“The first thing on my mind is, am I gonna get through this and be alive? And the last thing on my mind was would I ever sing again?” Bruce Dickinson would have helped Iron Maiden replace him if cancer stopped him from singing

Dickinson reflects on his 2015 cancer battle and reveals he would have helped Iron Maiden replace him had his voice been affected

Bruce Dickinson says he’d have helped Iron Maiden replace him if his cancer battle had cost him his singing voice.

The 66-year-old, who underwent chemotherapy for cancerous tumours on his tongue and neck in 2015, tells the Rich Roll podcast he was “quite prepared” to not sing with Iron Maiden again following his diagnosis, calling the band’s music “sacrosanct”.

“When I had throat cancer, the last thing on my mind was, would I ever sing again?” he says (via Blabbermouth). “The first thing on my mind is, am I gonna get through this and be alive? And the last thing on my mind was would I ever sing again? And I thought, ‘Well, we’ll get to that stage when I’m done and we start trying to sing.’”