Bruce Dickinson Rips Fans for Smoking After Vape Pen Explodes

Bruce Dickinson chastised fans who were smoking during his April 27 concert at the Opera Hall in Brasília, Brazil.

The Iron Maiden frontman, who is out touring in support of his recent solo album, The Mandrake Project, became irate when air quality began affecting his performance.

“I can’t fucking breathe. Tanya [O’Callaghan, Bruce’s bassist] can’t breathe,” the singer declared (as transcribed by Blabbermouth). The metal legend then directed his attention to one fan in particular. “You with the fucking vape over there. Yeah, it’s not you, but, please, fucking do that outside, all right? You know, if you can’t stay for five minutes without having a fucking addiction.”

“I do apologize for coughing. Some of you fuckers are smoking,” Dickinson continued. “I can’t sing if you’re gonna smoke, all right? [Tanya’s] coughing her guts out, I’m coughing. My fucking wife is going, ‘Blargh,’ in the back there, all right? It’s kind of disgusting, all right? But if you wanna be disgusting, do it outside, all right? Not in here. My throat’s got work to do. You pay good money to hear me fucking sing, not go, ‘Blargh, blargh.’”

Bruce Dickinsons Scolds Smoking Fans

Dickinson Has Scolded Fans Before

After the performance, MCA Concerts, the promoter behind the show, told Brazilian journalist Igor Miranda that the incident was due to a fan’s vape pen accidentally exploding. They also added that the pepper spray was not used at the concert, as Dickinson had suggested at another point.

This isn’t the first time the singer had admonished his fans. During Iron Maiden’s 2022 concert in Athens, Greece, Dickinson called a fan as a “Greek cunt” and a “fucking cocksucker” for lighting a flare in the crowd.

Later that year, he called out fans for smoking weed during an Iron Maiden show in California. Dickinson said it affected bassist Steve Harris as well as himself. “If you want to go get completely stoned out of your fucking mind, go out the back and do it,” he said.