Bruce Dickinson has released a new video for his classic solo song “Tears of the Dragon,” and this time the track arrives with a dramatic new look and serious awards momentum. The video supports the reimagined version of the song that appears on More Balls To Picasso, the expanded 2025 revision of Dickinson’s 1994 solo album Balls To Picasso. It was filmed in September 2025 in São Paulo, Brazil, following Dickinson’s appearance at The Town festival, and was directed by Leo Liberti and Antoine de Montremy.
The new film was shot inside a disused brewery in São Paulo and features Dickinson with his House Band of Hell, backed by the Almai orchestra conducted by Antonio Teoli. Brazilian dancer Renata Bardazi also appears in the video, adding a theatrical and emotional layer to the performance. Dickinson said the whole idea came from wanting an orchestral version of the song from the moment the album was reimagined. He described the project as “brilliant madness” and explained that the band worked with Liberti, whom he had previously used for Brazilian live footage, to bring the concept to life.
In Dickinson’s own words, the team always wanted to hear an orchestral take on “Tears of the Dragon.” He said Antonio Teoli scored the arrangement, the band recorded it, and then they found the old brewery setting that gave the video its grand, almost gothic feel. Dickinson also said they dressed the orchestra to look “slightly zombified,” helping the video land somewhere between concert film, art piece, and surreal performance.
That ambitious approach has already paid off. According to the release, the video has won Best Music Video at several international film festivals, including the Los Angeles Film Festival IAF, Los Angeles Film Awards, New York International Film Awards, Eastern Europe Film Festival, Sweden Luleå International Film Festival, Asian Independent Film Festival, and World Premiere Films Awards. It also earned Bronze at the Berlin Music Video Awards.
The awards run is still not finished. The video is also nominated at the Cannes Film Awards, Cannes World Film Festival, International Sound & Film Festival, Rome Prisma Film Awards, Tokyo Lift-Off Film Festival, Filmmaker Sessions, and the New York Short Cinema Awards, showing that the new visual has already become one of Dickinson’s most notable solo-era projects in years.
The song itself has a long and important history. “Tears of the Dragon” was first released on 16 May 1994 as the lead single from Dickinson’s second solo album, Balls To Picasso. It was written by Dickinson and recorded with Roy Z on guitar, Eddie Cassillas on bass, and Dickie Fliszar on drums. The track reached No. 28 in the UK Singles Chart and No. 36 on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.
Beyond the numbers, the song is one of Dickinson’s most personal solo statements. Its lyrics are widely understood as reflecting his feelings about leaving Iron Maiden, which is part of why it has remained such an emotional fan favorite. Over the years it has been praised as one of the strongest songs on the album, and its new orchestral treatment gives it a fresh layer of depth without losing the power of the original.
The new release is part of Dickinson’s broader effort to reframe Balls To Picasso as More Balls To Picasso, a project he has said was designed to update the album’s sound and bring it closer to the vision he had for it originally. The new “Tears of the Dragon” video fits that goal perfectly: it takes a song that has already stood the test of time and presents it in a bigger, more cinematic form.
Bruce Dickinson’s latest move is not just a nostalgia play. It is a reminder that one of heavy metal’s great voices still knows how to revisit the past without simply repeating it. With its orchestral scale, strong visuals, and festival success, this new “Tears of the Dragon” video gives the song a second life that feels both respectful and ambitious.
https://youtu.be/-C8tUtthP2g
