Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson stepped away from the band’s ongoing world tour late last month to spend time with the military community at RAF Odiham in Hampshire. The stop came just before the annual national event held on Saturday, June 27, which honors everyone connected to the Armed Forces — serving personnel, their families, veterans and cadets alike.
During a conversation with “Pad Wives Unfiltered“, Dickinson was asked to point to one part of the touring life that outsiders tend to glamorize but that’s actually difficult to live through. His answer turned to his role as a father.
“Well, I have three grown-up kids now who mercifully have all ended up as fantastic individuals. And I would love to say it was all down to me, but for half of their life I was not there because I was on tour. And part of me will always regret that, but it’s a price you pay for doing… And my kids, we’re closer now than we ever were. And so that would be my — I think my biggest regret is the dislocation that you get from what most people perceive to be a normal life. Although having a normal life, I’m not sure what that involves anymore. I’m not sure that you’re any better off having a normal life because that’s full of so many uncertainties. At least in the military, if you have a problem, generally somebody’s always got your back,” he said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth).
Dickinson married his third wife, French fitness instructor Leana Dolci, in the autumn of 2023. The 67-year-old vocalist and Dolci divide their time between Paris and his home in London.
His three children come from his marriage to second wife Patrice “Paddy” Bowden, who was found dead in May 2020 at the Chiswick, West London home the couple had once shared, in what was described at the time as a tragic accident. London Ambulance Service confirmed the patient was pronounced dead on arrival.
Bruce and Paddy wed in 1990 after two years together, following his separation from first wife Erica “Jane” Barnett. The couple had three children: Austin, Griffin and Kia.
The pair are believed to have separated privately in 2018, though the split wasn’t confirmed publicly until November 2019.
Dickinson has also faced serious health battles of his own. Twelve years ago he was diagnosed with stage 3 throat cancer after doctors found a golf ball-sized tumor on his tongue along with a second growth in a lymph node on the right side of his neck. He was given the all-clear in May 2015 following radiation treatment and nine weeks of chemotherapy, and later wrote about the experience in his 2017 autobiography, What Does This Button Do?
