Iron Maiden claim people are “threatened by heavy metal”
Despite selling over 100million records proving their popularity, Iron Maiden have made the bold claim that people are “threatened by heavy metal” and there is a musical snobbery about the genre.
However, despite their commercial success, they have never played Glastonbury, have been excluded from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and only claimed one Brit in their history. “We don’t give a monkey’s,” Bruce Dickinson told The Telegraph.
He claimed that “the people that get us are not the people that run the music business establishment, whatever that is, because that is largely run by people that can’t make a living doing anything else.”
He explained that the lack of critical acclaim is symptomatic of how the genre is viewed by many. “Some people feel almost actively threatened by metal,” he said.
Adding: “Not by the nature of the music. But by the fact that it doesn’t conform to their worldview of what pop music should be, which is: pop music is disposable, darling. Well: we don’t make disposable pop music.”
However, he claims that there are plenty of new converts keeping them popular. “You can’t sell the number of tickets that we’re selling to only old people – there aren’t enough old people that can be bothered to go out of the house,” he says.
In the midst of their latest world tour, they remain grateful for their swelling support. As Dickinson concludes: : “Every day we do this, Prague, is the best day of our f—ing lives! Well, when you’re 64, 65, 67, you never know if you’re gonna get another day!”
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