History Music / BruceDickinson

Full name: Paul Bruce Dickinson (born 7 August 1958). Dickinson is known as the singer of Music/IronMaiden, yet he's also an airline pilot [[note]] Although due to his age, he has retired from this one[[/note]], fencer, broadcaster, author, director, screenwriter, actor, marketing director, entrepreneur and songwriter. Phew... Has a voice so powerful, he's been nicknamed the "Air Raid Siren".

With the Irons, [[GrowingTheBeard he gained world-level fame]] with the release of Maiden's ''Music/TheNumberOfTheBeast'' in 1982 and the five following albums since then, all of them considered [[TraditionalHeavyMetal heavy metal]] classics. Then Maiden's AudienceAlienatingEra of TheNineties (started with the departure of guitar player Adrian Smith) saw him singing in two more albums before leaving them in order to focus on his solo career.

Said career started with 1990's "Tattooed Millionaire" and this album was followed with Bruce's first solo album since departing from Maiden, 1994's "Balls to Picasso". Then, after the release of the experimental, grunge-sounding "Skunkworks" in 1996, fellow Maiden mate Adrian Smith joined Dickinson's solo band, with him he recorded the acclaimed "Accident of Birth" (1997) and "The Chemical Wedding" (1998) before both Dickinson and Smith rejoined the 'Irons in 2000, where they kept playing since then. He later released another solo album in 2005, "Tyranny of Souls", which, as of 2017, it's still his latest record.

In 2015, he was been diagnosed with tongue cancer and underwent treatment.

Full name: Paul Bruce Dickinson (born 7 August 1958). Dickinson is known as the singer of Music/IronMaiden, yet he's also an airline pilot, fencer, broadcaster, author, director, screenwriter, actor, marketing director, entrepreneur and songwriter. Phew... Has a voice so powerful, he's been nicknamed the "Air Raid Siren".

* MetalBandMascot: The disturbing jester on the cover of ''Accident of Birth'', Edison. As in, "Eddie's son". He has appeared in some material, such as the music video for "The Magician".

* CoolOldGuy: Now that he's well into his 60s, Bruce qualifies among the coolest of the cool.

Not related to ''[[SpellMyNameWithAThe The]]'' [[Series/SaturdayNightLive Bruce Dickinson]], so hold your cowbell jokes.

** In fact, he hosted a Discovery Channel series called ''Flying Heavy Metal'', and was given a chance to fly the Space Shuttle simulator in one of the episodes. He landed it on the first go, and the instructor was impressed, saying "That was great!' Watch it [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98oh0rc0c5k here]].

** In fact, he hosted a Dicovery Channel series called Flying hevy metal, and was given a chance to fly the Space Shuttle simulator in one of the episodes. He landed it on the first go, and the instructor was baffled, saying "That was great!' Watch it [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98oh0rc0c5k here]]

With the Irons, [[GrowingTheBeard he gained world-level fame]] with the release of Maiden's ''Music/TheNumberOfTheBeast'' in 1982 and the five following albums since then, all of them considered [[TraditionalHeavyMetal heavy metal]] classics. Then Maiden's DorkAge of TheNineties (started with the departure of guitar player Adrian Smith) saw him singing in two more albums before leaving them in order to focus on his solo career.

* ClusterFBomb: Swearing is generally not something he goes all out on, but should you hurl things at him (or the band for that matter), abuse the fans or commit unspeakable atrocities, don't be surprised when he belts out one your way. See Berserk Button on this page too.
* CoolOldGuy: Now that he's pushing 60, Bruce qualifies among the coolest of the cool.

* NamesTheSame: Other than their names, "The Alchemist" from Maiden's ''The Final Frontier'' has nothing to do with the track of the same name on ''The Chemical Wedding''. Neither does "The Man of Sorrows", from Maiden's ''The Book of Souls''.
** And his unfinished Wicker man, which has been a source of frustration for him, so that when he suggested that line for Iron Maiden's Wicker Man, and Steve Harris said that should be the title he was like "I don't want to go through that again"

* DarkerAndEdgier: His two late-90's solo albums ''Accident Of Birth'' and ESPECIALLY ''The Chemical Wedding''. After experimenting with styles like grunge and hard rock for his first three solo records, he recruited former fellow Iron Maiden bandmate Adrian Smith for his solo band, and returned to straight-up heavy metal on those two records (as well as ''Tyranny Of Souls''). The results are... dark, even when compared to his work with Iron Maiden. He sings in a more gravely and less operatic style, the lyrical themes are grimmer ("Man of Sorrows" is about the tragic life of Creator/AleisterCrowley), and the guitar sound is more razor-sharp. A few songs on TCW even use downtuned guitars for an extra sheen of darkness. This extends to 2005's ''Tyranny of Souls'', even though Smith wasn't in his solo band anymore (what with both Bruce and him returning to Maiden and staying with the band since then).
** In fact his whole discography feels like a progression of his developing sound, getting more serious, thematic, and darker as time goes on. It starts off as a kind of hard rock with quite superficial lyrics, moves on to more heavy themes, such as Headswitch, Inertia, etc., and culminates in The chemical wedding and A tyranny of souls, which are both quite 'heavy' in terms of themes, and also the music. The King in Crismson intro riffs (from TCW), for example, you could imagine them speaking out something like 'Down down, down down down, down down...' One of the darkest riffs in a heavy metal song...

Said career started with 1990's "Tattooed Millionaire" and this album was followed with Bruce's first solo album since departing from Maiden, 1994's "Balls to Picasso". Then, after the release of the [[NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly experimental]], grunge-sounding "Skunkworks" in 1996, fellow Maiden mate Adrian Smith joined Dickinson's solo band, with him he recorded the acclaimed "Accident of Birth" (1997) and "The Chemical Wedding" (1998) before both Dickinson and Smith rejoined the 'Irons in 2000, where they kept playing since then. He later released another solo album in 2005, "Tyranny of Souls", which, as of 2017, it's still his latest record.

Full name: Paul Bruce Dickinson (born 7 August 1958). He's possibly the biggest example of the {{workaholic}} you'll ever find. Dickinson is known as the singer of Music/IronMaiden, yet he's also an airline pilot, fencer, broadcaster, author, director, screenwriter, actor, marketing director, entrepreneur and songwriter. Phew... Has a voice so powerful, he's been nicknamed the "Air Raid Siren".

Full name: Paul Bruce Dickinson (born 7 August 1958). He's possibly the biggest example of the {{workaholic}} you'll ever find. Dickinson is known as the singer of Music/IronMaiden, yet he's also an [[UniversalDriversLicense airline pilot, fencer, broadcaster, author, director, screenwriter,]] [[TheWorkaholic actor, marketing director, entrepreneur and songwriter]]. Phew... Has a voice so powerful, he's been nicknamed the "Air Raid Siren".

* CatchPhrase: He often shouts to the audience, "[[CheapHeat Scream for me, [insert name of country/city]]]!" when playing live. The best moment of this CatchPhrase is before the appearance of [[{{Mascot}} Eddie]] himself in Maiden's concerts, generally in the Self-Titled Song.

%% * EightiesHair: In TheEighties, natch.

* CarefulWithThatAxe: His scream in Maiden's "The Number of the Beast" was the result of pure frustration at the sound engineer [[EnforcedMethodActing forcing him to redo the opening for hours]], which was [[ThrowItIn thrown in]].
%% * CarpetOfVirility: [[http://bp0.blogger.com/_LXqBXJEfW0A/SITWIndcGjI/AAAAAAAAGuA/eXIQaOueTkA/s1600-h/bruce-dickinson.png This way]].

%% * DownerEnding: "Arc Of Space" from ''Accident Of Birth'' and "The Alchemist" from ''The Chemical Wedding''.

* HonorBeforeReason: When Bruce found out his then-wife had slept with a member of Music/MotleyCrue, he challenged Motley Crue guitarist Mick Mars to a ''fencing duel''. Mars was confused, as he had not, in fact, been the one who slept with Bruce Dickinson's wife. That was bassist Nikki Sixx.
%% * LargeHam

* PintSizedPowerhouse: Bruce is only 5'6" (168 cm) tall, but undoubtably one of the most dynamic frontmen in rock/metal with a powerful voice and stage presence.

With the Irons, [[GrowingTheBeard he gained world-level fame]] with the release of Maiden's Music/TheNumberOfTheBeast in 1982 and the five following albums since then, all of them considered [[TraditionalHeavyMetal heavy metal]] classics. Then Maiden's DorkAge of TheNineties (started with the departure of guitar player Adrian Smith) saw him singing in two more albums before leaving them in order to focus on his solo career.

* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: His solo music is a bit more scattered in terms of hardness than his music with Iron Maiden. His harder songs are usually a 7, with songs like "Freak" bordering on 8. However, he also has quite a few softer and more ballad-like songs, which usually range from 2 to 4.