The singer Paul Di’Anno was the vocalist of the first two Iron Maiden albums “Iron Maiden” (1980) and “Killers” (1981), but in 1981 he was fired from the band and the former Samson vocalist Bruce Dickinson was invited to join the group. It was a turning point in Maiden’s career, since Dickinson’s vocal range changed the band’s sound and made them one of the best-selling bands of all time.
Although many fans imagined that Di’Anno didn’t like Dickinson for taking his place, the musician, who recently had the chance to see Bruce backstage in a show in Croatia, said in an interview with SDTV (Transcribed by Blabbermouth) that they actually don’t hate each other.
Paul Di’Anno says that he and Bruce Dickinson don’t hate each other
“(Our conversation was) private, so I say no more. Everyone thinks that we hated each other, which is bullshit. That’s the press for you. But we’ve known each other, obviously, from when he was in Samson and all that. So, yeah, it’s all good.”
Earlier this year, in an interview with Record Collector, Dickinson talked about Di’Anno. He said:
“The first time I saw Maiden was at what was then the Music Machine in Camden. Samson were headlining because our management had bankrolled the gig and said, ‘We want the top slot,’ although we didn’t really deserve it. That became obvious when Maiden came on, because the whole place was rammed.” “I’d heard rumors about how good they were, and I thought I’d better see them. When they came out, I thought, ‘I’ve never seen Deep Purple, but this is what it must have felt like to see Deep Purple in their prime, rocking up a storm.’”
Bruce Dickinson continued:
“(Paul Di’Anno) he was okay, but he didn’t have a lot of flex to his voice. I thought his voice had come as far as it was going to get. I saw what the rest of the band were capable of straight away, and I remember thinking, ‘Good God, I’d love to front that band.’ And as soon as they finished playing, everybody in the venue left and we were headlining to about three people,” Bruce Dickinson said.
Bruce fronted Iron Maiden from 1981 to 1993, when he decided to leave the group to focus on his solo career. He rejoined the band six years later, in 1999 and never left again.
He never had a problem in performing songs from the Di’Anno era and also from the time Blaze Bayley replaced him in the 90s. The track “Iron Maiden” is especially one he performs frequently with the band.
