1988.05.16 - Quebec Coliseum, Quebec City, Canada

Here’s Why Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson Regrets Not Punching Axl Rose

Iron Maiden‘s super-trooper frontman, Bruce Dickinson, has said he has “always regretted” not punching Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose when he had the chance to, back in 1988.

In a recent interview with Le Journal de Montréal, Dickinson discusses the night of 16th May 1998, when Guns N’ Roses opened for Iron Maiden in Quebec City, Canada.

According to Dickinson, Rose wasn’t treating the crowd nicely because they were speaking to him in French, and since then Dickinson hasn’t let himself forget that he didn’t give Rose a piece of his mind that night.

“I should have come onstage and given him a punch,” Dickinson says. “How could he dare speak to my audience in that way? I always regretted not having done so.”

La fois où il a voulu frapper Axl

Interrogé sur ses souvenirs de ses passages au Québec, Bruce Dickinson a raconté avec humour qu’il a un jour eu envie de frapper Axl Rose au Colisée de Québec.

Guns N’Roses jouait alors en première partie d’Iron Maiden et, selon Dickinson, Axl Rose s’en serait pris à des spectateurs parce qu’ils lui parlaient en français.

«J’aurais dû monter sur scène et lui donner un coup de poing. Comment pouvait-il oser parler à mon public de la sorte? J’ai toujours regretté de ne pas l’avoir fait.»