Sharon Osbourne Still Doesn’t Think Too Highly of Bruce Dickinson

Sharon Osbourne has long taken issue with Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson dating back to when Maiden took part in Ozzfest in 2005. It seems as though time has not healed any of those wounds.

For context: Dickinson made some negative comments about Ozzy Osbourne during Maiden's Ozzfest sets. Among them were saying how Maiden would never appear on a reality television show. At that time, Ozzy's profile was receiving a major boost thanks to the popularity of the MTV reality show The Osbournes. To retaliate in a very "Stand By Your Man" moment, Sharon organized a group of people to pelt Dickinson with eggs during Maiden's set at the final Ozzfest stop that year.

All of this drama came up during Ozzy and Sharon's recent interview with Consequence. Ozzy was very reserved saying of Dickinson, in part, "Bruce Dickinson is a great singer, but as a person, I’ve worked with him, and he’s not very nice."

As expected, Sharon had a lot more to say and didn't hold anything back.

"Bruce Dickinson is a f---ing prick. Well, no, he’s not a prick because a prick’s nice. He’s a f---ing a--hole," said Sharon. "Because the situation is he was on a tour called Ozzfest. And Ozzy Osbourne was paying him every night to perform. He accepted the gig. He knew what he was doing. He accepted the gig. And every night he would go onstage and say bad things about Ozzy. And the crew and everybody in all the other bands would be like, ‘Are you letting him get away with it?’ And I’m like, ‘I sure am.’ But the last gig was [just outside of] L.A. And I thought, ‘You motherf---er, now you’re gonna get it.’"

Sharon continued, "And so I had about 20 people in the audience and a lot of them were nurses from Cedars Sinai, because I had cancer at that time. And they were all my chemo nurses. And they all came down, and they f---ing pelted the shit out of him. And my thing is, you play, you pay!"

The shrewd manager (in more ways than one) added, "And the thing is, if you’re being paid to do a gig, but you don’t like the person, then f--- off. But don’t stay, take the money, take all the good that’s coming to your band through being on a festival, doing 24 shows and still slagging the person that’s paying you. It’s like, ‘No, that makes you a f---ing a--hole.’ And he is. And he’s never apologized, he never even went up and said hello to Ozzy. The thing about him is that he is just so jealous. And always has been of Ozzy. And that’s his problem."

Sharon further added, "Because the thing is about Bruce Dickinson, he’s hugely successful. He’s got a great fan base, a great fan base that have been loyal. The band are great guys. All the band are great. And they do great. You know, they’re a great band, you can’t take it away, and neither would I take that away from them. But the thing about Bruce is, he is unknown to the public. Bruce Dickinson could walk into anywhere and nobody would know who the f--- he is. Do you know what I’m saying?"

She brought it all to a close with, "He’s a faceless singer to the general public. People aren’t scrambling to get him for an interview. And the thing is, he’s not interesting. But the thing is, Ozzy is original and Bruce isn’t and that’s what eats Bruce away."

As if you needed a reminder: When it comes to Ozzy, don't you dare mess with him, because then you'll feel the wrath of Sharon. Very few people could handle that.

As Iron Maiden’s third album (and first with singer Bruce Dickinson), ‘The Number of the Beast,’ hits its 40th anniversary, the question on everyone’s mind is... how the HELL has this band not been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? Go to any major rock festival in the U.S. this year (or any year), and nearly every band on the bill owes Maiden a debt (and they all probably have worn out their share of Maiden cassettes, CDs and t-shirts).

The band has released a handful of classic albums, including The Number of the Beast. And with their most recent two double(!) albums, The Book of Souls and Senjutsu , they've shown that there's still more gas in the tank. Here, we rank their classics, starting with their debut album, going all the way up through 2021’s excellent Senjutsu. And here's hoping that the Rock Hall does the right thing and puts Maiden on the ballot in 2023 (in the meantime, they'd better induct Judas Priest this year). 

The album’s title track was the one that parents and religious “leaders” were sweating (and moaning) over, but had ‘The Number of the Beast’ LP been released today, “Run To The Hills” might have gotten more attention. It depicts the colonization of America, and the first verse comes from the perspective of Native Americans. The first lines: “White man came across the sea/He brought us pain and misery.” A later verse includes the quote “the only good Indians are tame.” The song has been played so many times, and the repetition may have dulled the lyrics to those who have heard them over and over. But listen to them carefully, they’re as hard-hitting as the music (no mean feat) and are as thought-provoking as the best metal and rock and roll lyrics.