Stars Who Can't Stand Bruce Dickinson

Up on stage, Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson croons about running to the hills and running for your life. Offstage, though, he never runs from an argument or sharing his opinion on matters — even when others don't ask him for it. What happens as a result of this? The expected: Dickinson turns himself into public enemy No. 1 and develops a laundry list of haters.

Despite Dickinson and Ozzy Osbourne being part of the richest metal bands in the world and bona fide music legends, they can't stand each other. And if people think the Prince of Darkness' disdain for Dickinson runs deep, then wait until they hear the colorful language that his wife, Sharon, used to describe the Iron Maiden vocalist. Similarly, Dickinson ensured his name won't feature on the guest list for Riot Fest any time soon after he insulted the punk rock genre and called it "rubbish," although the Dead Kennedys provided him with a succinct reply that could change his mind if he ever logged into his Facebook account.

While Dickinson might not find himself embroiled in the fiercest feuds in heavy metal, he still finds a way to ruffle feathers and have his enemies secretly whispering that Blaze Bayley was a better front man for Iron Maiden. So, let's take a look at who said what and why about Mr. Dickinson.

There are a number of high-profile stars who don't like Ozzy Osbourne; however, the Great Ozz appears to be someone who doesn't hold too many grudges — unless your name is Bruce Dickinson. According to Ozzfest promoter Jane Holman's comments to Billboard in 2024, there was "bad blood between [Black] Sabbath and Iron Maiden" predating Maiden's stint on the 2005 edition of the tour. However, matters escalated when Dickinson used his platform at Ozzfest to lay into Osbourne, "The Osbournes" reality show, and the tour itself.

Osbourne didn't understand where the issues stemmed from, as he told The Quietus in 2010. He explained how no one had told him about what Dickinson had said until Iron Maiden's bassist Steve Harris apologized for his front man's behavior. Osbourne added how his wife, Sharon, was upset about the whole ordeal, while Osbourne both understood and stood by her anger toward Dickinson. "But you know what? [Maiden were getting] a few f****n' quid out of that Ozzfest," Osbourne said. "If you've got something to talk to me about, be a man. Come to my face and say, 'I think you're a f****n' a**hole.' Don't be a f****n' idiot. It's so pathetically childish."

In 2024, Osbourne still wasn't over the incident when he spoke to Billboard, adding how it always appeared like Dickinson wanted to be anywhere else except on stage at Ozzfest. "But it's pretty f*****g stupid if you accept the gig and all you do is complain about it," he said.

As one of the brains behind Ozzfest, Sharon Osbourne was never going to react kindly to someone trashing the festival and besmirching her family's good name. So when Bruce Dickinson decided to do all of those things onstage, he earned himself the ire of Osbourne. As Osbourne told Billboard in 2024, she didn't resent Iron Maiden for the incident, only Dickinson. "It was just the singer," she said. "The other guys in the band are great, great people. No problem at all. But when you've got a singer that is so eaten up with jealousy for the headliner, it never goes well."

Unfortunately, Maiden as a whole suffered for Dickinson's behavior, as Osbourne dished out sweet — albeit rotten — revenge. During Maiden's final performance, she orchestrated for the power to be cut, while a section of the crowd hurled eggs and other items at the band on stage. Then, Osbourne took to the stage to slam Dickinson for his behavior throughout Ozzfest, leaving no one guessing what she thought of him.

In 2017, while speaking to NME, Dickinson claimed his beef with the Osbournes was nothing more than "a complete storm in a teacup" and that he respected Black Sabbath and Ozzy for their musical achievements, but he disliked reality shows and wasn't prepared to apologize for that. In a 2022 interview with Consequence, Osbourne revealed her sentiment toward Dickinson hadn't softened in the 17 years since the incident, as she called him "a f*****g a**hole."

There are three certainties at every heavy metal show: Headbanging, sweaty people, and the lingering smell of marijuana. For Bruce Dickinson, though, the last one annoys him in particular. During a 2022 Iron Maiden show, Dickinson decided to rail against a concertgoer who dared to light and puff before him. After throwing obscenities at the attendee, Dickinson said that both he and bassist Steve Harris despise it and how it impacts their performance. He added: "I would just ask for a tiny bit of respect. If you want to go get completely stoned out of your f*****g mind, go out the back and do it. All right? Otherwise you're going to end up like this f*****g knucklehead here going 'uh.'"

It wasn't the only time on the tour that Dickinson would air his displeasure for marijuana, as he would voice his disapproval once again on stage. Expectedly, Dickinson's comments attracted scrutiny from the heavy metal community. One notable commentator was Hatebreed's vocalist, Jamey Jasta.

Taking to X (formerly known as Twitter), Jasta started off his reply by praising Dickinson as a singer and explaining how Hatebreed toured with Dickinson's son Austin, who formerly fronted the band Rise to Remain. However, Jasta couldn't resist poking fun at Dickinson for being seemingly upset about much ado about nothing, adding: "Just so ya know. Lots of people like to smoke weed at outdoor concerts. WHAT DOESN'T ANNOY YOU BRO?!?! Besides flying planes? lol you might need a puff or 2."

When it comes to the stars who can't stand Nikki Sixx, it's not a short list, and Bruce Dickinson's name features, too. However, the Mötley Crüe bassist appears to get a kick out of taunting Dickinson for an event that allegedly happened years ago. In the Crüe's memoir "The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band," Sixx said that he slept with Dickinson's then-wife during a tour of England when the Crüe performed with Iron Maiden, though he didn't know she was married to Dickinson at the time. In a 2007 interview with Howard Stern, Sixx laughed about it when it was brought up and said he wasn't the only one.

In a separate conversation with Blender in the same year, Sixx claimed that he had heard Dickinson's song "Tattooed Millionaire" was written about him because of the incident. However, Sixx reiterated that he wasn't to blame because he didn't know she was married.

Dickinson never addressed Sixx's claims head-on, but he harbored harsh words for Mötley Crüe in a 2007 interview with the Herald Sun (via Blabbermouth). He equated the group to a "circus freak" and "famous for being famous." While promoting his autobiography "What Does This Button Do?" in 2017, Dickinson took a thinly veiled dig at Sixx and the Crüe again. "I don't need to indulge in the salacious stuff or tittle-tattle," he told Rolling Stone. "There's no point — it's not 'The Dirt.'"

In 2016, a referendum took place in the United Kingdom regarding its withdrawal as a member of the European Union. The event became known as Brexit, and British people from all walks of life aired their opinions on the topic. Speaking to Le Nouvel Obs in 2018, Bruce Dickinson explained why he voted for the UK to leave the EU, stating: "Whatever deal will be done on Brexit will not change the status of the UK by very much, but I think it will enhance our economic capabilities, and that is good for us and actually, in the long run, good for Europe."

A few years later, Dickinson appeared on Sky News. In the segment, he discussed that while he voted in favor of Brexit, the government's handling of the situation was poor as there were issues with British musicians touring Europe, and vice versa. One person who couldn't resist the opportunity to comment was the Smiths' former guitarist Johnny Marr, who sarcastically posted the following message on X: "A musician supports Brexit then finds out that Brexit screws musicians and then complains. Well done mate."

Speaking about his decision to support Brexit, Dickinson told Classic Rock that he should have the right to his own opinion and it's "slightly disturbing" that others don't fathom there might people who disagree with them. He added: "It's like a dog whistle, people start running around and jumping up and down in anger, and I think it's out of all proportion."

Most heavy metal bands boast about the influence that punk rock had in shaping their music. Take Metallica as a prime example: Acts such as the Misfits and Ramones played crucial roles in them finding their sound. Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson, on the other hand, doesn't appear to be a fan. While discussing gatekeeping in music with Frank Turner for The Guardian in 2014, Dickinson said: "The closest the 'art establishment' ever came to embracing metal was punk. The reason they embraced punk was because it was rubbish and the reason they embraced rubbish was because they could control it." He also pointed a sharp jibe about how these bands lacked the ability to play their instruments.

Sharing a link to coverage of Dickinson's comments on Facebook, Dead Kennedys added the following caption: "I don't think he has ever heard East Bay Ray play guitar." East Bay Ray, of course, is the longtime and reportedly underrated guitarist of the punk band.

It wouldn't be the only time in which Dickinson would throw shade at punk rock, as he even criticized the Sex Pistols — the band many mistakenly think invented punk rock — for being well-orchestrated "darlings of the media" in a 2017 conversation with Vice. Although, he credited Glen Matlock for being "the only talent musically in there."

To learn more about Dickinson's famous band, check out the crazy real-life story of Iron Maiden.