10 Best Replacement Singers Of All Time
6. Bruce Dickinson - Iron Maiden
As the metal scene started to get a lot more vicious in the early '80s, no other act could claim to be leading the charge quite like Iron Maiden. Aiming to stomp out the punk movement in full force, Maiden's inherent intensity and lofty way of approaching songs was miles ahead of anything that the Sex Pistols could hope to achieve. Although Maiden were destined for greater things, they would be doing so without the singer who started it all.
While Paul Di'Anno was a great singer for a metal band, he always became just the slightest bit out of step with the rest of the band, usually brought on by time drinking on the road. Even though he could pull it off in the studio like nobody's business, Steve Harris was in the market for a new singer when he came across Samson frontman and human air horn Bruce Dickinson.
Quickly sacking Di'Anno, Dickinson rose to the occasion ready for war on Number of the Beast...in more ways than one. Across the war stories like Run to the Hills, this was the kind of kick in the ass that Maiden needed to become more than just an average metal band, with some of the greatest screams in the business blaring from Bruce's mouth. Before, Maiden were the strongest among the pack of dogs. After, they were the titans of the entire genre.