'I Can’t Sing If You’re Gonna Smoke': Bruce Dickinson Lashes Out At Vaping Punters

Iron Maiden vocalist Bruce Dickinson has fired at punters allegedly vaping at his recent solo concert, calling the habit “disgusting” and “a fucking addiction”.

On Saturday (27 April), Dickinson was about to get into the first song of the encore Navigate The Seas Of The Sun from his 2005 album, Scream For Me Sarajevo, while performing at the Ópera Hall in Brazil. In video footage captured below, the singer stated that vape smoke and the fumes of an exploding vape pen were affecting his throat, as well as members of his touring party.

“I can’t fucking breathe,” Dickinson said in a now-deleted Instagram video (per Blabbermouth). “[Bassist] Tanya [O’Callaghan] can’t breathe. You with the fucking vape over there, yeah, it’s not you, but, you know, please, fucking do that outside, all right? You know, if you can’t stay for five minutes without having a fucking addiction…”

Before performing Navigate The Seas Of The Sun, he said in separate footage: “I do apologise for coughing. Some of you fuckers are smoking, all right? I can’t sing if you’re gonna smoke, all right?

“[Tanya’s] coughing her guts out, I’m coughing, my fucking wife is going, ‘Blargh,’ in the back there, all right? It’s kind of disgusting, all right? But if you wanna be disgusting, do it outside, all right? Not in here. My throat’s got work to do. You pay good money to hear me fucking sing, not go, ‘Blargh, blargh,’ all right?”

Dickinson also mentioned that he believed “some fucker” was “using pepper spray”, but concert promoters MCA Concerts confirmed that it was actually an accidental explosion of a punter’s vape pen, sending toxic fumes throughout the venue.

You can watch video footage of Dickinson addressing vaping punters below.

Dickinson is currently touring in support of his latest solo album, The Mandrake Project.

In other Bruce Dickinson-related news, the singer will tour Australia with Iron Maiden this September, with Sydney and Melbourne receiving additional shows.

Band founder and bassist Steve Harris said upon announcing the tour, “We’re all really excited to finally be able to return to Australia, as we know our fans have waited so patiently for us over the past few years. It’s going to be great to get back there, especially with this new show. We promise you all it’ll be worth the wait!”

Band manager Rod Smallwood added, “All our best-laid plans to bring the Legacy Of The Beast Tour to Australia were derailed by the shut-down of the live music industry during COVID, but we assured everyone at the time that we would come back to Australia and, as our fans know, we always keep to our promises.

“So, as you would imagine, we’re very much looking forward to bringing this amazing new show to the Southern hemisphere and giving our loyal Australian fans the best Maiden show we can. You can be assured it’s worth the wait. See you all in 2024!”