Born in 1958 in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, England, Bruce Dickinson had the chance to see many incredible bands emerge in his home country when he was a child and teenager. He grew up influenced by many extraordinary vocalists who would later help him develop his own style.
Over the decades, he gave his opinion on many of them, including the legendary Free and Bad Company frontman Paul Rodgers.
What is Bruce Dickinson’s opinion on Paul Rodgers
Bruce Dickinson is a big fan of Paul Rodgers and his work with Free and Bad Company, having listed him as an influence. “Paul Rodgers. I just thought that Rodgers was just stunning. I didn’t even really try and copy his phrasing because I thought you just can’t. It’s just… he’s just so good,” he told Metal Hammer 2022.
A couple of decades before, he had already said he didn’t have the same kind of voice as Rodgers. “I don’t have the same kind of voice like Paul Rodgers. But I used to look behind the voice of what was going on in guy’s heart and in his head, trying to say: ‘How can I take that part, that feeling and do it like my way,” he told Gastão Moreira on the Brazilian MTV show “Fúria” in 1998.
By the time Bruce started his musical career in 2
Bruce Dickinson said Paul Rodgers is one of the bases of Heavy Metal singing
The Iron Maiden frontman once said that alongside Robert Plant and Ian Gillan, Rodgers was one of the foundations of Heavy Metal singing. “There are basically 3 bases for the metal style of singing. If you join aspects of these 3 singers, you have everything.”
“And these 3 singers are Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin), Ian Gillan (Deep Purple) and Paul Rodgers (Bad Company). If you join them in various combinations you have everyone was always talking about well,” he told Metal Rules in 2000.
In the early days of his career as a singer, when he was still in bands with friends, Bruce used to cover many songs, including Free‘s classic hit “All Right Now”. “My microphone had been snipped off the side of a portable cassette recorder and spliced via Sellotape onto a longer cable and thus into the Vox combo.”
“It sounded truly awful, but the band were light years ahead of anything I had experienced up to then. They had learnt half of the album Argus by Wishbone Ash, plus ‘All Right Now’ by Free and the inevitable ‘Smoke on the Water,’” he said in his book “What Does This Button Do?”.
Iron Maiden guitarist Adrian Smith is also a fan and once met Paul Rodgers during a doctor’s appointment.
Bruce Dickinson’s bandmate in Iron Maiden, the guitarist Adrian Smith, is also a big fan of Paul Rodgers. A couple of years ago, when asked to choose his “Rock God” he mentioned the singer. “Free were probably my favorite band when I was growing up. I loved, and still love, that swaggering ’70s bluesy rock. I met Paul Rodgers once.”
“So I had arranged for my father to see a doctor up in town. He was having a few health problems; this was back in the ’90s. I was late getting to the doctor, as usual, and my dad was in the waiting room. And when I got there, my dad was in conversation with none other than Paul Rodgers.”
“My dad turned to me and said, ‘Oh, Adrian, late as usual. But I’ve been talking to this nice young man here. He reckons he’s a bit of a singer.’ And my dad’s favorite singer was Perry Como, so he had no idea who Paul Rodgers was. And I just thought that was lovely,” he said in an interview with BBC.
Paul Rodgers is 9 years older than Bruce and started his musical career in 1968, first achieving fame as the frontman of Free. The band also had in its original line-up Simon Kirke (Drums), Paul Kossoff (Guitar) and Andy Fraser (Bass). After the group disbanded in 1973, Rodgers and Kirke formed Bad Company, which would also become a very successful group. Later on, besides having a solo career, Paul was part of the supergroup The Firm, which he formed with Jimmy Page. About two decades later he joined Queen as their guest singer, having recorded the album “The Cosmos Rocks” in 2008.
I'm a Brazilian journalist who always loved Classic Rock and Heavy Metal music. That passion inspired me to create Rock and Roll Garage over 6 years ago.
Music has always been a part of my life, helping me through tough times and being a support to celebrate the good ones. When I became a journalist, I knew I wanted to write about my passions.
After graduating in journalism from the Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais, I pursued a postgraduate degree in digital communication at the same institution. The studies and experience in the field helped me improve the website and always bring the best of classic rock to the world!
MTB: 0021377/MG
