September 26, 1981: Bruce Dickinson joined UK rock band Iron Maiden

​​- TheCrow -

September 26, 1981, was a big day for Iron Maiden, as they made the most important line-up switch they would ever undertake: Bruce Dickinson was brought in, to replace Paul Di'Anno on vocals.​

---

Paul Bruce Dickinson (born 7 August 1958 in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, England), besides being the lead singer of Iron Maiden, Bruce is an airline pilot, radio show host, historian, television presenter, fencer, producer, novelist, and songwriter. According to Allmusic, Dickinson "was the most acclaimed and instantly recognizable vocalist to emerge from the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement of the early-'80s".He is the older cousin of Rob Dickinson, lead singer of British alternative rock band Catherine Wheel.
​​Before Iron Maiden, Dickinson was the singer in a similar band called Samson, from 1979 until he joined Iron Maiden two years later in 1981. In Samson and previous bands, he went by the name of "Bruce Bruce". During previous years, he was in Styx (1976) (not to be confused with the Styx American band of the same name), then went on to sing for Speed (1977 - 1978). When Speed split up, he joined Shots until the summer of 1979. 
He made his recording debut with Iron Maiden on their Number of the Beast album in 1982.

---