With his powerful vocals, Ian Gillan was one of the foundations of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal singing. His incredible vocals in Deep Purple influenced a whole generation of singers, including Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson, who has never hidden the fact that Gillan is his favorite frontman. Over the decades, Gillan has given his opinion on many vocalists who emerged after him, including Dickinson.
What is Ian Gillan’s opinion on Bruce Dickinson
“Bruce Dickinson – what a guy, I knew Bruce in his early days. There are one or two stories that he’d prefer me not to mention, but look at him now. He’s an accomplished pilot, an internationally recognised fencer, a great front man, with a stylised voice that is perfect for Iron Maiden. He’s no Nat King Cole but hey, the man Rocks!” Ian Gillan said answering fan questions on his website.
As the Deep Purple vocalist said, he had the chance to meet Bruce when he was still a young musician and a member of Samson. Dickinson often recalls how he felt when he finally met his biggest hero and was praised by him.“Well, Ian (Gillan) drag me out of the toilet when I was about 20 years-old and I was in Samson. We had just recorded an album ‘Head On’. We recorded that album in his studio. It was before we went out on tour with him, after that, supporting him. He was like my big hero, you know. We were listening back to this album and Ian’s in there.”
He continued:
“I’m like ‘Oh, it’s him!’ We’d been in the pub and we had a few beers. The engineer was rolling this big joint. So he passes the joint around and I smoked this joint and suddenly I felt really sick. Like I was gonna throw up everywhere and Ian is listening to the thing. He goes: ‘Who’s the singer?’ And I’m like (trying not to puke and raising my finger).”
“(Then Ian says): ‘Cool vocals!’ I’m like ‘Thanks!’ (and I go to the toilet). I was so sick that I had my head down this toilet for about 40 minutes, I thought I was going to die. Finally he kicks the door in and I’m in just a disgusting state. There’s my hero looking down at me. I think my ex-wife has it. I kept the towel he gave,” Bruce Dickinson told Gastão Moreira (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage).
Both had the chance to perform on the same song in 1988, when “Smoke on the Water” was re-recorded as part of a humanitarian effort by the British music industry to raise money for people affected by the Armenian earthquake that year. “I had quite a hand in getting Bruce Dickinson involved, Paul Rodgers. Bryan Adams was actually walking around the studio and I said ‘Oi you!’ (laughs) and got him to sing on the harmony.”
Ian Gillan continued:
“I mean, I know Bruce. I didn’t actually got Paul involved, but I was talking to him, to start with, but then gradually came together. So if I had the choice, I would have chosen exactly the same people,” Ian Gillan said in an interview at the time (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage).
Decades later, in 2014, in the tribute concert to celebrate the late Deep Purple keyboardist Jon Lord, they shared the stage singing “Hush”. Twenty three years later, in 2011, Gillan recorded with another Iron Maiden member, drummer Nicko McBrain. Alongside Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi, Jason Newsted, Jon Lord and other guests, they recorded the song “Out of My Mind”. The track was part of a fundraising two-track CD single that served as a direct continuation of the Rock Aid Armenia project.
Bruce was invited to audition for Iron Maiden while waiting to watch a Gillan show
Deep Purple has always been Bruce’s favorite band and he has had the chance to honor them multiple times. He toured with an orchestra performing their music and played with almost all of their current and former members. Curiously, it was while waiting to see his hero perform with his own band, Gillan, in the early 1980s that he was approached by Iron Maiden’s manager, Rod Smallwood. That night he asked if Bruce would like to audition for the band. He is such a big fan of Ian that he chose him as his Rock God in an interview with BBC a few years ago.
One interesting connection between Iron Maiden and Ian Gillan is that guitarist Janick Gers, who became a member of the Heavy Metal band in 1990, had previously been a member of Gillan, Ian’s band in the early 80s. He was part of the albums “Double Trouble” (1981) and “Magic” (1982).
“Janick brought something (of his own) into the band. He was a stunning performer, he looked amazing. People listened to him. The band loved him because he fitted in well. In addition to projecting his own individual image and sound,” Ian Gillan told Classic Rock in 2025.