BLAZE BAYLEY: 'I'm Living My Dream. I Am A Full-Time, Professional Heavy Metal Singer.'

In a new interview with Metalheads Forever, former IRON MAIDEN singer Blaze Bayley spoke about the inspiration for his solo song "Pull Yourself Up", which appears on his 2021 album "War Within Me". He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I had a motorcycle accident, and the guy doing the physio said, 'You'll probably never walk without a limp.' And I just thought, 'You don't know me.' And that's in the first part. And then the next part, it's… I had some terrible reviews as a young man. 'Oh, sorry, Blaze, you just can't sing,' which was terrible. And somebody said to me, 'You're never gonna make it. Just give up. Why do you even bother?' And this was before I had a record deal or anything like that. 'Oh, you're just not a natural singer. It's never gonna happen.' And I love to sing. Ronnie James Dio is the main inspiration, but there are a lot of other great singers. And so that's where it says [in the song], 'They said I could not sing.' But here I am. It doesn't matter anyway if I couldn't sing. It does not matter. It doesn't matter, because if you've got a dream… The last thing I'm gonna do, if somebody's trying to be a singer, I'm not gonna go up to that person and say, 'Oh, well, you don't sound very good. Why did you give up?' I'm gonna say, 'Hey, have you tried this for your breathing? Have you thought about doing this? Have you thought about this? Well, good luck with your music.' Because that's what I needed when I started with WOLFSBANE. And that's what I dreamed of."

He continued: "But the thing is, with all of the things that they said, I'm living my dream. I am a full-time, professional heavy metal singer. And there are thousands of people who would love to be a professional musician. They would love to wake up in the morning and have my day where it's, 'Oh, I've gotta write some lyrics. I've gotta listen to this album. I've gotta make sure this mix is okay. I've gotta check out what I'm doing for this video.' That's a wonderful, wonderful day that thousands of people would like to have. If they'd been a musician in an orchestra or a heavy metal musician or in a pop band, thousands of people, man, would love to make a living as a professional musician or sportsman. But that's a dream that you have. Nobody gives you that. You dream that and you work for it. And if you have a bit of luck along the way, you might be as lucky as me, you might get there. And I think it's very cruel when people start to actually [tell others to give up] on a dream."

Bayley will release his new solo album, "Circle Of Stone", on February 23. The official music video for the LP's title track, featuring a guest appearance by Niklas Stålvind of the Swedish metal band WOLF, was released last week

The 60-year-old Bayley fronted IRON MAIDEN from 1994 until 1999. The two MAIDEN albums he appeared on, "The X Factor" and "Virtual XI", sold considerably less than the band's prior releases and were their lowest-charting titles in the group's home country since 1981's "Killers".

Since leaving IRON MAIDEN in 1999, Bayley has released a number of albums, including several under the moniker BLAZE and more than a handful under his own name. He also appeared on 2012's "Wolfsbane Saves The World", the first album of new material by WOLFSBANE since the group's self-titled 1994 effort, and a follow-up LP, 2022's "Genius".

Blaze's latest studio album, "War Within Me", came out in April 2021. The LP was recorded during 2020 with work split between Blaze's studio at home in the West Midlands and Christopher Appleton's studio in Greater Manchester.

Last March, Blaze underwent a quadruple bypass surgery following a heart attack. He later shared details of the massive outpouring of well-wishes he received after his heart attack, including messages from his former MAIDEN bandmates.

"The thing I feel most lucky about is the incredible support I've had from my fans," he told BLABBERMOUTH.NET. "All over the world. My WOLFSBANE, Blaze Bayley, the MAIDEN fans. Everybody bought a t-shirt for a tour that was postponed. They still bought it to support me. I'm just incredibly lucky. And the letters people wrote to me. Hundreds of cards from all over the place. It's very humbling."

Blaze continued: "I've always put my whole life into music. It is my life. When people get in touch with you and say, 'I wish you well because your music has gotten me through tough times,' 'Your music meant this to me,' 'I first saw you way back when and it's been the soundtrack to my life,' it's incredible. I got a massive card from the MAIDEN fan club. The [MAIDEN] guys all sent me a message. I'm always in touch with Steve Harris [MAIDEN bassist] anyway, but everyone sent messages of support."

A heart bypass surgery, or coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery, is used to improve blood flow to the heart. A surgeon uses blood vessels taken from another area of the body to bypass the damaged arteries.

The term quadruple bypass refers to the number of coronary arteries bypassed in the procedure. In other words, a quadruple bypass means four coronary arteries are bypassed.