Bruce Dickinson

One of my new personal heros is Bruce Dickinson, lead singer for Iron Maiden. I've been a huge fan of Maiden since I was in high school. I've always admired Dickinson for his accomplishments outside of heavy metal. He's an airline pilot, fencer, book writer, and probably whole bunch of other things. He seems to be constantly doing something. He's a healthy guy with a great attitude toward life. He gave a rant at Ozzfest on dope (now, this is coming from what I remember, warning: quotation might be a little off):

I smell dope. <crowd cheers> I hate dope. This music is about energy, not about being laid back. Dope is for f**king hippies. If you want to be laid back, go to a Dave Matthews concert!

That took a lot of guts to say at a concert like Ozzfest. I feel exactly the same way. I have no time to be laid back. It endeared him to me. There's a not lot of musicians that will stand up and take a stance like that. But, if that wasn't enough, he says this in a recent interview:

"I hate Walmart, and I hate the corporatization of everything in America. I despise it. People need to have their minds made up for them, at this moment, and they need to liberate themselves from that. It drives me nuts…"

Bravo. You go, Mr. Dickinson. I hope to one day meet him and talk about his view on life and politics. He sounds like an interesting cat. Rock on!