Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson recalled how he vomited moments after meeting Deep Purple counterpart Ian Gillan for the first time.

Dickinson chose Gillan as his rock god in the latest episode of the BBC’s Rock Show with Johnny Walker, describing his first encounter with Deep Purple’s music.

“There I was as a young spotty teenager … and there was this noise coming through somebody's door,” he said. “And I opened it and I went, ‘What on earth is that?’ And it was ‘Speed King’ by Deep Purple off Deep Purple In Rock. And that was what got me started.”

He later recounted the moment he met Gillan while recording with Samson, the band he fronted before joining Maiden.

“We've done an album in Ian Gillan's studio,” he said. “We've all been up the pub and had a few pints. In walks my god, Ian Gillan, and goes, ‘Hey, what a great vocalist. Who's the singer?’ At that moment, I felt the sudden urge to vomit. I ran out of the room [and] puked up for about 45 minutes in the toilet.” He continued: “In comes my idol, kicks the door and goes, ‘Come on, mate. Out you come. Let’s get you wiped down with a towel.' He put me in a taxi and sent me home. I've never forgotten that – and he's never let me forget it either.”

Recently, Maiden guitarist Adrian Smith promised fans that the band were working on an unidentified project. “I think it’ll be worth the wait, put it like that,” he told Eddie Trunk on SiriusXM. “There are some very, very exciting things in the pipeline. So that’s all I can say, really – but I think the fans are going to be delighted.”

 

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