BRUCE DICKINSON BIOGRAPHY

        Paul Bruce Dickinson (aka 'The Air Raid Siren') was born 7 August, 1958 in Worksop. Bruce, who was mainly raised by his grandparents, showed an early interest in music as a child, listening to the Beatles at the age of five. 

        It wasn't until he went to boarding school when he decided that he wanted to play music, after having heard some of the bands like 'Deep Purple', Arthur Brown, Van Der Graf Generator or the Jethro Tull, which are his major influences to this day. 'I wanted to be Ian Pace's left foot' - he said, because believe it or not, he wanted to become a drummer in the beginning. He even 'borrowed' a pair of congas from school to practice. 

        However, it wasn't too long until he realised that he can actually sing. Very soon (in 1976) he found himself in a band called Styx. They played a couple of gigs in Sheffield, when Bruce, after having spent 6 months in the Territorial Army, moved to London to study History at the Queen Mary College. He then joined a band called 'Speed', which played an incredibly fast music. The band didn't last for too long, even if they had a couple of successful gigs. The next band Bruce joined was 'Shots', a band who advertised in the Melody Maker looking for a singer for their recording project. They played clubs and pubs, and it soon turned out that and not only was he a good singer, but Bruce proved to be a very good frontman as well. 

        Bruce's fate was sealed when Paul Samson saw him play with Shots. A few hours after completing his final exams at University he found himself at the Samson rehearsal room. Samson were quite famous at the time, part of the NWOBHM thing, but never got to be as big as Maiden. Three Samson album featured Bruce as a vocalist and rhythm guitarist, 'Survivors', 'Head On' and 'Shock Tactics'. They played twice at Reading , and the second time they played at Reading was when Bruce's fate was sealed again. Rod Smallwood and Steve Harris went to see the Samson, and especially their singer at the gig. It was the time when Paul Di Anno left Maiden due to health problems and other problems as well. They found him, he got auditioned, he got the job. It was as simple as that. 

        Timing was perfect; at the end of the year 1981 Bruce was the singer of the best heavy metal band on Earth. Bruce is a singer who influenced a lot of other singers, and he's also a great songwriter. With Maiden he did several world tours, played at Donington in 1988 and in 1992 (how about 2000?- just a rhetorical question). 

        Bruce is a man with many side interests (sometimes too many). He is a commercial pilot, he flew the band from gig to gig on the Ed Hunter Tour. He also collects interesting things like hats, trousers, a submarine and a Dalek (from the Dr. Who series). And he is a good writer, too. At the end of the eighties he wrote 'The Adventures Of Lord Iffy Boatrace' and 'The Missionary Position', both are required reading for everyone who can get hold of them, Maiden fan or not. 

        While on the subject of hobbies, Bruce was also a DJ on Radio 1 and later RRN, and he hosted MTV's Headbanger's Ball Twice. 

        Being the only band member who hates football, Bruce is a talented fencer, he won a couple of medals and he was ranked among the 10 best fencers in Britain. 

        In 1990 he came out with his first solo record 'Tattoed Millionaire', the idea of which came about when he and Janick did the soundtrack 'Bring Your Daughter To The Slaughter' for the film 'Nightmare On Elm Street'. It was followed by a solo tour and a concert video titled Dive! Dive! Dive! 

        As everyone knows, in 1993 Bruce decided to leave Iron Maiden in the hope of having more musical freedom and to be able to explore other parts of his personality. 

        He released 'Balls To Picasso' in 1994, his first solo album with the excellent guitarist Roy Z. Then came 'Alive in Studio A' in 1995 which was a semi-bootleg, as Bruce would put it, done for the radio. 

        By 1996 Bruce must have had enough of himself, 'cause he paid a visit at the hairdressers' to get rid of most of his hair, and then he completed a project called 'Skunkworks', which sounded totally different from what people might have expected from him. The album sounded like the grunge albums from Seattle, and Bruce have won a number of new fans with this record. 

        As he desperately tried to get rid of the person who was known as the ex-singer of Iron Maiden, he had to come to the conclusion that he is what he is: a great heavy metal singer with good songwriting ability. In 1997 'Accident Of Birth' came out, another album with Roy, but this time he persuaded Adrian Smith to join the band as Adrian wasn't doing anything at the time. The new album sounded quite Maidenish. As for the album title, it comes from the fact that Bruce wasn't really meant to be, his parents were still teenagers when he was born, and they didn't care too much about him as a child. It must have broken poor Bruce's heart when his mother told him when he was about 35 that he actually was a failed abortion. Ironically enough, Bruce himself was responsible for an 'accident of birth'. In 1990 he got sued by an American girl who claimed that he is the father of her 4-year old daughter, and with the help of a blood test she was able to back up her claim. 

        'The Chemical Wedding' was released in 1998, which Bruce considers to be his best solo studio release so far. It was an album based on the poetry of William Blake and occult, with a heavy sound and incredible songs like 'Jerusalem' or 'Killing Floor'. 

        At the end of 1998 there were already rumours about Blaze leaving the band, and in January 1999 Bruce was asked whether he would come back. He said he would, so now he's back in a better shape as ever. Soon a small world tour took place all over the world (but especially in Europe and America). 

        Bruce will not give up his solo career, either ('I worked damn too hard', he said) He recorded a brilliant concert in Brazil which he released under his own label 'Air Raid Records' under the title 'Scream For Me Brazil' in 1999. He will release an album called 'Catacombs' in the year 2000 which will contain rare and unreleased Bruce solo tracks. 

To be continued… 

        Bruce's name is of Celtic descent and means 'bush'. His real first name, Paul, however means 'small, humble'.