Former Iron Maiden singer Paul Di'Anno stopped the show during a concert in Donetsk, Ukraine, after a member of the audience kept shouting Bruce Dickinson's name. Scroll down to watch video of the incident.
The singer referred to his successor’s celebrated "air raid siren" voice and made a homophobic reference to him.
Di'Anno said: "I’m sorry – I don’t do opera," and mimicked Dickinson's vocal on 'Run To The Hills'. He added: "It’s too f--king easy – and I’m not gay."
"This is punk. If you like Bruce Dickinson go home and listen to his records. Why did you buy a ticket, motherf--ker? This is real punk, man. This is what made Iron Maiden – not the money-making machine.
"If you don’t like me, f--k off. Better still – you want to fight? You'll be sorry. I'm sorry, I didn't say I was a nice guy. You f--k me up, I'll kick your f--king ass."
He then delivered a rendition of early Maiden track Running Free, describing it as "the song that made Iron Maiden famous," and adding: "It’s about sex, drugs, rock’n'roll, Harley Davidson motorcycles."
Di'Anno, who recently spent time in jail after being found guilty of benefit fraud, fronted the NWOBHM giants for their first two albums before being replaced by Dickinson in 1981.
Haha, did you really watch the video? It's ****ing hilarious. The guy that screams Bruce's name is drunk as hell, plus he has the funniest Russian accent. It's a really funny exchange. Reading it in plain text doesn't let you appreciate Di'Anno's tone. He took it with humor.
I agree.. the guy even said he was sorry and "I love you" and shit... and the whole video this ******* singer who thinks he's a bigshot keeps making gestures at him.. If it were me I'd get up the stage and actually started a fight if he wanted it so bad. Hells angel and famous or not, I wouldn't really care, you don't treat a fan that way.
Hang on - in an article where Paul Di'Anno says that he's not gay, UG posts a blurb below the main headline which says "Paul Di'Anno slammed his replacement Bruce Dickinson".
Well... It looked a lot worse in text, it's not like he is that hateful towards Bruce Dickinson.
I mean, you have the right to be pissed off (and then show off a little) when Ukrainian guy comes shouting the name of the current vocalist of your former band at your gig.
Kinda funny how the guy in the crowd took everything so seriously and started the "I sory, I sory, I lav yoo"
From interviews I've read/seen with Di'Anno, he actually seems to harbor no hate or resentment toward Maiden, including Dickinson. I just put this down to a guy who's a bit of a loudmouth and says stuff before thinking. Sorta Dave Mustaine-ish.
okay i honestly do love the first two maiden albums and paul kicked ass on them, but come on, bruce is so much better. paul could've just laughed it off, the guy who yelled his name out sounded drunk as hell. in my opinion, paul's probably pretty bitter about how much more successful maiden got after bruce came in
nah he's right, Di anno is just saying opera singers are gay, so unless you consider gay or opera singers are insults, there's nothing homophobic there
"That's no different from saying "opera singers are all girls"."
but you wouldn't say " omagad that is so sexist, how can he say that opera singers are all girls?!"... and you wouldn't consider it an insult, if I say " all cow are white" you would'nt consider it an insult, just a wrong observation, same applies here, unless you think gay is an insult, saying opera singers are gay, is just a wrong observation rather than an insult towards opera singers or gay people
Phobia = fear. You are the one who is not bright, kid. I don't have anything against gays, but this is bullshit, what's next, I'm homophobic if I refuse to watch gay porn?
It's more like racism than it is a fear. If he had said "I don't rap; I'm not black", it would basically be the same thing. He's stereotyping unfairly. If I was gay OR an opera singer, I would be offended by that.
+1. People throw that term around all the time without even thinking about what it means, ignorance is not fear. Sure, his comment was offensive, I agree. But is he afraid of gay people? I highly doubt it. It's like saying being arachnophobic is offensive to spiders.
That guy is a shadow of his former self which is a shame because I really think that Maiden's first two albums are incredibly strong NWOBHM titles (not saying later releases aren't) but in all honesty, he hits out at Saxon for no reason at all and has the nerve to call Iron Maiden "boring" while he himself covers a lot of their songs (granted the songs during his time in Maiden)
It's a shame he's so bitter, the first 2 Maiden albums are excellent. And anyone who feels the need to announce on stage that they aren't gay... probably likes cock
Coming from the guy that got kicked out of one of the biggest metal bands ever, I don't know how seriously I can take his comments and he obviously has some issues he has to deal with.
Also, it's very petty of him to stereotype homosexuality and operatic styles of singing. People like him are the reason we have so many problems to begin with
That is pretty stupid. Calling the guy out asking him why he bought a ticket and to go listen to the records at home if he didn't want to see him. The guy was drunk, clearly, and probably didn't mean to offend him. Then Paul decides throughout the entire song to threaten this guy with gestures and yell at him between singing. That obviously takes away from the song he was playing to the audience and focuses everything on that drunk guy who probably didn't even know what he was yelling at him for.
actually that was the image they went for at first. well... the record company kinda tried to push them in that direction. it is noticable on their first album cover. "punk eddie"
Di'Anno had a lot to do with Maiden's early success but he just honestly wasn't a good enough vocalist for the kind of music that the band wanted to make. I kind of feel bad for him at this point and wish him the best.
"I am not gay"... just... stupid. Tell that to Halford who sings 100x better than you.
Punk didn't make Iron Maiden. It was an influence in the beggining but did not make Maiden.
The guy screaming Bruce is an ass, but Paul is a bigger one.
I gotta say, I saw Di'Anno at a Uni bar in Newcastle, no more than 20 people there, he ****ing tore it up. Voice was great, attitude was what it was all about, sex, drugs & rock and roll.
Di'Anno is a fat fu*king lying hypocrite moron, and on top of that - his voice - pigs sound better than him, and this comes from a HUGE Iron Maiden fan.
Imagine trying defend yourself in russian and feel a bit of sympathy for the dude in the crowd! Literally everyone in that room is a better metal vocalist than Paul it seems!
I feel bad for the dude in the crowd. He was totally misunderstood :p he must've felt so bad after the show, if he didn't get killed by that fat dude on stage :p
What an idiot... As a straight guy who sings both rock and opera, I can tell you which one is easier. Paul Di'Anno is a homophobic, ignorant, narrow-minded pathetic pissant who can't take the fact that Dickinson would sing circles around him, and that any true opera singer knows more about singing than he could ever hope to learn.
All the guy said was "Bruce Dickinson" and Di'Anno got pissed off! I think he may have some sour grapes towards a more Bruce! Also his vocals are not better than Bruce IMO.
if Paulina dianno thinks opera is easy he deserves to be shot just because all he can do is one word sustains a breath every five seconds to avoid running out of air does not make bruce gay infancy it makes him more many a real man can hold his breath while loosing it welcome to opera dumba$$ he got kicked from maiden for being an alcoholic. and he's just being a whip and not moving on.
ok you may not like opera but those singer i guarantee you practice hours more than you do per day and do it everyday. liking opera doesnt make you gay either,, the ****? opera was during the time that music was at its strongest in my opinion. mozart beethoven back.. they mustve been gay too huh? ignorant thing to say
you know what makes this so sad? this guy was on two genre defining albums for NWOBHM, with the biggest metal band of all time... and I still played bigger gigs with my shittyass band in High School...
A has-been who can't even accomplish the life-skills of staying out of jail and being professional regarding his musical career has no call to bitch about others that CAN actually function.
He joins the ranks of other people that were place-holders in eventually important bands...destined to be a footnote when the band is peaking.
"little sheep fags" he's a ****wit and you sound just like him. Not a good musicians at all, totally lacking in talent, just catering to an audience with shit for brains.
Wow, and he seemed such a nice guy when I met him two years back. On one hand, I can get why he was irritated, but I just would've made one or two comments about it instead of dragging the whole thing out like that. Really childish and unprofessional, Mr. Di'Anno.
Any vocalists here on UG care to prove him right by comparing it to punk or metal? the guy that mentioned bruce was an ass,but Paul couldve handled it waaaay better.
I don't really have a problem with Paul here, maybe the gestures during the song were a bit much but who cares, it's a rock concert and that Japanese dude was being a dumbass troll. Loved his work with early Maiden, definitely need to catch him next time he tours the US.
It really looked like Di'Anno was trying to laugh it off but the guy kept saying "Broos Deekinson!" at him til he got pissed off. It sounded like the guy was trying to say something nice about Di'Anno too haha. Plus Di'Anno said "And I'm not gay" like he was calling Bruce Dickinson gay, not all opera singers. At leas that's how it sounded to me. Whatever, it was obviously a stupid misunderstanding.
That fan was a ****ing retard..when you dont know the language dont try to speak it.. He was like 'BROUCE DICKINSON...BROUCE DICKINSON...HE...I...My FRIEND...NO..I LOWE YOU...NO! MY friend..BRUCE' WTF????? SHut the **** up already!
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