After critics such as Alex Skolnick chastised the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for excluding Iron Maiden and other metal bands, lead vocalist Bruce Dickinson spoke with The Telegraph about the issue. He discussed his feelings over not being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as well as the nature of his band’s work in comparison to pop music. When asked about his lack of enthusiasm at the induction, the vocalist stated: “I don’t want to be in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame because we’re still alive.” Metal makes some folks feel almost aggressively threatened. By the nature of the music, no. But it doesn’t fit their perspective of what pop music should be, which is that pop music is disposable, lovely. We don’t make disposable pop music, after all.”
The Air Raid Siren confirmed this issue to The Jerusalem Post after calling the Hall “an utter and complete load of bollocks” during a 2018 speaking tour. He went on to say, claiming that his statements were taken out of context to make him appear furious over his band’s exclusion: “I’m glad we’re not there, and I’d never want to be there.” If we are ever entered, I will reject because they will not have my corpse in there. Rock and roll music has no place in a Cleveland mausoleum. It’s a live, breathing thing, and putting it in a museum makes it dead. It’s not just unpleasant; it’s vulgar.”
The structure of their shows, according to Dickinson, plays a role in Iron Maiden’s long-lasting career. During a recent interview regarding the band’s Future Past Tour, which began in May, he stated that the band opted to try and keep ticket costs cheaper than other bands of their caliber, despite the massive production values. Nodding to why, after five decades, so many young people continue to attend their gigs, the singer justified their decision as follows: “We made a deliberate decision this tour to play multiple indoor shows rather than one big pay-day, outdoors, in a stadium.” Why? The show’s quality has improved. We played a couple of years ago in front of 40,000 people in a stadium down the road. We sold out, which was fantastic. Two nights in the arena are about similar, but the experience is superior.
That’s one of the reasons there are so many small children at the exhibits; we strive to keep things beneath everyone else’s (prices). If a Maiden ticket costs £100, kids will say, ‘I can’t afford that.’ But getting it down to £60 makes a significant impact.” For the first time since its recording in 1986, the band launched their tour in Slovenia by singing ‘Alexander The Great’ live. They have a show in Switzerland coming up in a few days and will continue playing in Europe, with eight arena shows in the UK before flying to North America in September.
