BRUCE DICKINSON On Cursing Out Fan For Lighting Flare At IRON MAIDEN Show: 'I Shouldn't Have Called Him A Greek C***'

IRON MAIDEN singer Bruce Dickinson has admitted that he "lost [his] rag" when he blasted a fan as a "Greek cunt" and a "fucking cocksucker" for lighting a flare during the band's concert in Athens, Greece less than two years ago.

The incident occurred on July 16, 2022 as MAIDEN launched into the tenth song of its set, "The Number Of The Beast", at the Olympic Stadium. After singing the opening line of the track, Bruce noticed the flare lighting up and immediately burst into an angry rant, apparently concerned that the smoke from the flare would negatively affect his singing voice.

"The cunt with the fucking flare, I've gotta sing up here," Bruce shouted into the microphone. "You fucking cocksucker. You Greek cunt. All right. I've gotta fucking sing. All right. Fuck you."

As Bruce's bandmates continued playing the opening riff of "The Number Of The Beast", he apparently briefly left the stage in hopes that the smoke would clear up. However, when Dickinson eventually resumed singing the song, he was notably off time and not in sync with the rest of the group.

Dickinson addressed the incident during a new interview with Kerrang! magazine about his latest solo album, "The Mandrake Project". Asked to name "the stupidest thing" he has ever said onstage, Bruce responded: "'Who is that Greek cunt waving a flare?' In Greece. There was a degree of sympathy from people in Greece who said, 'He shouldn't have said Greek cunt,' and yeah, maybe not, but he probably was Greek. And he probably was a cunt. But it really pissed me off. There I am, trying to sing, and there's all these people waving these phosphorous naval distress flares, and nobody in the whole place can fucking breathe. I find it really, deeply inconsiderate. But I shouldn't have called him a Greek cunt because I wasn't sure of his nationality. I lost my rag and I shouldn't have done."

Dickinson previously discussed the incident during an interview this past February with Sakis Fragos of Rock Hard Greece. Asked about his response to the flare at the concert, Bruce said: "Oh, the guy swinging his thing and everything else. You know what? I probably got his nationality wrong. [Laughs] I just lost my temper, because it was such… That activity that a very, very small minority of people do is so selfish and so disturbing. They think it's really cool. Actually, it's not about the band. It's not about the audience. It's about them drawing attention only to themselves and damaging the people around them who have this thing, this extremely toxic thing flying around. Of course, if you happen to be asthmatic, if you haven't been having any lung conditions, 'Oh, we don't care about them. We'll just fill the place with smoke, 'cause it makes me feel important,' is their attitude. It just annoys the hell out of me. Anyway, yeah, I lost my temper. I shouldn't have called him a Greek cunt; I should have just called him a cunt. [Laughs]"

Dickinson has a history of publicly admonishing fans and security at MAIDEN's concert if he feels like they are out of line. Back in 2019, he stopped a MAIDEN show midway through to slam a Tacoma, Washington venue for a violent and bloody incident in the crowd for which he claimed the venue's security was to blame. In 2012, Bruce called out a fan at a Indianapolis show who had been texting for three straight songs. In October 2022, Dickinson also called out fans who were allegedly smoking cannabis during a MAIDEN concert in Anaheim, California. He said: "There's so many fucking people smoking so much fucking dope down here, I'm amazed you can even see. Poor old Steve [Harris, MAIDEN bassist]. I don't know if you know, but he absolutely fucking hates marijuana and the smell of it, all right? So when he's trying to play bass, it fucks him up. It fucks me up. I'm a singer, all right?"

"The Mandrake Project" was released on March 1 via BMG. Bruce and his long-term co-writer and producer Roy "Z" Ramirez recorded the LP largely at Los Angeles's Doom Room, with Roy Z doubling up as both guitarist and bassist. The recording lineup for "The Mandrake Project" was rounded out by keyboard maestro Mistheria and drummer Dave Moreno, both of whom also featured on Bruce's previous solo studio album, "Tyranny Of Souls", in 2005.