Heavy metal heavyweight, 747 jet pilot, cancer survivor — Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson is a man of many dimensions.

On the heels of his health complications, the musician says wild horses couldn't keep him from touring his latest album, Book of Souls, with his longtime bandmates.



"You might come through the whole thing ... singing," Dickinson says of the cancer treatment and accompanying change of perspective. While sick, he says he went from noticing pubs and pretty women to zeroing in on churches and graveyards.

Against this backdrop, Dickinson joins Shad to discuss how he's getting on with life big style, why a "why not me?" attitude is more useful than "poor me" perspective, and why the music works best when the whole band locks in to the same emotion.

WEB EXTRA | Empire of the Clouds is not your usual Iron Maiden fare, but the song is special to Dickinson.

"I would be happy if the last thing people heard of my singing with Empire of the Clouds," he tells Shad.