Iron Maiden‘s Bruce Dickinson said that the band would turn down offers to play at Glastonbury if they were ever invited.
The 2025 edition of the Worthy Farm festival is well underway, but Iron Maiden aren’t on site, and are instead due at the London Stadium tomorrow (June 28) as part of their ongoing European and UK ‘Run For Your Lives’ tour.
In a new interview with The i Paper, frontman Dickinson spoke about playing a concert in England at the same time as the iconic festival. “I always said I’d turn Glastonbury down if we were ever invited. I don’t want to go play in front of Gwyneth Paltrow and a perfume-infested yurt,” he explained.
“It’s not just about making money,” he continued. “We want shitloads of people to come and see us. I’m amazed at the prices that some people are prepared to pay to see some legacy acts.”
Iron Maiden, 2021. CREDIT: Press
The metal veterans’ ‘Run For Your Lives’ tour kicked off in Budapest, Hungary in May. You can check all dates here and find any remaining tickets for the shows here.
Shortly before the tour commenced, their manager Ron Smallwood urged fans to refrain from filming the band’s performances on their phones during the shows. Writing a post titled ‘Put Away Your Phones and Get Ready to Run For Your Lives!’, he implored gig-goers to experience the shows “in the moment” rather than through a phone screen.
He explained the band wanted fans to experience the show “as they would have when many of these songs were first played live back in 80’s”.
The current worldwide trek marks Maiden’s 50th anniversary as a band and will see them playing a setlist made up exclusively of songs from their first nine studio albums, with frontman Dickinson previously teasing that the band would “be doing stuff we’ve never, ever done before”.
The mammoth run of dates will also see the debut of drummer Simon Dawson, following the retirement of long-term sticksman Nicko McBrain, who announced he would be stepping away from touring after suffering a minor stroke in 2023 which left him partially paralysed on his right side from the shoulder down.
As for Glastonbury 2025, so far the festival has seen sets from Lewis Capaldi, Lorde, Supergrass, CMAT and Wet Leg, with The 1975, Biffy Clyro and Loyle Carner among those set to round out the Friday line-up.
Check back at NME here for the latest news, reviews, interviews, photos and more from Glastonbury 2025.
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