Photo: AFP
Iron Maiden are celebrating their 50th anniversary as a band, and while some veteran acts opt for bolstering their sound with backing tracks, you won't hear that at a Maiden show. And if you ever do, it'll be with a singer other than Bruce Dickinson.
The vocalist spoke about his distaste for backing tracks in a new interview with Classic Rock, declaring that the day the band uses them during live shows is "the day I quit. “Or the day we stop."
"If it’s not real, it’s not Maiden," he said. "The idea that you can turn it into the Disneyland Maiden, by using backing tracks, a few tricks…. No! Maiden has to be one hundred per cent real — and f**king fierce!”
Even though they've been playing for decades, Dickinson feels like he's just now appreciating what they do. “I think Maiden is a power for good in the world. It really is," he noted. "You see that every night in the audience. And ironically, we’re now getting to enjoy it as well, whereas in the early days we were so caught up in it that it never occurred to us to go: ‘It’s great.’ Now, I appreciate how fantastic it is. So I’m constantly grateful at sixty-six to be able to still do it.”
Iron Maiden set out on their "Run For Your Lives" world tour in May. As of now, the only dates are in Europe, but it's expected to run into 2026.