Bruce Dickinson has opened up about his first time playing with Iron Maiden, along with the Paul Di’Anno era song he can no longer sing.
Dickinson spoke to Classic Rock about previously opening for Iron Maiden in 1980 as part of Samson, his former band. The vocalist went ont to replace Di’Anno in 1981 after his drug and alcohol use started to negatively affect his live performances.
Recalling the gig at London venue The Music Machine, Dickinson recounted: “All these Maiden fans turned up, and then immediately Maiden finished and they all fucked off, leaving us to play to a hundred punters!”
“I thought: ‘There’s something going on with this band,” he concluded. “I think they’re going to be big.”
Following Dickinson’s recruitment as their new lead singer on their third studio album, 1982’s ‘The Number Of The Beast’, Iron Maiden exploded in popularity by topping the charts for the first time in their career. And whilst they’ve continued to release several more successful records with him, Dickinson said there’s one Di’Anno era song he would never touch – ‘Remember Tomorrow’.
Dickinson said the the song, that was taken from their 1980 self-titled debut album, and was co-written by Di’Anno and fellow member Steve Harris, truly “belongs” to the former late frontman, who sadly died last year, aged 66.
He went on to say he believed Iron Maiden should never play ‘Remember Tomorrow’ again out of respect for Di’Anno, adding: “If ever Paul owned a song, it’s that one.
“I can sing it and have done. But I think we should leave it with Paul now.”
Iron Maiden’s ‘Run For Your Lives’ tour is due to kick off this May, which will see Dickinson and co. stop by Bratislava, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Birmingham, Manchester, London, and more. He has teased the band will “be doing stuff we’ve never, ever done before”.
You can check all dates here and get your tickets here.
Meanwhile, Iron Maiden have announced an “unrestricted” new documentary film – including Di’Anno’s final interview. The film, which will celebrate 50 years of the band, is due to drop later this year.
Along with appearances from longtime fans and names such as Javier Bardem,
Metallica’s Lars Ulrich and KISS’ Gene Simmons, rare archival footage and all-new animated sequences of the band’s legendary mascot, Eddie, will all be included too.
Elsewhere, Dickinson recently announced a graphic novel made with soil from William Blake’s grave.
