Watch: Bruce Dickinson talks leaving Iron Maiden in the 90s, making Balls To Picasso and THAT reggae moment

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By ( Metal Hammer, Classic Rock, Louder ) published

We sat down with Iron Maiden’s frontman to talk about life around the release of his second solo album, which was recently remixed and reissued

Bruce Dickinson in a black t-shirt and black baseball cap in 2025
(Image credit: Future)

Metal Hammer recently sat down with Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson to talk about his early solo career.

Speaking exclusively with the magazine, the 67-year-old discusses what made him launch a solo career in the late 1980s, his early outings with the albums Tattooed Millionaire (1990) and Balls To Picasso (1994), and the success of his 1994 single Tears Of The Dragon.

Watch the full chat below.

Revealing what first made him take the plunge to go solo, which began with the contribution of the song Bring Your Daughter To Your Slaughter to the A Nightmare On Elm Street 5 soundtrack while he was still an active member of Maiden, Dickinson says: “It was by accident. The publishing company that we were published by with Maiden, Zomba, came to me and said, ‘We know you like to do odd things. Have you got any tracks kicking around for a movie, Nightmare On Elm Street?’ That ended up as Bring Your Daughter To The Slaughter.”

He continues: “I actually contacted Janick [Gers, current Maiden guitarist], ’cause Janick was a mate of mine. He was having a hard time with trying to get a gig, frankly. He refused to cut his hair, he looked like he was from the 70s, and he was so pissed-off with it he was going to sell his equipment and just go off to uni and become a teacher.”

Later in the conversation, Dickinson talks about the significance of Balls To Picasso, the first album he released during his absence from Maiden from 1993 to ’99.

“It’s growing pains,” he says. “The problem with the original version of Balls… was it was tentative. It was not full-on enough, and it’s taken us all these years to go, ‘Can we make it as full-on as it should have been?’ [referring to the 2025 remix]. Some of that was because the record label was expecting Tattooed Millionaire part two. No.

“Shay [Baby, producer] almost stepped back from making it super-heavy. I think Roy [Z, guitars] wanted to make it heavier, but he was the new boy, so he didn’t feel like he could push for it. I was like, ‘I’m not sure what we should do exactly,’ so I just kind of went with the flow.”

Dickinson released More Balls To Picasso on July 25 and is currently touring North America with his solo band. His next stop is at the House Of Blues in Dallas tonight (August 29). The frontman is at work on his next solo album of original material, with an eye to a 2027 release date.

Iron Maiden legend Bruce Dickinson on going solo, making Balls To Picasso and much more - YouTube Iron Maiden legend Bruce Dickinson on going solo, making Balls To Picasso and much more - YouTube
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Founded in 1983, Metal Hammer is the global home of all things heavy. We have breaking news, exclusive interviews with the biggest bands and names in metal, rock, hardcore, grunge and beyond, expert reviews of the lastest releases and unrivalled insider access to metal's most exciting new scenes and movements. No matter what you're into – be it heavy metal, punk, hardcore, grunge, alternative, goth, industrial, djent or the stuff so bizarre it defies classification – you'll find it all here, backed by the best writers in our game.

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