BRUCE DICKINSON Says IRON MAIDEN Has No Plans To Retire: 'We'll Probably Drop Dead Onstage'

During an appearance on a recent episode of Full Metal Jackie's nationally syndicated radio show, IRON MAIDEN singer Bruce Dickinson discussed the band's longevity as well as the group's multigenerational appeal. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We're not planning to retire at all, really. I think we'll probably drop dead onstage. I can think of worse places to drop dead. But no, we're not planning on retiring. We're all still firing away [with] loads of energy and loads of enthusiasm, so I can't wait to get back together [with the other guys to start rehearsing for the upcoming tour].

"With respect to our fans, we've got generations of fans now," he continued. "Even at [my] spoken-word shows, I can crack jokes about the age of the audience only because half the audience is, like, my age, but the other half of the audience is often way, way younger. So it's brilliant. We've got this whole intergenerational thing going. And, obviously, at the MAIDEN shows, it's even bigger, the emphasis on that. And huge numbers of women. It's fantastic. 'Cause it always used to be cliché, back when I was starting in the early '80s, that heavy metal was just, like, misogynist, male-dominated stuff… But no, it's not true. There's loads and loads of heavy metal fans who are girls."

In July 2019, IRON MAIDEN bassist Steve Harris also told SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" that there has been no talk of MAIDEN retiring anytime soon, despite the fact that all the members are in their 60s.

"We all feel that if we feel we're not cutting it anymore, then we'll discuss it and that will probably be the end of it," he explained. "But at the moment, we don't feel like that. We feel that we definitely still are pulling our weight, so to speak. We're just doing well. So far so good. I don't wanna tempt fate, but we are doing good."

Dickinson joined IRON MAIDEN in 1981, replacing Paul Di'Anno, and made his recording debut with the band on the 1982 album "The Number Of The Beast". He quit the band in 1993, pursuing several solo projects, and rejoined in 1999.

Dickinson's two-month North American spoken-word tour kicked off on January 17 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and will run through the end of March.

Bruce will hit the road with IRON MAIDEN for a new North American leg of the band's "Legacy Of The Beast" tour in September.

MAIDEN's latest album, "Senjutsu", was released in September via BMG. The band's first LP in six years was recorded three years ago in Paris with longstanding producer Kevin Shirley and co-produced by Harris.

For "Senjutsu" — loosely translated as "tactics and strategy" — the band once again enlisted the services of Mark Wilkinson to create the spectacular Samurai-themed cover artwork, based on an idea by Harris.

"Senjutsu" bowed at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 chart, charting higher than even the band's early classics like "Powerslave" and "The Number Of The Beast". Nearly 90 percent of the LP's 64,000 equivalent album units earned came from pure album sales. The critically acclaimed double album debuted one place higher than 2015's "The Book Of Souls" and 2010's "The Final Frontier", which both peaked at No. 4.

"Senjutsu" was MAIDEN's 13th album to top in the Top 40 in the U.S.