Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden: “Always totally relaxed” in Germany

London/Bonn. British singer Bruce Dickinson of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden ("Run to the Hills," "Fear of the Dark") feels particularly at home in Germany. "I'm always totally relaxed when I come to Germany," the 66-year-old told the German Press Agency in London. Iron Maiden will perform six shows in Germany this month on their "Run for Your Lives" tour.

"I lived in Bonn for six months in the 1980s," said Dickinson, who was training in fencing at the time and has other German connections. His sister, former show jumper Helena Stormanns (formerly Weinberg, née Dickinson), took German citizenship at the time. "My sister is German. And my son is married to a German," says Dickinson. "So I have a German family now."

Ahead of the Iron Maiden concerts in Gelsenkirchen, Bremen, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, and Berlin, where the cult band will perform twice, the frontman said that German concertgoers aren't as unpredictable as fans in some other countries. "They're not as passionate, but they're passionate," Dickinson explained. "In Spain, Italy, or South America, it can get chaotic. In Germany, it's a controlled passion."

Iron Maiden performing on July 11 in Gelsenkirchen

Source: Rolf Vennenbernd/dpa

In front of an estimated 250,000 fans in Brazil, the band experienced a memorable moment in 1985 when they played at "Rock in Rio." The concert was broadcast live—and with it, an onstage accident. "You could see on live TV how I slashed my face with a guitar—blood all over my nose," Dickinson recalled.

Band manager Rod Smallwood then had an unusual idea. "He said, 'Can you press on it a little more so it bleeds more? It looks great on camera.'"

The photo subsequently made every cover in Brazil. "And this show—which we had no idea how big it would become—laid the foundation for our entire career in South America in a single night."

RND/dpa