IRON MAIDEN To Receive O2 Silver Clef Award

British heavy metal legends IRON MAIDEN will be awarded the prestigious O2 Silver Clef by Nordoff Robbins in recognition of "outstanding contribution to U.K. music." Previous winners include THE ROLLING STONES, David Bowie, Eric Clapton, PINK FLOYD, GENESIS and QUEEN; last year's Silver Clef winner was Jimmy Page. The very first Silver Clef was presented to THE WHO, by Twiggy, on June 29, 1976. In its 40-year history, the Awards have raised more than £8.5 million to fund Nordoff Robbins's groundbreaking work with music therapy.

The announcement was made this evening at the Club Café Royal in London at a party to exclusively name the first winners of this year's awards and to celebrate an iconic 40-year milestone in Nordoff Robbins's charitable history. MAIDEN will be presented with this main award of the evening at the annual star-studded O2 Silver Clef Lunch on July 3 at the Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane.

The band comments: "Nordoff Robbins is an exceptional charity and their dedication to changing people’s lives through music therapy is something we all very much support.

"We're extremely proud to receive the O2 Silver Clef Award and be part of the 40th anniversary event celebrating this wonderful achievement."

For more information about the Nordoff Robbins charity and to read the full press release, click here.

IRON MAIDEN singer Bruce Dickinson recently underwent a seven-week course of chemotherapy and radiology to treat a small cancerous tumor at the back of his tongue.

IRON MAIDEN drummer Nicko McBrain told the 98.7 The Gater radio station in West Palm Beach, Florida earlier in the month about Dickinson's cancer battle: "We were all blown away when we heard the news. But the great thing is [Bruce is] in great hands back home in England, not only with his family, but his oncologists and all the people that are working with him. They were all very positive, as Bruce has been, through the whole thing."

He continued: "Obviously, it's a blow for everybody to hear the news. Last [month], the official announcement was made, after he finished his treatment. And all of that treatment went exceedingly well. And from not having spoken to Bruce for a couple of weeks, but talking to our manager, he was in amazing spirits, considering the brutality of the radiology, and he had three chemo sessions. So it's been pretty hard, as you can imagine. And he's apparently doing very well. He was in the office Wednesday last week, and apparently he went out. He goes down the pub… although he can't taste his beer. He said, 'At least I know it's a Trooper [IRON MAIDEN's official beer]. I've got the bottle in my hand.' [Laughs] I said, 'Does it still work?' 'Oh yeah!' [Laughs]"

McBrain added: "So, just to let everybody know, from what we can gather, he's really in great hands, and he's doing extremely well. So we expect him to have a full recovery in the next couple of months. And then, watch this space, really. We have made an album. The album was ready to go this year… and it still is. When I say 'was,' we were planning on going out and doing some work around the album, which now, we're all just holding on, and once Bruce is up and running, hopefully in the next couple of months, we'll… You never know when this might happen. You just never know, do you? [Laughs]"

IRON MAIDEN has yet to make an official announcement about a new studio album, but the band's members have reportedly been spotted in Paris, France in recent months, along with their longtime producer, Kevin Shirley, who is said to have helmed the new effort.