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The president of Bulgaria has hailed Iron Maiden as “remarkably down-to-earth people” after meeting the London metal veterans ahead of their show in Sofia last week.
On May 26, the day that the band brought their ongoing Run For Your Lives tour to the 60,000-capacity Vasil Levsky Stadium in her nation’s capital, Iliyana Yotova met with band members Bruce Dickinson (vocals), Janick Gers (guitars) and Simon Dawson (live drums).
Footage of the encounter, albeit without audio, was quickly uploaded to social media, and Yotova took to her Facebook account and wrote (translated from Bulgarian by Meta), “It was a pleasure to welcome to Bulgaria the musicians from Iron Maiden.”
She added: “I am impressed that these metal legends and titans on the stage are extremely down to earth people. I wish them success at their concert in Sofia tonight and for many years on stage!”
Yotova has been president of Bulgaria since January 2026 this year, and although little is known about her personal music taste, this isn’t the first time she’s endorsed an artist during her short premiership.
Last month, after Bulgaria won the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time ever thanks to pop singer Dara and her song Bangaranga, the president called the 27-year-old’s victory a “triumph for Bulgaria”.
The Sofia show was the second stop on the second European leg of the Run For Your Lives tour, following a show in Athens, Greece on May 23. The tour – during which the band are playing material only from their first nine albums, 1980’s Iron Maiden to 1992’s Fear Of The Dark – started in May 2025 and is part of their ongoing 50th-anniversary celebrations.
This second leg largely has the same production and setlist as the initial 2025 run, albeit with one notable difference: 1988’s Infinite Dreams has been drafted into the setlist for the first time in 38 years, replacing The Clairvoyant, a fellow cut from the Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son album.
The next stop on the tour will be at Heinz von Heiden Arena in Hannover, Germany tonight (June 2), with thrashers Megadeth supporting. The run of shows will be capped off by a special gig at Knebworth House in Stevenage, UK on July 11, where Maiden will headline their own festival Eddfest. Airbourne, The Hu and the solo band of former Maiden singer Blaze Bayley are among the other performers set for the two-day bill.
After the European trek wraps up, the band will bring their Run For Your Lives production to venues in the Americas, Asia and Australia throughout the rest of this year. They’ve announced that the final show of the tour, scheduled to take place in Tokyo on November 25, will mark their last time onstage until 2028, at the earliest.
As well as hitting the road, Maiden have celebrated their 50th anniversary by releasing the retrospective book Infinite Dreams and putting a new documentary, Burning Ambition, in cinemas. Current and former members will be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio in November, although those currently in the lineup won’t be in attendance due to touring commitments.
