To promote his newly released autobiography, “What Does This Button Do?”, Bruce Dickinson has held events where he reads excerpts from the book, shows pictures and chat with fans, who ask him about various subjects. And at one of these events, held on 8 September at the DR Koncerthuset in Copenhagen, Denmark, the Iron Maiden vocalist was asked about his connection with Jon Lord, the late keyboardist for Deep Purple.
Read what he said:
“Jon Lord was a true gentleman, and we were close friends, and he unfortunately died of … he had pancreatic cancer, but he survived for a year and a half – going against what they all said. On the accounts, he didn’t die of the cancer, but unfortunately lost his life thanks to a terrible blood collapse probably caused by the treatment.
We had all sorts of crazy designs, including the idea that I’d go on tour with him, singing Deep Purple songs with an orchestra he was planning to perform; it was one of the things we thought about. But everything was interrupted and canceled, something obviously very sad. He was a fantastic guy. ”
Life and Career
Paul Bruce Dickinson (born 7 August 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, airline pilot, entrepreneur, author and broadcaster. He is the lead singer of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden and is renowned for his wide-ranging operatic vocal style and energetic stage presence.
Born in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, Dickinson began his career in music fronting small pub bands in the 1970s while attending school in Sheffield and university in London. In 1979, he joined the new wave of British heavy metal band Samson, with whom he gained some popularity under the stage name “Bruce Bruce” and performed on two studio records.
He left Samson in 1981 to join Iron Maiden, replacing Paul Di’Anno, and debuted on their 1982 album The Number of the Beast. During his first tenure in the band, they issued a series of US and UK platinum and gold albums in the 1980s.