Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson has successfully battled stage three throat cancer, celebrating ten years since his diagnosis in 2014. Doctors discovered a tumor the size of a golf ball at the base of his tongue. In an interview, Dickinson explained, “The technical diagnosis for me was T3 N1 M0. That means that the tumor was judged to be a stage three tumor.” He also had cancer in a lymph node.
To fight the disease, Dickinson underwent 33 rounds of radiation and nine weeks of chemotherapy. His medical team delivered two gray units of radiation daily for six weeks, focusing on his head and neck. After about six months, he tried to sing again but was shocked by how bad it sounded. “It sounded like a wounded buffalo,” he recalled. The doctors advised him to wait ten months before singing again. “I’m the world’s most impatient man,” he admitted, sharing that he often practiced in the bathroom, struggling to follow the doctors’ advice.
A turning point came when he felt ready to sing again. “One day, I was just walking around the house, and I thought, ‘I wonder if I could do a little bit of ‘Run To The Hills.’ And I did. And I went, ‘Oh my God, it’s there,’” he said. His cancer specialist emphasized that “fifty percent of your recovery is mental,” which motivated him during his recovery.
Now fully recovered, Dickinson is back to making music. Fans can look forward to his solo album, “More Balls to Picasso.” It’s great to see him back in action and doing what he loves!
