Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson has announced a massive solo tour, and he took a brutal shot at AI in the announcement.

As shared on social media, the new solo trek will kick off in Europe in June 2027. This is after Iron Maiden wraps a North American run that spring. Dickinson and his solo band will play through the first part of summer and then pick back up in the fall.

Dickinson comments: “What we do is real, and that’s so important right now. A real drummer, a real bass player, real guitarists, real keyboards – A.I. can only copy; it can only pretend. It can never be in love, and it can never play. This band? They can really play!”

Bruce Dickinson 2027 tour dates:

• Jun 14: Belfast Ulster Hall, UK
• Jun 16: Dublin The Academy, Ireland
• Jun 22: Milan Alcatraz, Italy
• Jun 23: Zurich Volkshaus, Switzerland
• Jun 25: Zagreb SRC Salata, Croatia
• Jun 26: Belgrade Luka Beograd, Serbia
• Jun 28: Sofia Vidas Art Arena, Bulgaria
• Jun 29: Istanbul Bonus Parkorman, Turkiye
• Jul 02-04: Cartagena Rock Imperium, Spain
• Jul 07: Luxembourg City Den Atelier, Luxembourg
• Jul 07-10: Ballenstedt Rockharz, Germany
• Jul 08-11: Vizovice Masters Of Rock, Czechia
• Nov 10: Warsaw Stodola, Poland
• Nov 12: Helsinki Black Box Jäähalli, Finland
• Nov 14: Stockholm Annexet, Sweden
• Nov 16: Oslo Sentrum Scene, Norway
• Nov 17: Copenhagen Store Vega, Denmark
• Nov 19: Hamburg Inselpark Arena, Germany
• Nov 20: Berlin UberEats Music Hall, Germany
• Nov 22: Munich Zenith, Germany
• Nov 24: Dusseldorf Mitsubishi Electric Halle, Germany
• Nov 25: Amsterdam AFAS Live, Netherlands
• Nov 27: Lincoln The Engine Shed, UK
• Nov 28: Glasgow O2 Academy, UK
• Nov 30: Manchester O2 Apollo, UK
• Dec 01: Bristol O2 Academy, UK
• Dec 03: London Eventim Apollo, UK
• Dec 04: Birmingham O2 Academy, UK
• Dec 07: Lyon Le Radiant-Bellevue, France
• Dec 08: Toulouse Le Bikini, France
• Dec 10: Paris L’Olympia, France

Bruce Dickinson has a new record coming out in 2027

It seems that Bruce Dickinson’s new solo tour will likely be in support of his new record, also on the docket for 2027. The project will be the follow-up to his acclaimed 2024 album The Mandrake Project.

Speaking to VSX earlier this year, Dickinson shared some insight into the new project. He assured fans that it will be very heavy, but won’t be a sequel to his last record. “I’ve got a new record coming out next year, new solo album,” he explained, as transcribed by Blabbermouth. “It’s kind of standalone. There’s one song that has a bit of something to do with Mandrake. The album is heavy as s**t.”

“I try to not repeat,” he continued, “Not because it’s bad. You want to move on and put different nuances on things. It’s like, I would say, if you have an amazing girlfriend and you start thinking, ‘Yeah, I’m getting a little bit bored’…just turn the lights down and turn it a different way, and you see a side that you think, ‘Oh, my God, she’s absolutely incredible.’ Just the red light there or the green or whatever, and you see the same person in a different day, in a different light.”

Dickinson then added, “Music is something which you try not to stick too much of a format. I’m within a particular style, for sure. But I try and vary it as much as I can.”

Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Power Trip

The post Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson Announces Massive Solo Tour, Takes a Brutal Shot at AI: ‘It Can Only Pretend’ appeared first on vice.

Iron Maiden legend Nicko McBrain retired from touring back in 2024, after suffering some serious health battles. Now, in a resurfaced interview, we can hear in his own words how those issues threatened his heavy metal career.

The health battles in question started with a stroke in 2023. This left Nicko paralyzed on his right side, from the shoulder down, for a period of time. The following year, he announced his retirement from tour life.

In July 2025, two years after his stroke, Nicko appeared on Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk to discuss his decision to quit touring. “I had my health issues,” he said at the time. “Which was one of the primary reasons that I decided to hang it up with the guys. And I wasn’t doing the songs justice because of the handicap that I had. And it wasn’t fair on everybody else either in the band.”

Nicko McBrain retired from touring in 2024 after surviving a stroke

He continued, “They supported me 100 percent through the ‘The Future Past Tour’, and that was fantastic. I couldn’t have asked for a better bunch of brothers to support me through my darkest hour.”

Nicko later shared some insight into the physical and personal issues that led to him hanging up his tour kit. “Primarily, I was fed up with touring in terms of the travel and not having days to recoup my body,” he said.

“I wasn’t so much slowing down, although we did play the songs that,” Nicko added, then switching gears, “I got told off at rehearsals [in 2024] because I was playing the songs too fast.” He explained that this was because he had “been playing with Titanium Tart before I went off and did the rehearsals in Australia with Maiden.” Titanium Tart is Nicko’s Florida-based side project that performs Iron Maiden songs.

“I actually got told off for playing too quick,” Nicko continued. “So it wasn’t a question of not being able to drive the band. It was just not being able to drive the band with the drum fills that I’d been used to playing for 42 years. So the question mark was raised about the performance side. And that’s quite right…So that was part of the decision that I made.”

Fast forward to October 2026: Nicko McBrain is about to release his autobiography, “Hello Boys And Girls!” Harper Nonfiction will publish the book on October 22, 2026.

Photo by Francesco Castaldo/Archivio Francesco Castaldo/Mondadori via Getty Images

The post Iron Maiden Legend Opens up About Health Battles That Threatened His Career appeared first on VICE.