Bruce Dickinson is already mapping out his next chapter. The Iron Maiden frontman has revealed that he will head into the studio in January next year to begin work on his next solo album, aiming for a 2027 release.
Speaking with Charlie Kendall of Metalshop, Dickinson shared that the project will reunite him with producer Brendan Duffey — the same man who recently breathed new life into his 1994 solo album Balls to Picasso with a stunning remix.
“We’re going in the studio with him in January,” Dickinson confirmed. “And we’re looking to release the album in ’27. The amazing band that’s going to record the new record with me is the same band that toured Europe with me — and, hopefully, the same band that will hit the road with me again in 2027.”
It’s been a busy year for Dickinson. In March 2024, he released his seventh solo album, The Mandrake Project, and he’s about to embark on his first-ever North American tour for the record, kicking off August 22 in Anaheim, California. The setlist promises a journey through his solo career, mixing Mandrake tracks with fan favourites from The Chemical Wedding (1998), Accident of Birth (1997), and Balls to Picasso — including the enduring “Tears of the Dragon” and the powerful “Gods of War.”
In a recent interview with Metal Hammer, Dickinson opened up about “Tears of the Dragon,” a song many fans have long viewed as his farewell to Iron Maiden after leaving the band in 1993.
“It’s a bit deeper than that,” he explained. “’Farewell to Maiden’ makes it sound like I was thumbing my nose at them. Really, it was more introspective. It’s about self-doubt. At that time, I realised I didn’t have a clear idea of what I was doing creatively — I just felt lost.”
That honesty, paired with his relentless drive, has kept Dickinson’s solo career not just alive but thriving. And with a new album on the horizon and a tour to match, fans can expect more from him in the years to come.
Recently, he also revisited the past with More Balls to Picasso — a partly re-recorded, remixed, and newly mastered take on his 1994 classic — proving that in Dickinson’s world, the old and the new are forever connected.
