Bruce Dickinson is a heavy metal singer, whose career has spanned more than three decades. In early 1989, during his first tenure in Iron Maiden, Zomba asked Dickinson to contribute a track for the film ,[1] providing a budget, a studio, and a producer, Chris Tsangarides. Dickinson took up the opportunity and called an old friend of his, former Gillan guitarist Janick Gers.[2] Shortly after meeting, they had "Bring Your Daughter to the Slaughter" ready for the studio, which was recorded with the assistance of bassist Andy Carr and drummer Fabio del Rio.[3] Impressed with the results, Zomba convinced Dickinson to record a full album using the same line-up, leading to 1990's Tattooed Millionaire.[4] A supporting tour followed, for which an unavailable Del Rio was replaced by drummer Dickie Fliszar.[5]
To concentrate on his second solo effort, Balls to Picasso, Dickinson left Iron Maiden in 1993 and collaborated with American producer, Keith Olsen.[6] Two attempts at recording the album were made with Olsen as producer, using drummer Dickie Fliszar and guitarist Myke Gray of Skin, bassist Jim Crichton of Saga and various session musicians. Unhappy with the results of these sessions, Dickinson began working with Tribe of Gypsies guitarist Roy Z[7] and started the record from scratch.[8] Released in 1994, the album was recorded with Tribe of Gypsies as the backing band,[9] which then included Z, bassist Eddie Casillas and drummer Dave Ingraham (percussionist Mario Aguilar and vocalist Dean Ortega also guested on the song "Shoot All the Clowns"), in addition to percussionist Doug Van Booven, while Fliszar's drum parts from the Olsen sessions were retained for the closing track, "Tears of the Dragon".[10] Due to Tribe of Gypsies unavailability, Dickinson had to put a new band together for the release's supporting tour.[11] This group featured guitarist and writer Alex Dickson, bassist Chris Dale and drummer Alessandro Elena.[12] [9] Following the tour, during which the 1995 live album Alive in Studio A was recorded, Dickinson decided to use the band on his third solo release, 1996's Skunkworks.[13] Although Dickinson wanted Skunkworks to be the band's name, the record label (Raw Power) refused to release the album without his name on the cover.[14] [15]
Due to musical differences, the Skunkworks line-up disbanded at the supporting tour's conclusion.[16] After a short period of inactivity, Dickinson once again teamed up with Roy Z to record his next album, 1997's Accident of Birth,[17] which also featured Balls to Picasso contributors and Tribe of Gypsies members Eddie Casillas and Dave Ingraham.[18] Former Iron Maiden guitarist Adrian Smith was asked to guest but remained as a full-time member.[19] [20] The line-up stayed intact for a further studio album, 1998's The Chemical Wedding,[21] before Dickinson and Smith rejoined Iron Maiden in 1999.[22] Although Z was unable to take part in The Chemical Weddings supporting tour (his replacement was guitar technician Richard Carette),[23] he did take part in the 1999 live album, Scream for Me Brazil.[24]
In 2001, the compilation album, The Best of Bruce Dickinson, was released,[25] which featured two new tracks recorded with drummer Dickie Fliszar and Roy Z on all other instruments.[26] In the summer of 2002, while Iron Maiden were taking a break from touring, Dickinson decided to play a series of European festival shows.[27] For these performances, Dickinson formed a band featuring Skunkworks collaborators Alex Dickson and Chris Dale (who had formed their own group, Sack Trick), drummer Robin Guy and guitarist Pete Friesen.[27] For his latest album, 2005's Tyranny of Souls, Dickinson once again teamed up with Roy Z.[28] The composition of the release's songs began in 2003,[29] which largely involved Z sending recordings of riffs to Dickinson while he was on tour with Iron Maiden.[28] For the album's recording, the drums and keyboards were performed respectively by David Moreno and Giuseppe Iampieri (credited as "Maestro Mistheria"),[30] while the bass parts were contributed by Ray Burke, Juan Perez and Roy Z, who also undertook all the guitar work.[31] [32]
Dickinson played his first solo show in 22 years at the Whisky A Go Go on 12 April 2024, the line-up included guitarists Chris Declercq and Philip Naslund, bassist Tanya O'Callaghan, drummer Dave Moreno and keyboardist Mistheria.[33] Long-time guitarist Roy Z was absent due to personal issues.[34]
| Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bruce Dickinson | 1989–present | all releases | ||
| Maestro Mistheria | 2024–present | |||
| Dave Moreno | ||||
| Chris Declercq | 2024–present | The Mandrake Project (2024) | ||
| Philip Naslund | none to date | |||
| Tanya O'Callaghan |
| Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Janick Gers | 1989–1990 | guitars | |||
| Andy Carr | bass | ||||
| Fabio del Rio | drums | Tattooed Millionaire (1990) | |||
| Dickie Fliszar | |||||
| Roy Z | |||||
| Eddie Casillas | bass | ||||
| David Ingraham | drums | ||||
| Alex Dickson | 1995–1996 | guitars | |||
| Chris Dale | bass | ||||
| Alessandro Elena | drums | ||||
| Adrian Smith | 1996–1999 | all releases from Accident of Birth (1997) to Scream for Me Brazil (1999 live) |
| Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Myke Gray | 1993 | guitars | Balls to Picasso (2005 reissue bonus tracks) | |
| Jim Crichton | bass | |||
| Richard Baker |
| |||
| Doug Van Booven | 1993–1994 | percussion | Balls to Picasso (1994) | |
| Mario Aguilar | "Shoot All the Clowns" (1994 single) | |||
| Dean Ortega | backing vocals | |||
| Greg Schultz | 1998 | keyboards | The Chemical Wedding (1998) | |
| Juan Perez | 2005 | bass | Tyranny of Souls (2005) | |
| Ray Burke |
| Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richard Carette | 1998–1999 | guitars | Roy Z's guitar technician briefly replaced him when he was unavailable for The Chemical Wedding tour. | |
| Pete Friesen | 2002 | Friesen and Guy played with Dickinson at European festivals in 2002. | ||
| Robin Guy | drums |
. Mick Wall. Iron Maiden: Run to the Hills, the Authorised Biography. third. Sanctuary Publishing. 2004. 1-86074-542-3. 281.
. Mick Wall. Iron Maiden: Run to the Hills, the Authorised Biography. third. Sanctuary Publishing. 2004. 1-86074-542-3. 293.
. Mick Wall. Iron Maiden: Run to the Hills, the Authorised Biography. third. Sanctuary Publishing. 2004. 1-86074-542-3. 328.