Bruce Dickinson has “five-and-a-half inches of metal hammered” into his leg following his hip replacement surgery.
The Iron Maiden frontman – who is famous for his energetic live performances that see him run and jump all over the stage – underwent the operation after being in agony on the band’s ‘Legacy of the Beast World Tour’, which began in 2018, although he managed to disguise the fact he was in serious pain and couldn’t even “walk properly” by toning down his moves.
The surgery was a complete success but now Bruce, 62, has a lot of metal holding his leg together whilst he also had resurfacing surgery – which involves attaching a metal cap to the ball in the hip after the ball has been smoothed down – similar to what former Wimbledon tennis champion Andy Murray had done to correct his hip problems.
In an interview on BBC Radio 2, Bruce said: “I have five-and-half inches of metal hammered into my femur, a new hip.
“Same as Andy Murray, it’s been re-surfaced so it’s just like the road men have been in and dug it up and put a new cable in.”
The ‘Can I Play With Madness’ singer is getting ready to go on his ‘An Evening With Bruce Dickinson’ spoken word tour from August in which he shares stories from his career as the frontman of heavy metal legends Iron Maiden, his solo ventures and adventures as a pilot and fencing champion.
Bruce takes questions from the audience and admits he’s quite happy to make fun of his life on stage.
He said: “I do take the mickey out of myself, unrepentantly. I am guilty of wearing some of the most ridiculous trousers in the world. It all makes good sense and it’s all done in the best possible taste, there’s a reason why I’m not invited to Paris Fashion Week.”
The ‘Run To The Hills’ rocker previously admitted having the op was the best decision he’s ever made as he’s subsequently been able to lift weights and exercise like he did when he was a teenager with his new hip.
He shared: “I was getting addicted to Ibuprofen and all the rest of it, and it p***** me off so much. I was just, like, ‘Look, it’s not gonna get any better, is it?’ And he went, ‘No.’ So I said, ‘It’s October. When the safety car comes out, [Lewis] Hamilton goes in for fresh tires.
It was the best thing I’ve done.
“So now, with my new hip, I’m back to fencing again. It’s absolutely incredible. I’ve been doing physio and doing weights that I haven’t done since I was 16 or 17 years old. I’m squatting a hundred kilos. It’s mental what your body can do.”