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Bruce Dickinson
Biography
Perhaps second only to Rob Halford, Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson was the most acclaimed and instantly recognizable vocalist to emerge from the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement of the early-'80s. Born Paul Dickinson on August 7, 1958, in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, he adopted the first name Bruce as a youngster for reasons unknown. Shortly after relocating to Sheffield as a teenager, Dickinson became enamored of such '70s heavy metal bands as Deep Purple, and after an attempt at becoming a drummer didn't work out, he began singing in local bands -- Styx (not the renowned American band of the same name), Speed, and Shots. But none of these bands broke out of regional status, something that would change when Dickinson fronted his next band, Samson.

The group, named after guitarist Paul Samson, specialized in heavy metal despite punk being all the rage at the time in their native England (during his tenure with Samson, Dickinson went by the name Bruce Bruce). The band issued a pair of albums with Dickinson, including 1980's Head On and 1981's Shock Tactics, and while the bandmembers were part of the aforementioned NWOBHM movement, they failed to gain the popularity obtained by such fellow acts as Def Leppard, Judas Priest, and Iron Maiden (in fact, their greatest bit of publicity was non-musical -- their drummer, Thunderstick, would wear a black cloth mask that caused some criticism when a British rapist wore a similar-styled disguise).
Selected Discography