Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson has revealed he underwent hip replacement surgery after being diagnosed with osteoarthritis. Known for his energetic live performances that see him run and jump all over the stage, Dickinson revealed he was in agony on the band’s ‘Legacy of the Beast World Tour’, which began in 2018, and couldn’t even “walk properly.”

Bruce said: “I put it down to the fact that during the last tour, just shortly before the last tour, I also broke my Achilles as well — my Achilles tendon snapped … It’s horrible. That was two years ago, basically. So I got that stitched back together and went out on tour three and a half months later. I couldn’t actually walk properly or run. So I modified what I did on stage, and nobody figured it out. I was amazed. I did the whole tour — South America, the whole lot — and I ran around. But my hip was giving me so much s***. And I put it down to the fact that people were telling me, ‘You’re compensating for the other leg,’ and everything else, and I thought, ‘Oh, yeah. That’s it, then.'”

Dickinson said he tried to treat the pain with Ibuprofen before finally asking if he could have hip surgery before the band’s next tour. Dickinson says it was the best decision he’s ever made, adding: “I was getting addicted to Ibuprofen and all the rest of it, and it p***** me off so much. I was just, like, ‘Look, it’s not gonna get any better, is it?’ And he went, ‘No.’ So I said, ‘It’s October. When the safety car comes out, [Lewis] Hamilton goes in for fresh tires. So let’s do it now in October, because I might have a tour next year.’ Little did I know. But being an eternal optimist, it was the best thing I’ve done. So now, with my new hip, I’m back to fencing again. It’s absolutely incredible. I’ve been doing physio and doing weights that I haven’t done since I was 16 or 17 years old. I’m squatting a hundred kilos. It’s mental what your body can do.”