Bruce Dickinson on the influence of Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin
Read More
Credit: Alamy
The pertinent advice Bruce Dickinson gave Dave Mustaine
Bruce Dickinson and Dave Mustaine are two of metal’s definitive titans, and in addition to helping the proliferation of the genre, they’re also two of the most outspoken figures in music, colourful characters who aren’t afraid to speak their mind, inviting a whole host of different controversies across their careers.
The former is the longtime frontman of British legends Iron Maiden, and his contributions to the band, in terms of transforming them from the raw potential of their early days to a refined behemoth, due to his stage presence and otherworldy style of vocal delivery, helped to cement their place in pop culture legend, and change the direction of metal forever.
As for Mustaine, he’s a titan of thrash. He’s one of the founding fathers of the genre and was there in the early days of Metallica after responding to an advert in a magazine by drummer Lars Ulrich. However, he was ejected from the band in 1983, with the other members citing his drug and alcohol abuse and violent behaviour as the grounds. Totally “pissed off”, Mustaine went on to form Megadeth, who would become one of the ‘Big Four’ of thrash alongside Metallica, Anthrax and Slayer.
The connection between Dickinson and Mustaine goes far deeper than their status as metal legends, with the Megadeth mastermind reaching out to the Iron Maiden frontman for some advice following his cancer diagnosis in 2019.
In a 2020 interview with Forbes, Mustaine revealed that the chat between the pair happened shortly after he was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2019, as Dickinson was previously diagnosed with cancer in 2015. In January 2020, Mustaine announced at a Megadeth show that he was cancer free, and the advice he recieved from Dickinson remains some of the most powerful he ever recieved.
“It’s not like I have a whole Rolodex of rock friends that sing heavy metal music that have throat cancer,” Mustaine said, “so my choices were limited.” Mustaine then explained how he was “pretty proud” of Dickinson after they spoke, considering all he had been through.
“I consider [Bruce] to be someone I look up to,” he continued. “He basically told me… surround yourself with good, upbeat, positive people, places and things and try not to cause any unnecessary stress on yourself.”
“He’s always been super kind to me and very, I don’t want to say ‘gentlemanly’, because I don’t want anyone to think that he’s not a bad motherfucker!”, Mustaine added in his typically wicked sense of humour.
The former Metallica guitarist then returned to the gravity of his situation, maintaining that he wasn’t “glib” about it, and was focusing on his recovery. “I listened to the doctors, prayed a lot, took care of myself and had a great support group,” he concluded.
