In a recent conversation with The Quietus, Bruce Dickinson said Steve Harris intended to fire him from Iron Maiden.
The frontman recalled the disagreement between him and the bassist during the shooting of the ‘Number of the Beast’ video:
“I remember me and Steve had the most terrific argument when we finished shooting the ‘Number of the Beast’ video. We were going to go outside and sort each other out. I was like, ‘Roll up your sleeves, come on then, punch me.’ I remember Steve saying to our manager Rod, ‘He goes! He’s got to go!’ Rod just said, ‘He’s not bloody going!’ After that, we gradually settled into a bit of a truce.”
Harris and Dickinson usually clashed due to their differing visions. After their sixth album, Harris claimed Dickinson’s material wasn’t good enough and that he was burnt out. Following the ‘Fear of the Dark Tour,’ Dickinson planned to leave Iron Maiden but had to stay for a booked tour in 1993.
Bruce’s Words On Harris’ Character
Tension escalated, and the bassist accused Bruce of deliberately underperforming. Dickinson denied the accusations, citing the atmosphere’s influence on his performance. This conflict led to Dickinson’s departure from Iron Maiden after his last performance in 1993. Dickinson returned to the band in 1999 although Steve initially rejected it. In an earlier chat with Louder Sound, the singer opened up about his relationship with Harris:
“Steve is extremely determined and for a mild-mannered, shy sort of chap offstage, he’s got quite a ruthless streak in him. Not in a bad way or an exploitative way, but he’ll go, ‘This is not working and there’s no way around it…’ He can be very, very stubborn and, of course, so can I! Hahaha!”
Dickinson also previously admitted he nearly came to blows with Harris in his early days over stage issues like monitor placement and microphone bashing. They resolved it by using a bigger stage.
