Fronting Iron Maiden, Bruce Dickinson became one of the most influential vocalists in the history of Heavy Metal. Over the decades, the band’s sound has evolved and the members’ love for Progressive Rock, especially that of Steve Harris and Bruce, has become more evident in their later albums.
Dickinson is a big fan of many British Prog bands and has already praised two singers from that style, saying he is a big admirer of their work.
The 2 Progressive Rock singers Bruce Dickinson said he is a fan of
Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull)
Jethro Tull is one of the Progressive Rock bands that both Bruce Dickinson and Steve Harris share an equal passion for. “Steve (Harris), for example, is a big fan of Jethro Tull. I’m also a big fan of Jethro Tull. He loves ‘A Passion Play’ and ‘Thick As A Brick’. I’m more ‘Aqualung’ and the early stuff,” Bruce told Eddie Trunk in 2021.
His favorite album by the band is “Aqualung”, which, in his opinion, shows what a great storyteller Anderson is. “Ian Anderson, ‘Aqualung’ was a big go to (album). What a great record, great lyrics. All those lyrics, he was a great storyteller with his lyrics. He had a kind of a Folk tradition thing going on in the background. Folk songs tell stories, they’re the original Rock and Roll storytelling,” Bruce Dickinson said in an interview with Loudwire in 2024 (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage).
The Iron Maiden frontman has described “Aqualung” (1971) as Tull’s “most perfect album” and recalled that the title track was, interestingly, written by Anderson and his then-wife, Jennie Franks. To this day, it remains their best-selling record and features several other well-known songs, such as “Cross-Eyed Mary”, which was covered by Maiden in the 1980s.
Bruce played with Ian Anderson
Bruce Dickinson had the chance to meet and perform with Ian Anderson in 2011, when the Jethro Tull leader invited him to perform at Canterbury Cathedral. During the show, they played a version of Maiden’s “Revelations”, Bruce’s “Jerusalem”, and Jethro Tull’s “Locomotive Breath”. “At one occasion Bruce was a guest of mine at Canterbury Cathedral’s performance I did in 2011.”
“He is a great person to work with, very professional, very straightforward. Easy going guy, we learnt his couple of songs and he sang on one of ours.” Ian Anderson told The Metal Voice in 2021.
Interestingly, as of 2026, although Maiden and Tull are two of the most influential bands of all time, they have not yet been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Peter Hammill (Van Der Graaf Generator)
Van Der Graaf Generator vocalist and songwriter Peter Hammill is another important Progressive Rock artist who inspired Dickinson a lot. “It would sound really f*cking heavy… I mean, can you imagine “A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers” done by a real prog metal band, it’d be amazing. (…) Peter Hammill was one of my childhood lyrical heroes. It’s such a shame (They are not that well known) cause they had so much more to them, I think, than Genesis. They were a bunch of pansies compared to Van Der Graaf, really,” Bruce Dickinson said in an interview with Henrik Johansson in 1998.
During another conversation with Henrik, the singer said he preferred to listen to bands like Van der Graaf Generator rather than Pantera, for example. “I love Van Der Graaf cause they were a band that were on the edge. Although they had quite complex arrangements, they made some great sounds. They were an incredibly depressing band, that’s why I loved it, because it was so out there.”
He continued:
“You put Van Der Graaf on and you could clear an entire room of people and I loved it. I love music like that. It’s the same thing with other bands like Magma, these weird jazz rock bands. Arthur Brown too. There’s moments of real genius in full clusters in various bits of their music, and I’m into those. I’m not into this “Vulgar Display of Power” (Pantera), to quote a famous band. The first time you see it, it may be cool, but the second time, it’s just boring,” he said.
Formed in Manchester, England in 1967 (the same year as Jethro Tull), Van der Graaf Generator was active until 1972, reunited from 1975 to 1978, and has been active again since 2005. As of 2026, they have released 13 studio albums, the most recent being “Do Not Disturb” (2016). In his solo career, Hammill was far more prolific, releasing 41 studio albums. Although they were never as commercially successful as bands like Tull, Genesis, and Pink Floyd, they developed a strong cult following.
Bruce continues to be a fan of the band and even included a nod to them in “Face in the Mirror”, a song from his most recent album “The Mandrake Project” (2024). When asked if the phrase “There’s a house with no door” was a reference to them, he said: “Yes, oh my god! You spotted that! (he laughs aloud). You spotted that, “There’s a house with no door.” Absolutely that’s a nod to Van der Graaf. Very good, very good! Class act, man! Very good!” he told Rock and Roll Globe.