Breaking news: IRON MAIDEN’s Bruce Dickinson is still alive and kicking, despite having two metal hips and a busted Achilles tendon 🤣. The legendary vocalist has just revealed that he’s been busy recording his new solo album, and we can’t wait to hear it… or can we? 😴
In a shocking turn of events, Bruce has announced that he’s recorded 16 songs for his new solo album over a three-week period earlier this year. We’re not sure what’s more impressive, the fact that he managed to record 16 songs in such a short time or that he didn’t collapse from exhaustion 😴. The new album, which won’t be released until 2027 (because who needs music in a timely manner, anyway? 🤷♂️), will be the follow-up to his critically acclaimed album “The Mandrake Project”, which came out in March 2024 via BMG.
Bruce’s eighth solo album was recorded at Dave Grohl’s Studio 606 in Northridge, California, because who wouldn’t want to record at a studio owned by a rock legend? 🤟. In a recent interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Bruce talked about his upcoming LP while discussing his health and various physical ailments. He said: “I got two metal hips, I got a busted Achilles I had stitched back together five years ago, various contusions and lumps and bumps. But I’m still running around like a lunatic, and the voice is doing great 🎤.” We’re not sure what’s more impressive, Bruce’s ability to still rock out despite his physical limitations or his ability to make us laugh with his crazy antics 🤣.
Bruce also added: “I just finished a solo record: We did 16 tracks in 21 days, all 100 percent live. It’s like the anti-A.I. generation 🤖.” We’re not sure what that means, but it sounds cool, so we’ll just go with it 😎. The album was recorded with his touring band, consisting of keyboardist Mistheria, drummer Dave Moreno, bassist Tanya O’Callaghan, and guitarists Chris Declercq and Philip Näslund. It’s like a big ol’ party, and everyone’s invited 🎉!
In February, SEPULTURA guitarist Andreas Kisser shared photos of him with Bruce at Studio 606 and revealed that he plays percussion on Bruce’s new LP. Because who doesn’t love a good percussion solo? 🥁. Bruce and his long-term co-writer and producer Roy “Z” Ramirez recorded “The Mandrake Project” largely at Los Angeles’s Doom Room, with Roy Z doubling up as both guitarist and bassist. The recording lineup for “The Mandrake Project” was rounded out by Mistheria and Moreno, both of whom also featured on Bruce’s previous solo studio album, “Tyranny Of Souls”, in 2005.
Last August, Bruce told Metal Hammer that his new solo material would include “bone-crushingly heavy” songs as well as moments that “are just like tugging at the heartstrings”. “If it’s heavy, it’s heavy,” he added, “but if it just happens to be acoustic, it’s acoustic. That’s the deal, you know? It’s whatever the song dictates, whatever the story is you’re trying to tell, but it’s really exciting. I’m so stoked about these tracks. I played the demos to a few people in the record label and stuff, and everybody is like, ‘Wow!’ 🤩”.
Bruce previously told Charlie Kendall of Charlie Kendall’s Metalshop that he would record his next solo album with Brendan Duffey, who “did an amazing job” remixing Bruce’s second solo album, 1994’s “Balls To Picasso”. “The amazing band that is gonna record the new record with me is gonna be the same band that toured in Europe with me, and it’s gonna be the same band that’s gonna tour with me in 2027 when we release the new record,” he said. “Or at least that’s the idea anyway, to release a new record [in 2027] 🤔”.
Joining the IRON MAIDEN singer on the “The Mandrake Project Live 2025” North American tour was once again his 2024 backing band, featuring Moreno, Mistheria, and O’Callaghan (bass), alongside the group’s latest additions, Swedish guitarist, songwriter, and multi-platinum-credited producer Philip Näslund and Swiss session and touring guitarist Chris Declercq (who played on Bruce’s “Rain On The Graves” single). Roy is not part of the touring lineup, but we’re sure he’s happy to just stay home and play video games all day 🎮.
“The Mandrake Project Live 2025” North American tour kicked off in Anaheim, California at the House of Blues on August 22, 2025, and took the band across North America, including shows in New York, Los Angeles, Texas, Florida, and Canada, with festival appearances at Rocklahoma (Oklahoma) and Louder Than Life (Kentucky). The tour also included a quick return to Brazil for the prestigious The Town festival at the City Of Light in São Paulo 🌟.
Prior to the April 12, 2024 Whisky A Go Go show, Bruce last performed with his solo band on in August 2002 at the legendary Wacken Open Air festival in Germany. We’re not sure what took him so long to get back on stage, but we’re glad he’s back 🙌.
Roy played guitar on Bruce’s 1994 album “Balls To Picasso” and went on to produce, co-write, and perform multiple instruments on Bruce’s subsequent four solo albums, “Accident At Birth” (1997), “The Chemical Wedding” (1998), “Tyranny Of Souls” (2005), and “The Mandrake Project”. We’re not sure how one person can be so talented, but we’re just going to go with it 🤷♂️.
O’Callaghan is an Irish musician who joined WHITESNAKE in 2021 and toured with the David Coverdale-fronted outfit the following year. She also hit the road with Bruce in 2023 as part of a performance of Jon Lord’s “Concerto For Group And Orchestra” on nearly a dozen dates in Europe and South America. We’re not sure how she managed to keep up with Bruce, but we’re impressed 🤩.
Californian drummer Moreno previously played on “Tyranny Of Souls” and has worked with BODY COUNT, Jizzy Pearl, Dizzy Reed, and Steve Stevens, among others. We’re not sure how he manages to keep track of all his projects, but we’re just going to go with it 🤯.
Italian keyboard wizard Mistheria has collaborated with an array of artists live and in the studio, including Rob Rock, Mike Portnoy, Jeff Scott Soto, and Joel Hoekstra. We’re not sure how one person can be so talented, but we’re just going to go with it 🤩.
Bruce’s reworked version of his classic 1994 album “Balls To Picasso”, now titled “More Balls To Picasso”, arrived in July 2025. Because who doesn’t love a good re-release? 🤷♂️.
Bruce made his recording debut with IRON MAIDEN on the “Number Of The Beast” album in 1982. He quit the band in 1993 in order to pursue his solo career and was replaced by Blaze Bayley, who had previously been the lead singer of the metal band WOLFSBANE. After releasing two traditional metal albums with former MAIDEN guitarist Adrian Smith, Bruce rejoined the band in 1999 along with Smith. And the rest, as they say, is history 📚.
Photo credit: John McMurtrie 📸.
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