Becoming a band’s new singer is never easy. But when Bruce Dickinson saw Iron Maiden play, he knew he was the singer they needed
In 1981, Bruce Dickinson became the fourth singer to front Iron Maiden, after Paul Mario Day, Dennis Wilcock and Paul Di’Anno. Prior to joining Maiden, Dickinson spent two years as lead vocalist with Samson, another band that rose from the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal.
I was singing in college bands. It was semi-pro, gigging in pubs. We did a gig at the Prince Of Wales in Gravesend, and that’s when the guys from Samson came along to check me out. When they offered me the job, sometime in 1979, I was doing my last few months in college. I was still doing exams then, my history finals.
Completely! Totally! I didn’t have a home to go to for most of that time. I remember there were plenty of groupies around, but it was a benevolent scene, everybody looked after each other. I slept in a squat in the Isle of Dogs [in London]. That was where Maiden shot the video for [1984 single] 2 Minutes To Midnight. They wanted this grim location for the shoot, and I said: “Hey, I used to live there!”
