Who knew you could fly the friendly skies with one of heavy metal’s most influential frontmen?
Iron Maiden lead singer, Bruce Dickinson, captained Liverpool FC’s flight from John Lennon Airport on Wednesday morning. The team was travelling to Naples, Italy for a Europa League match against SSC Napoli.
Dickinson has been flying for over 20 years, and is a pilot for Astraeus Airlines, based out of Crawley, England. Dickinson also serves as the marketing director for the company. The heavy metal legend says he balances his time between flying and touring with Iron Maiden.
“I don’t know what (career) gives me the bigger thrill as they’re both big rushes for me,” Dickinson told Liverpoolfc.tv. “I am never going to give up singing because it’s been my life and there are so many Iron Maiden fans out there.”
Iron Maiden begins touring again in February of next year, when the band plays five shows in Australia.
According to a report by NME.com, Dickinson wasn’t scheduled to fly the Reds to their Italian matchup, but switched over because the opportunity to fly the Liverpool club was “more interesting” than his originally scheduled flight to Iceland.
While he’s not a Liverpool FC fan, Dickinson did recognize the prestige of the club, and hopes to bring them luck in their match against Napoli.
“Liverpool are an amazing club,” he said. “They are more than a club, they are an institution and represent such a body of people here in the city. I hope they do well.”
Liverpool is scheduled to play Napoli on Thursday at 1 p.m. ET.
