Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson was recently interviewed by Andreu Buenafuente on Late Motiv and responded the critics about Iron Maiden’s owning its own plane.
“Everybody thinks that… When we had the big airliners with Iron Maiden, they say, ‘Where is the Iron Maiden plane today?’ And I say, ‘Well, we haven’t got an Iron Maiden plane.’ There’s an expression: if it flies, floats or fornicates, rent it. And we rented it.
We rented the airplane. And I worked for the airline for nearly 10 years that we rented the airplane from. ‘Cause I worked as a full-time airline pilot. I had six and a half thousand hours of jet flying, taking people on holiday. They never came back. [Laughs]
“By the time I was flying the band around, I had already been flying lots of other people around. I flew the British government around, I flew the heads of various African countries around, I flew two hundred and 20 people on holiday going wherever. So if it was okay with them, it was pretty much okay with the band, I think. And it kept me away from drinking myself to death as well. Tea and coffee — that’s about it, really.”
He also commented about Iron Maiden’s lyrics. Here is what he said:
“We write songs about death, resurrection, war, famine, plague, but it makes everybody happy. What could possibly go wrong? I mean, you come along and see one of our shows, and you get everything on display. The most recent tour we had taken place in three acts, if you like, during the show.
We had war, which brings out both the best and the worst aspects of humanity. There’s all the drama there in the war. And then we move on to religion, which brings out the best and the worst aspects of humanity. And then we go to, after religion, of course, you end up in hell, which brings out all the best and all the worst aspects of humanity.
‘Cause let’s face it: where are all the really cool people gonna be? If you’re gonna have a party, where is it gonna be? It’s gonna be in hell. Anybody who’s had any fun is gonna be down there… As AC/DC said, ‘Hell ain’t a bad place to be.’”