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Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson made a surprise guest appearance with bandmate Adrian Smith’s Smith/Kotzen side-project to sing Maiden classic Wasted Years at a gig in London.
Dickinson joined Smith/Kotzen onstage at London’s O2 Shepherds Bush Empire on Saturday February 21, where he sang the 1986 anthem alongside Smith and fellow guitarist/co-vocalist Richie Kotzen.
The singer’s unannounced appearance came at the very end of the band’s main set.
The singer’s unannounced appearance came at the very end of Smith/Kotzen’s main set, after they played songs from their two studio albums to date, 2021’s self-titled debut and 2025’s Black Light/White Noise.
Smith and The Winery Dogs/ex-Poison guitarist Kotzen formed their eponymous band in the late 2010s, after meeting in Los Angeles and beginning to jam together.
“My first rock concert was Iron Maiden,” Kotzen told Classic Rock in 2025. “Number Of The Beast, Piece Of Mind, backtracking to Killers… I was a massive fan.”
Maiden themselves are gearing up for a massive summer. The band have just announced that their upcoming outdoor show at Knebworth on Saturday, July 11 has been extended across two days, and christened Eddfest.
A warm-up day on July 10 will feature ‘Maiden World’, which includes a stage with live bands who have connections to Maiden, as well as a funfair, a museum celebrating their 50th anniversary and an expanded bar.
The weekend will then climax with Maiden’s performance on the main stage. They’ll play material from their first nine studio albums, as they’ve done on the rest of their Run For Your Lives tour, which kicked off last year. Support on July 11 will come from The Darkness, The Hu, Airbourne and The Almighty.
Manager Rod Smallwood said: “After the monumental shows in the UK last year, we knew that if we were going to play the UK in 2026 it had to be very different. So we chose Knebworth Park as it gives us the space required – which is just not available in stadiums – to put together something groundbreaking for our fans by creating a Maiden World for them. We are excited to now reveal the details of this one-off event to celebrate the band’s 50 year career, which we are now calling Eddfest, because, as everyone knows, Eddie is the true star of the show!”
Maiden kicked off their Run For Your Lives tour with a European run last summer, and the shows will pick back up again with another European leg starting in May. The Knebworth date will be the last European date on the trek, and the band say it will be their last UK show until “at least 2028”.
After the Knebworth gig, Maiden will bring the Run For Your Lives show to North, Central and South America. Go to their website to see all of their planned concerts.
As well as touring, Maiden are working on a documentary about their five decades as a band. Universal Pictures Content Group is producing the film, which will be released in theatres later this year.
Watch footage of Bruce guesting with Smith/Kotzen below.
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