Bruce Dickinson on Why He Quit Iron Maiden in 1993

Bruce Dickinson shared why he left Iron Maiden in 1993 during a Q&A session at a recent stop on his spoken-word tour.

Dickinson said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth), "Honestly, I was as surprised as anybody else. I don't think people really believed that at the time. I just thought that if I stayed with Maiden forever, all I would learn about was what it was like to be in Maiden. And in order to learn what it was like outside Maiden, you have to leave, because, unless you left, nobody would take anything that you did seriously."

He continued, "It would always be, like, 'Oh, bless him. He's doing a solo record. Let him have his fun and then he can go back to being in Iron Maiden.' I hated that. So I thought, 'F--- it. I'll just leave.' And [people said], 'What happens if your [solo] career doesn't work out.' And I said [it's] better [to take a chance] now and do something else with your life than sit there somewhere in fantasy world and end up just grumpy."

Dickinson's next date on his spoken word tour is on March 26 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Meanwhile, Iron Maiden returns to the road in May with a tour in Europe and will head to North America for a tour beginning in September. A full list of tour dates can be found at IronMaiden.com.