Born in 1958, the legendary Iron Maiden vocalist Bruce Dickinson was still a teenager in the 70s, right when many incredible Hard Rock bands appeared and changed the whole landscape of Rock and Roll music. One of them was obviously Led Zeppelin, a band that influenced him a lot, like most of the musicians from his generation.
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Over the decades he talked about Zeppelin a few times and even revealed which is one of his favorite songs of the band.
The Led Zeppelin song that Bruce Dickinson picked as a favorite
Although he told Metal Hammer in 2016 that he always were a bigger fan of Deep Purple than Led Zeppelin. However, he also loved the band fronted by Robert Plant and he revealed that “Ramble On” was one of his favorite songs of the group.
“I was always a bigger Purple fan than Zeppelin. But I never saw either Zeppelin or Purple when I was a kid, when they were in their heyday. Zeppelin were adopted by American radio big-style. But I’ve got to confess that the thing I loved most about Zeppelin was their English folk roots. Not their copies of American blues tracks. ‘Ramble On’ is one of my favourite Led Zeppelin songs. But that’s just me,” Bruce Dickinson said.
Written by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, “Ramble On” was featured on the band’s second album “Led Zeppelin II” released in 1969. That album had other famous songs like “Whole Lotta Love”, “Thank You”, and “Moby Dick”
He once said that Robert Plant was one of the bases of Heavy Metal singing style
As Dickinson told Metal Rules back in 2000, he believes that Robert Plant, Paul Rodgers and Ian Gillan were the bases for the Heavy Metal singing style. “There are basically 3 bases for the metal style of singing. If you join aspect of these 3 singers, you have everything. These 3 singers are Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin), Ian Gillan (Deep Purple, Black Sabbath) and Paul Rodgers (Free, Bad Company). If you join them in various combinations you have everyone was always talking about well,” Dickinson said.
Bruce curiously had the chance to cover Led Zeppelin when Iron Maiden re-recorded the band’s famous song “Communication Breakdown”. That version was released as the b-side of Maiden’s 1990 single “Bring Your Daughter To the Slaughter”. More than a decade later it was included on the compilation album “Best of The B’ Sides” (2002).
Bruce Dickinson also likes “Led Zeppelin IV”
The Iron Maiden vocalist also loves Zeppelin’s fourth album “Led Zeppelin IV”. He revealed on website of his a BBC Radio show called “Masters Of Rock” back in the 2000s. He listed the 15 essential albums that everyone should listen. One of them was “Led Zeppelin IV” (1971), record that has classic tracks like “Black Dog”, “Rock and Roll”, “Stairway To Heaven” and “Going To California”. The album was produced by the band’s guitarist Jimmy Page and doesn’t have a title on the cover. Only features an old portrait of a man and four symbols chosen by each band member.
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