Bruce Dickinson (born Paul Bruce Dickinson, August 7, 1958 in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, England) is the legendary lead singer in the heavy metal band Iron Maiden. Before this, he was the singer in a similar band called Samson from 1980, until he joined Iron Maiden the following year. He made his recording debut with Iron Maiden on their Number of the Beast album in 1982. During previous years, he was in Styx (1976) (not the American band of the same name; Styx), then went on to sing for Speed (1977 - 1978) and when this band split, he joined Shots until the summer of 1979.