Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson has announced that he is “all-clear” after battling cancer.
Dickinson first revealed that he was fighting the disease back in February, telling fans that a routine physical in December had revealed a small, cancerous tumor at the back of his tongue. Since that time, he has been undergoing chemotherapy and radiation and the band has been forced to curtail activities during the treatments.
On Friday, Iron Maiden announced the great diagnosis on their Facebook page with a statement from Bruce:
I would like to thank the fantastic medical team who have been treating me for the last few months, resulting in this amazing outcome. It’s been tough on my family and in many ways it was harder for them than me. I’d also like to send a heartfelt thanks to all our fans for their kind words and thoughts. I’m a firm believer in trying to maintain a positive attitude, and the encouragement from the global Maiden family meant a great deal to me. Right now, I’m feeling extremely motivated and can’t wait to get back to business as usual, as soon as I can!
The band’s manager, Rod Smallwood, added additional thanks and confirmed that a new Iron Maiden album would be out this year:
We are of course all absolutely delighted that Bruce’s doctors have pronounced him free of cancer. Although Bruce is naturally eager to resume Maiden activities, it will take a while before he is completely back to full strength, as we explained previously. Because of this, the band will not be touring or playing any shows until next year. We know our fans will understand the situation and, like us, would prefer to wait until Bruce is back to his usual indefatigable levels of fitness before going out on the road.
For now, the focus will be on putting the finishing touches to the new Iron Maiden studio album and that is what we will be concentrating on over the coming weeks. The release however will definitely be this year. Meanwhile, I’d like to echo Bruce’s words and thank all Maiden fans. You have been incredibly patient, putting Bruce’s health and well-being first during this difficult time and the band and I appreciate all your positive support.
Maiden’s last studio album was 2010’s The Final Frontier which became their highest charting album ever in the U.S., where it went to number 4, and their fourth number 1 album in the U.K.
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