Bruce Dickinson

Paul Bruce Dickinson was born on 7 August 1958 in Worksop, Nottinghamshire. His mother, Sonia, worked part-time in a shoe shop, and his father, Bruce, was a mechanic in the British Army. His birth hurried the young couple, who were then just teenagers, into marriage. Initially, he was brought up by his grandparents; his grandfather was a coal-face worker at the local colliery, and his grandmother was a housewife. This is referred to in his song "Born In '58" from the album Tattooed Millionaire. Dickinson started school at Manton Primary in Worksop while his parents moved away to Sheffield. Soon afterwards, when he was six, he was also despatched to Sheffield, where he attended a primary school in Manor Top. After six months, his parents decided to move him to a small private school called Sharrow Vale Junior. Due to constant moving, Dickinson states that this period of his life taught him to be self-reliant as he was unable to make close friends. Dickinson has a younger sister, professional showjumper Helena Stormanns, who was born in 1963. He tried to isolate himself from her as much as he could when he was young, supposedly out of spite because she, unlike him, was a planned pregnancy and birth. Dickinson's first musical experience was dancing in his grandparents' front room to Chubby Checker's "The Twist", when he still lived with them in Worksop. …

Dickinson married Erica "Jane" Barnett in 1984 and they divorced in 1987. With his second wife, psychotherapist Patrice "Paddy" Bowden, he has three children. All three were born in the Chiswick area of London, where Dickinson lived for a few decades beginning in 1981. In 2020, it was reported that he and Bowden had separated earlier after almost 30 years of marriage. She died in an accident at her home in May 2020. As of December 2023 Dickinson lives in Paris with his wife Leana Dolci whom he married in late 2023. Dickinson's son Austin was the lead singer in metalcore band Rise to Remain until their break-up in 2015, at which point he formed the alternative metal group As Lions. His other son Griffin, who previously worked as a stage carpenter for Iron Maiden during their tours, was the lead singer of melodic hardcore band SHVPES. Dickinson's cousin, Rob Dickinson, was the lead singer of alternative rock band Catherine Wheel and founded the American company Singer Vehicle Design. In an interview with Sarah Montague for BBC's HARDtalk in 2012, Dickinson agreed that he is a conservative and a Eurosceptic. Dickinson said in a 2018 interview with French magazine L'Obs that, despite residing mainly in France, he supported Brexit and voted for the UK to leave the EU during the 2016 referendum. …