Watch Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson sing the American national anthem at an NFL game

Bruce Dickinson sang the American national anthem at an NFL game over the weekend – watch footage of the performance below.

Ahead of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ first home game of the season against the Seattle Seahawks last night (September 14), the Iron Maiden frontman took the field at Pittsburgh’s Acrisure Stadium to sing the US national anthem, drawing chants of “USA! USA!” from the 66,000-strong crowd.

He’d touched on being chosen to perform ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ during a recent appearance on The Charismatic Voice podcast, saying (via Louder): “I’ve got to sing the national anthem in Pittsburgh for the Pittsburgh Steelers. They’ve asked me to do this. I’m going to do it a cappella and stuff, and as long as you start at the right place, you’re good to go.”

Following the performance, Dickinson took to Instagram to thank fans at the game for their support, and said it “was a huge honour” to be asked to sing.

Fans in the comments section were bemused that Dickinson was tapped for the performance, with one writing: “I love Bruce, but.. why the fuck he singing the national anthem? He’s English??”

Another said it was “so funny that they made a British guy learn the national anthem,” while another wrote: “Now all we need is for @ironmaiden to play the superbowl halftime show!”

Elsewhere on Instagram, Dickinson recently delighted fans after appearing in a video alongside a busker in New Orleans, with the two joining forces to sing a Judas Priest hit. The moment took place while Dickinson was out on the North American leg of his ‘Mandrake Project’ solo band tour.

The solo tour continues on Tuesday (September 16) with a date in Toronto, and, as for his work with Maiden, he recently shut down the idea that future dates in the US could seem them play the Las Vegas Sphere.

“No. It’s not Maiden. Maiden’s about the relationship between the band and the audience, and the show, whilst it’s a show, is an enhancement to what we do,” he told SiriusXM’s Eddie Trunk.

“The Sphere, as far as I can gather… I mean, I appreciate what you’re saying about it — it’s all encompassing, it’s this and that, it’s the other — but I think the band would be very uncomfortable with the idea.”

“I mean, we just do a lot of stuff: we run around, we go around, and at the Sphere, what’s the point? What’s the point? In fact, what’s the point of even being there, if you’re a band?”

On their recent ‘Run For Your Lives’ tour, Iron Maiden performed a special setlist containing only songs from their first nine studio albums, from their self-titled debut to ‘Fear Of The Dark’.

Nine of the 17 songs played were performed for the first time in numerous years, including opening song ‘Murders In The Rue Morgue’ and ‘Killers’ – the latter of which they hadn’t played since 1999.

It was also their first run of shows with new touring drummer Simon Dawson, who was appointed following the touring retirement of long-term sticksman Nicko McBrain. McBrain announced he would be “taking a step back” from touring last year due to suffering a minor stroke in 2023, which left him partially paralysed on his right side from the shoulder down.

In late July, original Iron Maiden vocalist Paul Mario Day died, aged 69. Day was enlisted by bassist Steve Harris when the latter formed Iron Maiden in 1975. Day served as the band’s first singer, and was with the band between 1975 and 1976 before being replaced by Dennis Wilcock. Wilcock was later replaced by Paul Di’Anno, who went on to perform on the band’s iconic first two records.

Di’Anno died in October 2024 at the age of 66.

The post Watch Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson sing the American national anthem at an NFL game appeared first on NME.