When Bruce Dickinson Left Iron Maiden

Bruce Dickinson gave his final performance with Iron Maiden on Aug. 28, 1993 before a hiatus that lasted six years. The show was filmed by the BBC at Pinewood Studios in London and broadcast on MTV and pay-per-view in the U.K. Later, it was released as Raising Hell on home video.

In addition to being Dickinson's last show, the concert stands out because of the inclusion of magician Simon Drake, who fittingly "kills" the frontman with an old-school iron maiden, "amputates" guitarist Dave Murray, "murders" a young woman with a table saw and finishes off various members of the audience and road crew.

Iron Maiden had wrapped up its Fear of the Dark tour less than a year before staging this special concert, which was filled with classic material. Tension had been growing between Dickinson and the band for some time, stemming from the usual conflict of musical-direction issues.

The final shows were no picnic, according to the singer. "It wasn't a good vibe," Dickinson told writer Mick Wall in Run to the Hills: The Authorized Biography. "We walked out onstage, and it was like a morgue. The Maiden fans knew I'd quit, they knew these were the last gigs and I suddenly realized that, as the frontman, you're in an almost impossible situation."

Which made his onstage death even more significant. The symbolism was lost on no one. Eventually time healed the wounds, and Dickinson returned to Iron Maiden six years later – along with guitarist Adrian Smith, who had also left.