Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson has revealed that he would have accepted it if cancer treatment had permanently changed his singing voice. In a wide-ranging interview with The Charismatic Voice, the legendary vocalist reflected on his chemotherapy and radiotherapy for a tumour at the back of his tongue, which doctors first detected in 2015.
There was a real possibility that the treatment could have altered the powerful vocals that earned him the nickname “the Air-Raid Siren,” perhaps forcing him to stop singing or adapt his style. Dickinson said he had already made peace with that outcome. “I had to face the possibility that I might never sing the way I do now,” he told host Elizabeth Zharoff. “I was comfortable with that. If things were changed forever, you just have to learn a new way you sing differently.” When asked if he could have accepted never singing again, he replied, “Yeah, because if it’s physically impossible to sing the way I used to, there’s nothing you can do about it.”
He admitted the thought triggered a deeper crisis of identity: “I started asking myself, ‘What do I actually do with my life? Am I just a noise generator, or am I a storyteller?’” His conclusion was reassuring: “No matter what, I can always tell stories.”
Fortunately, Dickinson was declared cancer-free in May 2015 and rejoined Iron Maiden soon after. That September, the band released their 16th album The Book of Souls, recorded before his diagnosis, and launched a world tour the following February. Their Run For Your Lives 50th-anniversary tour kicked off in Europe this summer and is set to continue into 2026, with more dates to come.
Alongside Maiden’s work, Dickinson has been revisiting his solo career. In July, he reissued his 1994 album Balls to Picasso now titled More Balls to Picasso and discussed both the project and his early solo years in a new interview with Metal Hammer. Fans can also watch his full two-hour conversation with The Charismatic Voice on YouTube.
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