Brian Posehn has pointed to Bruce Dickinson’s lifestyle as one reason the Iron Maiden singer has been able to maintain his performances over the years.
During a conversation about musicians whose abilities change as they get older, Posehn compared Iron Maiden with bands whose members struggled more heavily with drugs and alcohol.
According to Posehn, one of the key differences is that Maiden largely avoided that path.
“With Maiden, the key is those guys aren’t fuckups, and they’re not drug guys,” Posehn said. “They never were.”
He then singled out Dickinson.
“That’s probably why Bruce Dickinson is still Bruce Dickinson, because he never had any sloppy years.”
Posehn’s point was not only about Dickinson’s voice. He also brought up the singer’s physical activity outside music and his ability to remain highly active onstage.
“He still jousts, he still flies planes, and he still plays soccer,” Posehn said. “He can still run across a stadium, you know, and some of those other guys can’t.”
The discussion began while Posehn was talking about how years of drinking and drug use can affect musicians.
He mentioned Eddie Van Halen, saying that while Van Halen’s drinking was widely known, he had not understood the extent of his drug use.
“I knew Eddie was a drunk,” Posehn said. “We all knew he was a drunk. I don’t think any of us knew he was that much of a drug guy.”
That led to a conversation about why some long-running bands continue performing at a high level while others lose part of what once made them effective.
Posehn used Iron Maiden as one of his main examples.
“I gotta believe Maiden is still doing it exactly like Maiden.”
For Posehn, the difference can sometimes be difficult to define. A band may still be playing the same material, but age, health, and years of excess can gradually change the performance.
“Sometimes something just comes off that fastball,” he said. “It’s the same song, the same thing, but something has changed.”
Dickinson, in Posehn’s view, is an example of a musician who avoided those “sloppy years” and remained physically capable of doing the demanding work required by an Iron Maiden show.
Posehn also brought Geddy Lee into the topic as another musician who, in his view, avoided the type of drug history that can damage a performer’s abilities over time.
But when it came to Dickinson, his explanation was simple: avoiding long periods of heavy drug use helped preserve both the performer and the person audiences had known for decades.
“That’s probably why Bruce Dickinson is still Bruce Dickinson.”
You can watch the entire interview below.
