun studying for the ministry in the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod through an extension program of Concordia Seminary in St. Louis.^[13]

Equipment[link]

This section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. No cleanup reason has been specified. Please help improve this section if you can; the talk page may contain suggestions. (April 2010)

Dave Ellefson on stage with Megadeth in Kiev, Ukraine 2011, with his signature series Jackson bass.

During Megadeth's early days, he first used B.C. Rich Basses primarily the Mockingbird series in black for the albums Peace Sells and Killing Is My Business. Ellefson secondarily used Jackson Concert 4 and 5-string basses in a black gloss finish and also a custom blue finish, the colour inspiration was his telephone answering machine. In 1993, looking for a deeper sound which would "sit" under the bass drums in the mix, Ellefson tried EMG pick ups and pre-amps in the Jackson basses- pleased with the results he tried basses from almost every manufacturer while in pre-production for the "Youthanasia" album in early 1994.

A clerk at The Bass Shop in Tempe loaned his Modulus Bass for trial, the longer scale, carbon-graphite neck and electronics offered all that was missing. That started an association with Modulus - which later faltered as Modulus changed hands.

He chose to play Modulus Quantum and Flea 5-strings and sometimes two Fender Precision Basses, a rosewood neck '78 with a DiMarzio split-coil humbucking pickup and a maple neck '77 These basses were used for a "grinding" sound . David switched to the American Deluxe Series P-Basses around 2000/01. His current bass arsenal includes a pair of maple-neck American Deluxe Precisions in 4 and 5-string versions, his '78 and '76 P-Basses, an Epiphone El Capitan 5-string acoustic bass, an Ovation 4-string, a Hamer Chaparral 12-string bass and an assortment of Peavey and Modulus 5-string basses. He has also recently been seen using a transparent red B.C. Rich Mockingbird and black and Silver Jackson Concert basses on the Rust In Peace Anniversary Tour. In addition to his bass gear, Ellefson's guitar rig included an Ibanez Destroyer, a pair of Peaveys as well as Alvarez and Briarwood^{[disambiguation needed ]} acoustics.

Up to 1993 Ellefson used Gallien-Krueger 800RB amps and Hartke 4.5XL cabs, switching to Ampeg SVT 2 amps and SVT 8x10 cabs. In the studio, guitar amps were sometimes used for alternate tracks- notably a Peavey 5150 on Paranoid (1993).

Ellefson used Peavey amps/cabinets and Mackie power amps for amplification. His effects setup includes DigiTech Genesis 3 and BP-2000 pedals, Korg and Peterson tuners, BBE^{[disambiguation needed ]} and Tech 21 Sansamp DIs, Digidesign Pro Tools MBox LE and Peavey Pro Comm U1002 Wireless systems. Ellefson uses D'Addario Nickel Electric guitar strings for his guitars, Prism and Pro Steel Medium Gauge bass strings (45-130) for his basses, Jim Dunlop Medium Tortex picks and Planet Waves cables. For effects, Ellefson uses the MXR M-134 Stereo Chorus [1].

After rejoining Megadeth in early 2010, Ellefson started using his old Jackson bass and Hartke amps again.^[14] He used an LH1000 with two HX810s on the Rust In Peace 20th Anniversary Tour.^[15] Recently David Ellefson's new Signature Series Powerwound Nickel Bass Strings from SIT strings were released. In early 2011, Jackson is set to release a Dave Ellefson signature model, both in 4-string and 5-string variants.^[16] As of summer 2011, David has added several new Jackson basses to his arsenal. One in a transparent red finish, which he is using in the studio to record the new Megadeth album, and another in a natural pre-painted finish which he will be using this summer on tour.

Basses[link]

Discography[link]

With Megadeth

• Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good! (1985)
• Peace Sells... But Who's Buying (1986)
• So Far, So Good... So What! (1988)
• Rust in Peace (1990)
• Countdown to Extinction (1992)
• Youthanasia (1994)
• Cryptic Writings (1997)
• Risk (1999)
• The World Needs a Hero (2001)
• Thirteen (2011)

*For full list, see Megadeth discography

With Others

• Soulfly - Prophecy (2004)
• F5 - A Drug For All Seasons (2005)
• Avian - From The Depths of Time (2005)
• Temple of Brutality - Lethal Agenda (2006)
• Necro - Death Rap (2007)
• Killing Machine - Metalmorphosis (2006)
• F5 - The Reckoning (2008)
• Tim "Ripper" Owens - Play My Game (2009)
• Angels of Babylon - Kingdom of Evil (2010)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Dave Ellefson on Myspace
• F5's official site
• Official Megadeth website
• Interview with Dave Ellefson on Maximum Threshold Radio
• Interview with David Ellefson at Guitar Video Channel
• Soundcheck 5 - interview - David Ellefson favorite albums

Bruce Dickinson
Bruce Dickinson performing live in Costa Rica on the Somewhere Back in Time World Tour, 26 February 2008.
Background information
Birth name	Paul Bruce Dickinson
Also known as	"Bruce Bruce" Dickinson (in Samson years)
Born	(1958-08-07) 7 August 1958 (age 53) Worksop, Nottinghamshire, England
Genres	Heavy metal, hard rock
Occupations	Musician, singer-songwriter, author, pilot, marketing director, screenwriter, actor
Instruments	Vocals, guitar
Years active	1976–present
Labels	EMI, Sanctuary
Associated acts	Iron Maiden, Samson, Tribe of Gypsies, Ayreon, Godspeed
Website	www.screamforme.com

Paul Bruce Dickinson (born 7 August 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, airline pilot, fencer, broadcaster, author, screenwriter, actor and former marketing director, best known as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden.

Dickinson began his career in music fronting small pub bands at school and University, including Styx (not the American band of the same name) in 1976, Speed, (1977–1978), and Shots in early 1979. He then joined the band Samson later in 1979, where he gained some popularity under the stage name, "Bruce Bruce." He left Samson in 1981 to join Iron Maiden as their new vocalist, replacing Paul Di'Anno, and debuting on their 1982 album The Number of the Beast.^[1] During his first tenure in the band, they issued a series of high impact releases,^[2] resulting in Dickinson gaining worldwide fame, and becoming one of the most acclaimed heavy metal vocalists of all time.

Dickinson quit Iron Maiden in 1993 in order to pursue his solo career, being replaced by Blaze Bayley, which saw him experiment with a wide variety of heavy metal and rock styles. Dickinson rejoined the band in 1999 along with guitarist Adrian Smith, with whom he released four subsequent studio albums. Since his return to Iron Maiden, Dickinson issued one further solo record in 2005, Tyranny of Souls. He is the older cousin of Rob Dickinson, former lead singer of British alternative rock band Catherine Wheel.^[3] His son, Austin, is the lead singer in metalcore band Rise to Remain.^[4] On 19 July 2011, Dickinson was presented with an honorary music doctorate from Queen Mary College, in honour of his contribution to the music industry.^[5]

Childhood[link]

Paul Bruce Dickinson was born in the small mining town of Worksop, Nottinghamshire.^[6] His mother Sonia worked part-time in a shoe shop and his father Bruce was a mechanic in the army.^[6] Dickinson's birth hurried the young couple, then just teenagers, into marriage.^[6] Initially, he was brought up by his grandparents; his grandfather was a coal-face worker at the local colliery and his grandmother was a housewife.^[6] This is referred to in his song "Born In '58" from the album Tattooed Millionaire.^[7]

Dickinson started school at Manton Primary in Worksop while his parents moved away to Sheffield.^[6] Soon afterwards, when he was six, he was also despatched to Sheffield,^[8] where he attended "a notoriously tough local primary school" called Manor Top.^[9] After six months, his parents decided to move him to a small private school called Sharrow Vale Junior.^[9] Of this period he recalls, "I'm sort of quite grateful for the fact that I didn't have what you would think of as a conventionally sort of happy, uncomplicated childhood. It made me very self-reliant. I grew up in an environment where it struck me that the world was never gonna do you any favours ... And I had very few close friends, because ... I never really met anybody for that long. I was always moving."^[10] Dickinson has a younger sister named Helena who was born in 1963.^[11][12] He tried to isolate himself from her as much as he could when he was young, supposedly out of spite because she, unlike him, was a planned pregnancy and birth.^[13]

Dickinson's first musical experience was dancing in his grandparents' front room to Chubby Checker's "The Twist," back when he still lived with them in Worksop.^[14] The first record Dickinson recalls owning was The Beatles single "She Loves You," which he managed to persuade his grandfather to buy him.^[14] From then on, he became more interested in music, saying "I remember thinking I liked the B-side better than the A-side, and that's when I started listening to music and deciding what I liked and what I didn't like."^[14] He tried to play an acoustic guitar belonging to his father, but it blistered his fingers.^[9]

By the time he moved to Sheffield, Dickinson's parents were earning a good living from buying property, refurbishing it and then selling it for a profit.^[11] As a result, a lot of Dickinson's childhood was spent living on a building site, until his parents bought a boarding house and a bankrupt garage where his father began selling second-hand cars.^[9] The income from their business success gave them the opportunity to give Dickinson—then 13 years old—a boarding school education and they chose Oundle, a public school in Northamptonshire.^[9] Dickinson was not opposed to moving away from home, as "I didn't particularly enjoy being with my parents, so I saw it as an escape ... I think it was because I hadn't built any real attachment to them when I was very, very young."^[9]

At Oundle, however, Dickinson was picked on and routinely bullied by the older boys of Sidney House, the boarding house that he belonged to,^[15] which he described as "like systematic torture" and meant that he became "aware that I was this outsider."^[13] His interests at Oundle were often military; he co-founded the school wargames society with Mike Jordan, and he rose to a position of some power in the school's cadet force,^[15] with which he was allowed to handle live ammunition, which he used to create explosions as booby-traps.^[16]

Oundle was where Dickinson became attracted to heavy rock, after hearing Deep Purple's "Child In Time" being played in another student's room.^[16] As a result, the first album he ever bought was Deep Purple's In Rock, "all scratched to fuck but I thought it was great, and that's what started me off on buying albums and getting into rock music."^[17] After In Rock, he went on to buy Black Sabbath's debut, Jethro Tull's Aqualung and Tarkus by Emerson, Lake & Palmer.^[17] Every term, a band would play at the school, the first of whom Dickinson would see was called Wild Turkey, featuring former Jethro Tull bassist Glenn Cornick.^[17] After that, he saw Van der Graaf Generator and Arthur Brown.^[17]

Dickinson initially wanted to play the drums,^[17] later obtaining a pair of bongo drums from the music room and practised.^[18] He remembers playing "Let It Be" with his friend Mike Jordan, during which Dickinson discovered his singing voice while encouraging Jordan to sing the high-notes.^[18] Shortly afterwards, however, Dickinson was expelled from Oundle for urinating in the headmaster's dinner.^[18]

Returning home to Sheffield in 1976, Dickinson enrolled at a local comprehensive school, at which he joined his first band.^[19] He had overheard two other pupils talking about their band and that they needed a singer and so volunteered immediately.^[19] They rehearsed in the drummer's father's garage and the band were impressed by Dickinson's singing, encouraging him to buy his first microphone.^[19] Their first gig took place at the Broadfield Tavern in Sheffield.^[19] Originally called "Paradox," the band changed their name upon Dickinson's suggestion to "Styx", unaware of the American act with the same name.^[20] They made local newspaper headlines when a steel worker was awoken by their performance and tried to smash the band's drumkit.^[21] Soon after, the band split up.^[20]

University[link]

After leaving school with A-levels in English, History and Economics, Dickinson confesses "I didn't really know what I wanted to do."^[20] The first thing he did was join the Territorial Army for six months.^[20] Although he enjoyed his time in the TA, Dickinson realised that "this is not really a career choice" and so he applied for a place to read history at Queen Mary College, in London's East End.^[20] His parents wanted him in the army, but he told them that he wanted to get a degree first; "that was what they wanted to hear, so that was my cover story. Then, when I got down there, I started immediately finding and playing in bands."^[20]

In college, Dickinson got involved in the Entertainments Committee; "one day you'd be a roadie for The Jam, the next you'd be putting up the Stonehenge backdrop for Hawkwind or whatever."^[22] In 1977, Dickinson met Paul "Noddy" White, a multi-instrumentalist who owned a PA and other equipment, with whom Dickinson, along with drummer Steve Jones, would form a band together called "Speed."^[22] Dickinson explains, "It had nothing to do with taking speed, we were a completely drug-free band. We just used to play everything ridiculously fast!"^[22] In Speed, Dickinson began writing his own material; "I got Noddy to give me a few guitar lessons and I just started writing stuff straight away. He showed me three chords and I'd write stuff just from those three chords."^[22]

Although Speed would play several gigs at the Green Man pub in Plumstead, the band did not last long, but it encouraged Dickinson to continue to work to be a musician.^[22] Dickinson spotted an advertisement in Melody Maker with the caption "Singer wanted for recording project" and replied immediately.^[22] He "wailed and wolfed and hollered and just made noises" onto a tape and sent it with a note which read; "By the way, if you think the singing's crap, there's some John Cleese stuff recorded on the other side you might find amusing."^[22] They liked what they heard and invited Dickinson down to the studio to make "Dracula," the first song he would ever record, with a band called "Shots,"^[22] formed by two brothers, Phil and Doug Siviter.^[23] The song would later appear on the second disc of The Best of Bruce Dickinson compilation. The brothers were impressed with Dickinson's vocal abilities and asked him what music he liked; "I started saying 'Ian Gillan, Ian Anderson, Arthur Brown,' and Doug goes, 'That's it! Fucking Arthur Brown, man! Sometimes your voice is a dead ringer for Arthur!' He said, 'We've got to form a band.' I was, like, 'Bloody hell,' you know? 'This guy's got a studio and he wants to form a band with me.' I was like 'Yes!'"^[24]

Dickinson played pubs with Shots on a regular basis "to about five people."^[24] One particular night, Dickinson suddenly stopped in the middle of a song and started interviewing a man in the audience, heckling for not paying enough attention.^[24] He got such a good response he started doing it every night until it became a regular routine; "suddenly everybody was paying attention, 'cause they might be next! The first time I did it, afterwards the landlord of the pub was, like, 'Fucking great show, lads! See you next week!' So we started sort of building this bit into the show. And that was when I first started to get the hang of not just being a singer but being a frontman, too."^[24]

The next step in Dickinson's career was taken in a pub called the Prince of Wales in Gravesend, Kent, where Shots were playing regularly, when Barry Graham ("Thunderstick") and Paul Samson paid a visit.^[25] Impressed with his stage-act, they talked with Dickinson afterwards, about which he recalls, "Paul Samson gave me his number and basically said, 'Listen, we've got an album out, we've got a record deal, but we need a new singer and we'd like you to be it.'"^[26] Dickinson agreed to join their band, Samson, but only once he'd finished taking his History finals two weeks later.^[26] Until that point, he had been neglecting his University education, having "done absolutely fuck all work, got pissed, got laid and just generally had a pretty good time."^[26] As a result, the University had tried to kick him out for failing his Second Year exams and not paying his accommodation fees, but was saved because of his role as Entertainments Officer.^[26] After writing 6 months worth of essays in the space of two weeks and some last minute cramming for his exams, Dickinson achieved a 2:2, "which is what everybody else got anyway."^[26]

Samson: 1979—1981[link]

"In my naïvety, I thought people who were in rock 'n' roll bands were great artists, and it was a huge shock to the system to realise that they weren't, that they didn't even aspire to be, really. Some of them did, maybe, but some of them, like Samson, were very frightened of the idea."

—Bruce Dickinson.^[27]

After meeting Paul Samson and Barry Purkis at the Prince of Wales, and while still undertaking his final university exams, Dickinson joined Samson onstage at Bishop's Stortford to perform one of their songs, "Rock Me Baby", cementing his role as their new lead vocalist.^[28][29]

The band had already released their debut album, Survivors, in 1979 on an independent label, two months before Dickinson joined.^[26] Immediately following the completion of his University work, he met up with the band at Greenwich's Wood Wharf studios to learn the Survivors album.^[30] Although the tracks did not suit Bruce's vocal style,^[31] the band soon wrote the majority of the following Head On album in their earliest rehearsal sessions,^[32] some of which were immediately incorporated into their live set.^[31]

It was during these early rehearsals that the nickname "Bruce Bruce" came about, derived from Monty Python's Bruces sketch.^[32] The name became very tiresome as the band's management continually wrote dud cheques, made payable to "Bruce Bruce", as a joke.^[33] Dickinson later commented "it just stuck. I mean, I wasn't entirely happy with it, but it was, like, 'Oh well, OK. It's a sort of stage name, isn't it?'"^[33]

Dickinson was shocked after finding out that not all rock performers were "great artists," as some, such as Samson, only wanted "to have a good drink, a good shag, and take some drugs," which he found "really, really difficult to relate to."^[27] Although he had smoked joints before,^[27] Dickinson discovered that it was impossible to communicate with other band members if he was sober.^[33] He deemed it, "the price that had to be paid", believing it to be "just another step towards my goal of just wanting to be a singer in a rock n' roll band."^[33]

While fronting the band, Dickinson also came across Iron Maiden for the first time, who were supporting Samson at the Music Machine in 1980.^[34] As Dickinson recalls; "I was watching them, and they were good, really fucking good, and at that moment, I remember thinking, 'I wanna fucking sing for that band. In fact, I'm going to sing for that band! I know I'm going to sing for that band!' ... I just thought, 'This is really me. Not Samson.'"^[34]

Dickinson remained in the band for another year, recording two studio albums with them - Head On and Shock Tactics.^[33] However, Samson soon ran into difficulties with their record label, Gem, who went out of business and failed to finance their European tour in support of Iron Maiden.^[35] The band was turned over to RCA, "who did not give a shit about this unknown band from England," Dickinson explains, and so the band promptly fired their management team and the resulting injunction meant that their equipment was reclaimed and they could not be paid for their concert performances.^[35] The band's last gig was at Reading Festival, after which Bruce was approached by Iron Maiden's manager, Rod Smallwood, who asked him to audition to be their new lead vocalist, about which Dickinson recounts; "It wasn't like, 'We want you to do the job.' It was more like, 'We'd like to offer you the chance of an audition.' ... I remember being very self-confident at the time, though, and saying, 'But when I do it, I'll get the job, so let's talk about what's gonna happen when I get the job.'"^[36]

Iron Maiden[link]

Beginnings and success: 1981—1985[link]

"Maiden worked to a time table. A table that wasn't absolute but it had to be stuck to. "Now you'll write for six weeks, now you'll make a record for three months, now you're rehearsing for two weeks, now you'll tour for eight months." It was organised like that and that seemed to suit the style of writing of the band."

— Bruce Dickinson at Gino, Stockholm.^[37]

Bruce Dickinson, left, performing on his first world tour with Iron Maiden in 1982

Dickinson went to audition for Iron Maiden at a rehearsal room in Hackney in September 1981, about which he describes, "As soon as I walked in, I knew this was something entirely different from anything I'd known up till then ... They had proper, professional roadies; they had a proper monitor system; they had cars laid on. They had everything! I thought, 'Right, there'll be no smoking dope in the back of the tour bus any more, then.'"^[38] In the practice rooms, the band played through "Prowler", "Sanctuary", "Running Free" and "Remember Tomorrow", before asking Dickinson to sing the same songs again in a recording studio, and "that was it. We all went out and got roaring pissed and I was in Iron Maiden."^[38]

Iron Maiden had a strict and organised routine that suited the band's writing style, which Dickinson described as a "time table".^[37] After a few gigs, they began writing new material for their third album, The Number of the Beast, released in 1982. In the wake of Samson's contractual problems, Dickinson could not legally be credited on any of the record's songs,^[39] having to make, what he called, a "moral contribution", later revealing that he had contributed limited creative input to "The Prisoner", "Children of the Damned" and "Run to the Hills."^[40] The album was a major success, topping the UK charts,^[41] and the band embarked on a supporting tour around the globe.

On the following albums, 1983's Piece of Mind and 1984's Powerslave, Steve Harris's song-writing monopoly was pushed aside in favour of other members' ideas, with Dickinson contributing to a number of tracks, including the singles "Flight of Icarus" and "2 Minutes to Midnight".^[42] Throughout the World Slavery Tour, as part of the new theatrical elements incorporated into the band's stage-show, Dickinson wore a feathered mask during "Powerslave".^[43] This was the band's longest tour to date, during which Harris and Dickinson considered going home mid-tour, due to the high number of shows.^[44] Iron Maiden's management were continually adding dates, until Dickinson demanded that they stop "or I was gonna jack it in. I guess it was the first time I really thought about leaving. I don't just mean Iron Maiden, I mean quitting music altogether. I really felt like I was pretty much basket-case material by the end of that tour, and I did not want to feel that way. I just thought, 'Nothing is worth feeling like this for.' I began to feel like I was a piece of machinery, like I was part of the lighting rig."^[45]

Growing tensions and departure: 1986—1993[link]

After a six-month break, which Dickinson mostly spent practising fencing,^[46] Iron Maiden began writing their next album, Somewhere in Time, but Dickinson was unhappy with its synthesised bass and guitars and the progressive rock-influenced style.^[47] He has no writing credits on the release, as his material, based on his own suggestion that they should "make a more acoustic based album," was rejected by the rest of the band.^[48] As Dickinson explains; "If I'd had my way, the album would have sounded very different. Powerslave, for me, felt like the sort of natural rounding off of Piece of Mind and Number of the Beast ... I felt we had to come up with our Physical Graffiti or our Led Zeppelin IV ... It wasn't so much that it had to be acoustic; I just felt that we should be leading and not following ... the time was right for us to do something audacious, something vast and daring, and I didn't feel that we did that with Somewhere in Time. We just made another Iron Maiden album."^[48] Steve Harris, on the other hand, stated, "I just thought he'd lost the plot completely. Bruce just wasn't himself at the time. We didn't realise it at first, but he was probably more burnt out than anyone at the end of the last tour ... he just couldn't seem to get himself together with any of the writing or anything ... It wasn't 'cause it was acoustic, necessarily, or even that it was very different sort of stuff; it was just that we didn't think it was good enough, really. And I could see he would feel bad that his songs were rejected, but he seemed to accept it quite readily at the time."^[49]