The effects of aging on vocalists and when to hang it up in the worlds of heavy metal and hard rock have long been the source of debate. From Mötley Crüe‘s Vince Neil and Guns N’ Roses‘ Axl Rose, to former Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth and Puddle Of Mudd vocalist/guitarist Wes Scantlin, there’s no shortage of discussion on when to bow out gracefully. Of course there’s a multitude of reasons that musicians refuse to retire.
From the obvious financial benefits, to the adoration of fans, an addiction to the rock & roll lifestyle, or even unchecked egos, many metal and rock icons have embarrassed themselves by staying long past their expiry date. And yet age catches up to us all, even the gods of rock and metal.
Tool, etc. frontman Maynard James Keenan is one of the rare prominent musicians to have publicly accepted the limitations on his voice imposed by age, and countless tenured bands have adjusted their tunings to better accommodate the declining registers of their vocalists as the years go on.
Iron Maiden vocalist Bruce Dickinson has been praised for his pipes over the years, and with the band soon headed into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame later this year, that British heavy metal band’s legendary status is even further cemented.
However, as Dickinson went on to state in a newly published interview with Kerrang!, to him legendary is a distinction reserved only for those who still have the chops. Dickinson went on to tell the aforementioned publication that a recent “argument with a journalist” saw him questioned about when he feels it’s time for an artist to pack it in.
While Dickinson opined that when he can no longer do his best, he’d hang it up. The journalist however put forth, “You can’t do that, you’ve got to go on.” Dickinson went on to say of that exchange:
“Look, there are loads of singers who voices are shot and everybody knows it.’ He goes, ‘Yeah, but they’re legends.’ They’re not fucking legends, They’re people who can’t sing anymore. When they were singing, they were legends. When they can’t sing anymore, they’re not legends anymore. That’s the end of that, the brutal truth. I couldn’t go on stage if I didn’t think I could do it. I don’t know how people get onstage when they can’t do it anymore. Obviously, it’s their life, but it’s not my way.”
When asked if that worries him, Dickinson offered:
“No. It’s just a fact of life that one day it may or may not happen. You take each day as it comes, and you try to give the best performance of your life every night. That’s the rules of the game.”
