After joining Iron Maiden in 1981 and recording “The Number of the Beast”, Bruce Dickinson became one of the most influential Heavy Metal singers of the following decades. During his career, he had the chance to see many incredible vocalists in some of his favorite bands and there are two quite underrated singers he is a big fan of.
2 underrated Metal singers Bruce Dickinson is a fan of
Graham Bonnet (Rainbow, MSG, Alcatrazz and more)
Although Bruce is a big fan of Rainbow’s early era with Ronnie James Dio, one of his biggest heroes, he also loves the album “Down to Earth” (1979), which features the British singer Graham Bonnet, who only recorded that album with Ritchie Blackmore’s band. “I loved Graham Bonnet on ‘Down to Earth’. I mean, ‘Eyes of The World’ is one of my favorite Rainbow songs. ‘Lost In Hollywood’, ‘Eyes of The World’, I mean. ‘Since You Been Gone’ hum… yeah okay (doesn’t like that much). But ‘Eyes of The World’ to me it’s just fantastic, you know,” Bruce Dickinson said in an interview with Qobuz in 2024 (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage)
“Last night (2024 at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles), Beth-Ami, Conrado, Levi (Beth-Ami’s son) and I attended the Iron Maiden “Future Past” show at the Kia Forum. It was an almost indescribable event. From the moment we arrived and picked up our tickets and passes and were ushered into the Forum Club, it was perfection. We arrived early enough to see friends, have a nice dinner and then it was time for the show. I’m always thrown when UFO’s Doctor, Doctor comes on. I sang that with the Michael Schenker Fest and it takes a minute to register. I even asked Beth-Ami “what is this song, it sounds so familiar. ”
Bruce Dickinson continued:
“Then Maiden hit the stage and it was like a gut punch (in a good way). The band is on fire from the first note, delivering a blistering performance from start to finish. Bruce is the consummate frontman with his almost thespian like physical performance all while belting out hit after hit. I was so impressed with the entire band. After the show, we headed back to the Forum Club for a quick visit with Bruce and his lovely wife Leana.”
“They both were so hospitable and engaging, we didn’t want to leave but there were loads of guests. So we grabbed a few photos and then we were on our way. On the way home, we all talked about what a stupendous show it was. I can’t even believe that they are going to do the show again tonight. The amount of energy that they expend nightly is unfathomable. I want to express my gratitude to Bruce, Leana and all the Iron Maiden gang for giving us this unforgettable night. Thank you all,” Graham Bonnet said. Besides being Rainbow’s frontman from 1979 to 1980, Graham Bonnet also fronted Alcatrazz, Michael Schenker Group and Impellitteri.
Geoff Tate (Queensrÿche)
Another underrated Metal singer praised by Dickinson is Geoff Tate, who achieved fame as the vocalist of Queensrÿche. He, Dio and Rob Halford discussed forming a Metal trio in the 2000s called The Three Tremors, inspired by the classical music group featuring Luciano Pavarotti, “The Three Tenors”. After Dio passed away, he and Rob considered inviting Geoff Tate to bring the project to life, but that ended up not happening. His favorite Tate work is the classic Queensrÿche album “Operation: Mindcrime”, released in 1988.
“Queensrÿche ‘Operation: Mindcrime’ (Mimics Geoff Tate’s vocals). For me, this was one of those records that is like unique. Other people have tried to do similar things but ‘Mindcrime’ is like, just perfect, so intelligent. The weird thing is, the guitar player, who wrote pretty much most of that record, I think he did one more album and then he just left and disappeared. He actually became a commercial pilot. So there you go (laughs)” Bruce Dickinson told Qobuz in 2024 (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage).
Curiously, the song “Shadow of the Gods”, released by Bruce on his solo album “The Mandrake Project” (2024), was originally intended to be recorded with Geoff Tate. “‘Shadow Of The Gods’ was written at the time of ‘Tyranny of Souls’ or shortly afterwards. Because Roy (‘Z’ Ramirez) and I were… There was an idea to do a project called The Three Tremors. (It) was gonna be me, Rob Halford and Ronnie James Dio doing an album together and then going out on tour.”
Bruce Dickinson continued:
“Well, that never happened ’cause Ronnie, unfortunately, passed away. The idea was maybe to get Geoff Tate involved and that kind of didn’t work out. But in the meantime, we were busy trying to write songs that would feature three singers. When the project didn’t happen, we’d done two of them. One of them was ‘Tyranny Of Souls’. If you notice, the opening lines to ‘Tyranny Of Souls’ is the ‘three witches’ speech from ‘Macbeth’,” he told Wall of Sound in 2024.
Geoff Tate was a member of Queensrÿche from 1982 until 2012, when he was fired. The band is still active and recording but had several line-up changes over the years. The only two remaining original members are Michael Wilton (Guitar) and Eddie Jackson (Bass).
After a lawsuit in the early 2010s, the group and Tate reached a settlement. The singer sold his share of the rights of the name Queensrÿche to them. But the agreement also said Geoff would be the only one allowed to perform two albums entirely. They were: “Operation: Mindcrime” 1 and 2.