 We are live on the metal voice. Ha ha! He's back. He's back. He's back in one piece. Blaze Bailey. The man. The man who would not die. Oh. Just like that album cover, you're on a stretcher, right? And all the doctors are kind of putting you back together again. You're a cyborg. You're back. I don't know. It's just an amazing thing that, you know, there's so many lucky things about a terrible incident in my life. I've had, I'm at home on Saturday. On the Friday, I've just signed off on what I think is probably the final mastered mix of a new album. That's on the Friday. Here I am on a Saturday. On the Monday, I'm scheduled to go on tour in Europe to continue with the man who would not die tour. And there I am. And I've got chest pains. And I don't, I think, oh, is this indigestion? I'm having a heart attack. I live two minutes from the ambulance station. I have a phone and apparently the paramedics, they were going on their break towards the ambulance station and they said, oh, we heard that call. It's on our way. We'll take that call. Two minutes. They're in my house. I've got wires on my chest. You have no heart attack. I live in the city, but I'm between four hospitals in 15 minutes. I'm having treatment and they're injecting me. I'm going to die to see what the problems are and everything. So that's it. I'm safe. I'm in hospital 15 minutes later. So they said the paramedics, if that had been 10 minutes, there's no way you'd make it. Incredible. So 10 minutes from death, I had a heart attack, not heart failure. They got to me in time. But if I'd have been somewhere else, if I'd have been in Euro tunnel, if I'd have been in a hotel room alone, on the Autobahn, in Germany, anywhere, it's just terrifying really to think about where it could be. And they said, oh, you should be able to make it back. I said, I've got to get back to work. I can't leave it like this. I've done an album called War Within Me. And I haven't toured the whole thing. I'm thinking of my fans. I can't leave it like this. I've still got more music to make. I've got things to say. And I don't want to feel like I'm letting my fans down either. So I was so focused. And it took a while before, like a few weeks before they could put me in for the surgery. It's a quadruple bypass. Basically, they cut you in half. They cut me in half. They do a lot of plumbing. And then I put you back together. And the guy said, we wire you back together with surgical steel wire. He said, we've double wired you. I said, so even more metal. Yeah, even more metal. This was you on the operating table. This was you. Well, not in the brain, but the body. So I've got more metal in me than a normal heart patient is there. So, yeah, please, what advice can you give to guys like me and Alan's age group when, you know, yes, sense. What is a heart attack? Like, I mean, you know, describe it. I mean, so it's different. It's different. It's different for everyone. And this is why it's so confusing. That's why I didn't know I was having a heart attack. My heart attack was a pain that starts. It's like someone sitting on your chest or being kicked by a horse in your chest in slow motion. And it goes from the front to the back and you're sweating and all of this. That's how it happened for me. That's common. The other thing that happens is for some people and I didn't have any of this. You start going numb. And then tingly down your left arm and it spreads across you. That's another thing. And for other people, there are other symptoms. So you just don't know. You've got to try and head it off early by getting tested for your cholesterol. You try glycerides and all of this is the man. And just exercise is vital. And we just don't realize that, you know, it's vital. I think chronic laziness is one of the things you get out of the van, you get on the stage, you know, I'm active for a couple of hours, breathing all of that hadn't been away for a while, hadn't done anything for COVID. Two years of not going out there, you know, all the time. And I think that a big combination of things and some bad habits that led up to something that is almost fatal. Really. Every time we've had you on, we joke that you're the hardest working man in metal. Did that have anything to do with the heart attack, like the stress of you being a one-man show? But in the opposite way, that I wasn't out there working, breathing, you know, singing every night, being active every day. I wasn't out there. I was stuck at home trying to make the best of each, just like everybody else. And then my bad habits, getting the best of me and everything. So I think that was what it was. I wasn't away. I wasn't focused on staying ready. And I think here in the UK, we had that second lockdown. And that's when, I think for a lot of entertainers, we thought, well, is that our job gone now? Will the theaters, when Andrew Lloyd Webber, the top one in the musical theater, says there's a danger theaters will never open again, well, are there going to be any live concerts ever again? Except in the field, standing 100 meters apart. You know, so man, that was a scary, scary time. And I think it affected a lot of us. You know what's amazing, Blaze? Like we stayed home to protect ourselves from the virus originally, right? But in this way, our inactivities and our bad habits caused secondary or let's say indirect problems, right? So you know, you're doomed either way, right? Either you lock down and you get sick other ways, mentally or physically or get heart attacks from sitting around. I think at the end of the day, I've learned that you need to be active. You need to go to the gym regardless of COVID or not because the healthier you are eating wise and physical wise, the more you can fight off, you know, these viruses. It's right. Yeah, yeah. It's right. You've got to stay, you've got to be as active as you can be. And that's your immunity. Yeah. That's it. If you think of yourself as fit to get away from, you know, our ancestors would have got away from predatory creatures or other tribes who were out to steal their stuff or whatever. If you're fit enough to stand your feet and get away from things, you're also fit enough physically to fight tiny little bacteria and disease, you know, those, those other things. So it's, it goes on in hand, but I'm a doctor, but I'm a doctor of heavy metal. Not helping. You know, that's, that's where it went wrong. Did you think you were going to die at one point? Like you're lying on the stretch. I was very lucky. I never thought I was going to die. I just felt so disappointed that I hadn't kept an eye on anything like that. I never expected it. I didn't know I had diabetes. I didn't know I had heart disease. I just put it down to indigestion or being out of shape or it. I didn't know that I never felt I was lucky. I never felt I was going to die. I just felt I would die of embarrassment because I'd let this happen to myself. It's not all my fault. I didn't know. No, it's not going to be embarrassed about it. Absolutely. But I didn't want to let, really I didn't want to let my fans down and my family down. And I thought, you know, if you get through this and you come out the other side the way I'm coming out the other side, you can go, all right, am I going to make the changes that are necessary to keep me out of hospital and away from this? And that's what I'm trying to do right now. I was very lucky. I never thought I was going to die. I just thought this could have been avoided if only I'd known. Just you talking about it, my chest hurts. Yeah. I'm telling you. I'm telling you. Just you talking about it. I'm like panicking. I go, I just want to make a doctor's appointment after the show. And you know what? It's important. It's important to watch your cholesterol. And then you're diabetic too, right? You told me you're diabetic. I didn't know I was diabetic. But the thing is, Jimmy, I'll say to my fans that every show I say, look after yourself. I need you. Because for me, I'm a very small artist, independent. Every fan is important to me. And the support they give me allows me to live my dream. At the end of every concert, look after yourself. You're important. I need you. And there's me. I didn't look after myself. And I nearly let everybody down. So it's a big, it's a wake up. It's a second chance. It's something to go, I've got so much music in me. So many ideas of things to do. I think, man, I don't want to end the story there. It's like halfway through my musical journey of things I want to say and the ideas that I want to do and things that I want to try with music, the journey that I want to go on musically, then it would just be, well, it was, it was almost tragic. Is there an urgency now to get all this music out? Or you say, you know, I'll just do it in my time. Do you feel like there's a more of an urgency now? No, what I feel is I've got to do it. I don't feel I can rush anything because things get spoiled when you rush them. But now I feel like, you know what? It's a lot more serious now than it was. It's a lot more serious to get things done. And it's a lot more serious to keep those notes. I've always thought it's important when I have a melody I've always tried to catch it. I'm a dictaphone on my phone and think, oh, an idea for a lyric or something that may be a lyric. Keep that. That's even more important now. It's kind of, oh, I'll keep that in my head until I get home. And no, it's like, right, where can I pull over the car? No. Oh, I'm saying to my fiance, Kate, I go, write this down. No, where? Anywhere. Just write this down. Quick. Turn your phone off. Record me doing this. So it's more, things are more important now. And then I'll get those bits. And when we start writing our next project and our next things, I'll be going, right, what have we got? I should have plenty that I haven't let just get away. Because it doesn't come when you want it. It comes when it wants to come. That's inspiration. It's like a butterfly on a summer's day. You won't see it until you're looking the other way. Oh, look at the beautiful butterflies. But you go looking for butterflies. Where's all the butterflies I was looking for? And that's, that's exactly inspiration, lyrics, bits of music, melody. It's the same, I think, for a lot of people. And I wrote a song about this. It's called the end of the day. I think it's a Man Who Would Not Die album. And it's about that kind of thing, betraying, romantically speaking, your muse. And not being deferential and going, okay, the muse is there, giving me these things. Better use them. I go, oh, I'll have another idea later. Well, you won't. And you won't have that quality. So while you're missing, you'll never get back. And that's the lesson that I've learned. And it's a harsh lesson. And I think it's the same lesson that every writer, every songwriter, creative writer will, will, will do. Some people use a different thing. I know Steven Spielberg. Steve Harris? No. Isabel comes to me in a bit. The one that does the horror, Stephen King. Stephen King. He uses a different way. He goes, you know what, if I don't remember it, maybe it wasn't that important or that good. So he only uses, as basis for his stories, his novels, ideas that keep coming back to him and return to him. He doesn't use that thing of notes and different things that other people, the people like me use. Everybody has their own way, right? Yeah, everyone has their own way. What about a new album? Hold on. I just can't get this image out of, you know, the neighbors, Blaze's neighbors in the town that he lives, you know, that car pulling off, getting back on the road, pulling off. What the hell's this maniac doing? That's just Blaze. He's writing a song. Yeah. A song idea. Rolls of toilet paper with scribbles. Yeah. Well, I used to, years ago, before we had smartphones, then you put, you know, you've got a beer mat or a napkin, or I always used to carry a little notepad of things. And then it comes time to get together to start the album writing. You've got a box, a bit of paper, hip it out. It's all over the floor. And you get, oh, does this fit with this? And making notes. And I've used that cross-out phone away and something else. And just absolutely mad. And now you've got to, you go in, you can look, ah, this bit and this line and stuff like that. But it's changed. But I find, for me, it's essentially the same. You're getting together. For me, I like to collaborate. So I'm getting together with Chris Appleton or Luke Appleton or the guy from Spain or other colleagues that I sometimes write with. And it's, all right, what have you got? Oh, change that chord slightly. Oh, this might go with that. Oh, this lyric. I've got this. Oh, that produces its own rhythm when you sing it with that chord. Ah, so we could get the drums to do this. Ah, so then we would go there. Ah-ha. Wow. Well, the instrumental then would do this. Ah, and we'd get back to do this. Yeah. And then we'd have this finish. Yeah. So that's essentially it. And that can just be with the acoustic guitar or, you know, playing the electric very low and things like this. But that's essentially the same that I've been doing. Whether you've got a computer in there and you're recording bits and pieces or not, essentially it's the same. How does it sound? How does it feel? What is the journey that we're on? And in the end, what is the feeling that we want to leave with our listener at the end of the song and at the end of the album? How are you going to feel? So we're within me. We wanted to leave you feeling positive, empowered, enabled, able to fight back and take on the world. You know what? I agree with you. I agree with you. Right here. If we did our job, then you feel like that. And if we didn't, please don't tell anybody about it. Please. Okay. Before we talk about the live album, tell us about the status of a new album, because now it's been some time, right? And I'm sure during COVID and, and you know, these inspirations of having a heart attack. Together. We are getting things together. You can expect a new studio album next year. Okay. So expect that. And hopefully people will enjoy it. But yeah. So, let me ask you this. Are you just going down the concept album road? Like you did the three albums of a concept. Are you just going to stick to just songs? Like, I think that's another interview, Jimmy. Get me back. Yeah. Okay. I don't know. I don't know. Maybe it's a seven album concept story. I don't know. I don't know. Man, that was tough. That was tough. Well, I said to, you know, it's, it's crazy. It's stupid. It's impossible. But we did it anyway. I said, when I realized we had 16 songs at the beginning and I realized, hang on. This song, this actually is part three of a story. Part one is this man. Arriving going into space. The story of this man. Part two is his journey. And part three is his arrival at his destination and his survival. So, and I said to my manager, it's three albums. I want to do it in three years with three tours. And he said, that's a lot of work. He never said no. He just said, that's a, you know what the guys that I worked with, with the band and everything, it's incredible what we all did. We did not want to leave it hanging. If you go, you know what, it's finished when it's finished. That's not for me. It's not for me. It's finished on this date. And then on that date, we start the tour. That's it. And that's, that's how we did it. And I think, you know, it turned out really well. I'm really proud of the infinite entanglement trilogy. But at the end of it, when that, when we finished that third album, we were looking at each other going, it's enough for concept albums. I don't think, and then we've got war within me. Yeah. Which loosely the concept is use your own words to describe yourself. Don't let anybody tell you, you're less than wonderful. Yeah. All right. That's a great segue into the live album. Cause that's where we're at. Maybe. Maybe. That's a great segue into the live album. Cause that's where we're at. Maybe the, the album should have been retitled damaged, strange, different, and alive. Well, yeah, you could. Yeah. If it had come out a bit later, he would have been that problem. All right. The title comes from the song warrior. And we are damaged, strange, and different. We are victims of this place. So, it's to be inclusive in the metal family. We don't really care too much about what people look like in everything. The most important thing is that we tell the truth and we love metal music. We have those values. I think. And so, I wanted to do something where we brought that together. I am a nerdy geek. And I admit that and I don't show you why I never said I wasn't. A nerdy, heavy metal, cheesy geek. I never said I was anything else. So, I think for all of us that feel a bit isolated, a bit odd that we feel that well, we're not a part of this mainstream, trendy, whatever is, you know, going on TikTok at the moment. And we all belong in this same place where, you know what, more than the way we look, the music that we love is the most important thing. So, I wanted it to be an inclusive thing that even if you feel damaged, strange, broken, that you still can be part of something and the internal dialogue that you use about yourself, you can choose. So, if they're telling you that you are a fool, if they're telling you that you are worthless, that you are useless, that you are not worthy, that's their words. And that's external. And don't let that in here and in here, don't let their words be the words that describe you. Let me describe you. You are a warrior because you love metal and you listen to plays, Bailey. That's it. Forget what they say. It's about what I say. That's what's important. My words for your internal dialogue and say, I am a warrior. I am a warrior. I will come. I'll fight back. I'll get back up. I'll get back up and I'll fight back and I'll sing these words. And that's empowering and important. Use your own words to describe yourself in your own mind and with your own heart. Don't let somebody else's words be the description and the definition of you. Define yourself. Better still let me define you as a warrior. Hallelujah. That's my favorite track off the live album. It's a great performance of that track on the album. It's a magical, magical thing. And we had a bit of extra, a bit more time with that to live with the songs. And I think that's one of the reasons we decided, you know what, we've lived with these songs. They've come out so well. But also when you take things to the stage, when you put things in the venue, you put things in front of the fans. And fans are my blood. They're what bring these things to life. I live my dream because I have this incredible support from my fans. But the songs change just a little bit. They have their own flow. The rough edges get knocked off and your phrasing is slightly different and it starts to become almost spiritual in a way that the soul of the song seems to become more solidified. And so that's what we wanted to do and we thought, you know what, we've made live albums before. But there's an opportunity here where enough venues have multi-track recording that they just plug in. That you think, well, we may as well record it. If it's any good, great. If it's not, we've lost nothing, it costs nothing. And that's what we did and we just had great results. It worked really well and we thought, this is it. So Damage Strange, Different and Live is one side. It's those songs from the studio album War Within Me. And the other side are those maiden songs that I like to do, that I've changed the arrangement slightly, subtle differences. It's the Blaze Bailey version of those old songs because they are old, they're 25 years old, some of those songs. So it's that version. It's meeting an old friend and going, you know what, here's a fresh suit to close. You know, now you look the part. So it's that way that we wanted to do it. So you've got this vibe and energy on Damage Strange Different and Live that just comes from being with, not necessarily in front of, but being with the fans that this music is for. You know what I love? You know what I love about? I love this album. It's a great live album. It's a great representation of the War Within Me. And second of all, I love, I actually prefer you doing the maiden songs versus when you actually did them in the studio because they're tailored, all music's got to be tailored to a voice. And I found that when you do them you tailor it to your voice and your strengths. In the maiden it was sort of like it's great, but I think it's more suitable when you do it and you lead the charge with your voice. Maybe there is just too much we got to stick to the maiden sort of pattern versus we got to follow Blaz's voice. What do you feel about the maiden songs versus the studio albums versus the way you performed them live? I think you kind of alluded to that just now. There's a lot of changes. You know, at the time I think you know, I auditioned for Iron Maiden, like a lot of other people and I never thought I would get it because my voice was so different to Bridge Dickinson who is one of the greatest singers in music, not just heavy metal but in music. Bridge Dickinson is something and someone that is very special and what happened was Maiden were going into a progressive direction and they were changing as much as I think Bruce was changing, I want to do something else. The maiden were going you know what? We want to look at a different direction. Maiden were going in a progressive direction and my voice was part of that change. So it's not just the fact they had a new voice it's they had a new direction albeit subtle difference and I think that's a part of what makes X Factor such an interesting album and so much great music on the album but a lot of the lyric is personal and it says a lot so when I joined the band, Steve Harris said to me, there is no music written for this album whatever we come up with that's it. I don't care who comes up with the music if it's great music then we're going to use it on the album. So that was it so I had about six songs that made it so I think in that way it was really a different thing but also there's another part of this is my voice was like this big and then Steve Harris said no try this, try this so I found during that experience another third of my voice now that's over the two albums and two big tours now take that on with the years of experience and strengthening this new part of my voice I have a degree of control and a range that I just didn't have in the studio when we were recording those things because it was such a new thing for me. So I think that's why I enjoy so much revisiting those old songs every so often and go with the voice I have now with this man's voice then let me go and sing these songs with this voice with this control with this power with this passion that I have now and they just come to life you know for me in a way that I enjoyed them before but now I don't feel like I'm just enjoying them I feel like I'm bringing them to life these old songs over 20 years old bringing them to life in a new way in a different way and so far all the fans that have seen me do these old songs live they've loved it. So it just follows that we want to get that on a record and we had them in the set so we managed to record them and make them a part of this album it's funny because I remember reading an Elton John interview where he says I'd like to go back and we record that I can sing them so much better at my age now than when they were Anita she's talking some classics from the early 70s so very similar to what you just explained. Yeah I think it's normal with singers you know you have a strength in your voice and a tone that you don't have when you're younger you know a lot of the times when I was younger it was about the scream I could get and controlling the scream and high registers and things like this whereas I've matured and I write in a different way then I think I want to put this lyric and this word in this part of my voice so it's coming from here and I'm reaching down so when I'm in your head if you've got the headphones on when I'm there or if you're listening on your hi-fi I'm hanging in front of you on your hi-fi you're hearing this and I think it's it's not going to last forever so I think that's another thing of what I have my voice in this shape I really want to record songs that I feel have a degree of honesty and truth Yeah I agree Blaise you know whenever I've seen you live and seen you live many times I just every time you do your solo stuff they're fantastic and you do the maiden stuff they're like reinvigorated the songs just have this certain punch that they didn't have that's my perspective that's my perspective right I just I just dig them have there been any songs that you haven't recorded I was looking at all the maiden songs that you did I think you've pretty much played almost every one of them right from the two solo studio albums that you did Yeah there's something just at the back of my mind a couple of B-sides from the from the X Factor album and just thinking you know what at some point in the future I might like to go back and have a look at a couple of the songs that I wrote that didn't make it onto the album and just have another go at them but there's no decision so that's just a vague idea that I'm telling you to in confidence in confidence in the three of us Yeah just between us three Yeah that's it recently it came to light that Nico also had some heart problems that was there any communication to reach out to you I couldn't say anything to anybody at the time but I went to see the guys in Manchester and Nico and I had quite a chat and he was telling me about his scare and everything and what he went through it's just a shock when you have these big life things and of course people who are your age and other people you say oh that's a terrible thing to happen and then it's happening to you then yeah we had quite a chat about it there and just great to see him actually working and doing his thing and sounding great you know and solid his time in the field that he has bringing those songs to life and giving them that energy you wouldn't think that anything had happened to him so yeah we did talk about it so it was he said hold on and Steve Harris is we've been friends for a long time now he's a health nut I don't think he will mind me saying that but he's a health about keeping himself in shape and keeping himself then we were talking about diet and things like this and saying all different things about that so it's nice in that way but still friends with the guys had a good chat with Bruce as well and you know I'm saying what you having for dinner and he was telling me he's a total health man you've got to me but you're at a level where you're ordering your dinner and what you order is what you get and it's something healthy and good so yeah I think people just we take things for granted and we have a kick or a knock or we're on the floor and if we're lucky we have the opportunity to get up and try again and some people they're just not lucky and they don't get that chance well said well said you went to see Maiden in the UK I'm not sure if it was Birmingham or Manchester but what was that experience like I was reading in Blabbermouth your interview I found it pretty cool where you said people were coming all taking pictures and selfies with me and I should do this more often yeah it was difficult to get out of the toilet I try to wash my hands yeah okay and I'm in the toilet in the bathroom yeah I'm like they're going to be on soon I missed the whole support bank they're going to be on soon so yeah it was crazy you know it was after the split then it was quite challenging sometimes but I think even though there are a certain amount of people that still hate me for being in Iron Maiden then there's far less of those people and they're not bold enough to come and say I hated you in Iron Maiden you know most people say oh I loved you in Iron Maiden or can I just have a selfie or something like that I'm seeing you on your own tour I've got a ticket for the Wolfsbane show but you know the weirdest thing I don't mind having a selfie and people asking very kind very polite and people were saying oh it's great to see you back on your feet and doing well and after my heart attack and everything and then some guy takes a picture of the back of my head like this right and that picture had more likes and more things on it than any other picture I've ever had right I don't know why you don't bother shaving all the hair trying to look reasonable show the back of your head yeah it's got viral back of my head he's a viral man yeah it's in all the magazines he's made it Iron Maiden it's just not this back of his head it's not this it's this it's the back of my head I'm like what my manager's going I think we need more head shots from the back please put the new arm cover right there but you know that's the joy of the band like Iron Maiden with its longevity yes Jimmy and I got involved with the killers and number of the beast probably like yourself around that time I mean she still remembers having supper with you that was a highlight of her life but for her Iron Maiden started the blaze failure so when you got a band with that type of longevity you pick up fans all along the way it's something which I try not to be have any hubris with this but it is a really great feeling when people say you're my Iron Maiden singer I saw Maiden first time with you and that's a really nice feeling and that people hold you with such fondness in their heart it's a really really nice feeling it's not too many people but it's in every so often so we go you're my Iron Maiden singer just like for some people I remember one gig when I think in Italy an X Factor tour when some fans were chanting horrible things and they go bring back Bruce and Steve Faris just turned to me on stage and goes don't take any notice they said that about Paul when Bruce was in the band that's right okay well on the number of the beast tour I remember a few signs you know Paul Diano, Paul Diano you know when I saw that and I was a pretty pissed off I just joined the band actually and you know after killers it's like how can you go to Bruce but of course I love all the Iron Maiden singers today is there anything else you want to tell us Blaze how about are you planning any tours with Diano that you had well I've worked with Paul in the past we've done a few things together there's nothing planned I wouldn't rule it out at all because he's such a funny guy and I went to see it was with KK's Priest and KK's Steel Mill in Wolverhampton and Paul was doing the support with that I did a great job and went to say hello and he said it should be out of the chair on his feet again by Christmas this year if everything goes well doing anything in the future we had a lot of fun when we toured together we did some crazy things and I think that would be good we've got a Wolfsbane tour coming up but that's November, December this year I don't know if you guys know about the Genius album the new Wolfsbane album is called Genius that's coming on vinyl in November the vinyl version of that looks absolutely fantastic and then hoping to be out next year with a new studio album from Blaze Bailey and on tour around Europe and who knows if we can get through the rest of the world as well I would love to do that man there's a lot of places I want to go back to now and no talks of Canada you should talk to your Alex I'd love to come back it's just I'd love to come back I absolutely love it so just book me that's all I know just book me and I'll come I'll start working on it call Alex yes it is actually they renovated it they renovated it probably a third time this is the third time since you've come now it's in the basement where that restaurant was now that's bigger it's beautiful get me back I'd love to come back I love coming to I just love it there you've got the green light there's nothing holding you back health wise you can move forward all I said is I've got to stay active and obviously I'm making a lifestyle change I'm trying to change what I eat and do my exercises regular focus everything has got to come from a health point of view change the rider as silly as he sounds I'll make sure that half the crap which I didn't know was crap is off and then I've got some good stuff on the rider each time so no there's nothing going to stop me I'm building my strength up I'm not ready yet for a big tour but I'm building my strength up we're going to start with a few shows and get my voice back and then that's it by the end of December we'll be in good shape and that should be me then rocking the thing is you have major heart surgery and you have a bypass it's a big thing I didn't realise that it's a really big thing it's a long time because they're cutting you in half and separating you out and you know what must have been so difficult for them when they looked inside they said they must have said we need different tools because this heart is metal it's a metal heart it's not the normal muscle it's metal bring me the screwdrivers and the chocolate metal heart this once got we need a hammer that must have been so difficult for those guys when they did it they did it what was the name of the hospital it was New Cross Hospital Wolverhampton they have their always on my guest list the main surgeon Dr Aziz I wasn't trying to be big about this but I'm obviously very proud that on the full time independent heavy metal singer it's been my dream you know since the 80s and I'm living my dream as small as it is and I said what do you do and I said I'm a singer what kind of music heavy metal that's what I usually get I said you probably won't have heard of me I said my professional name is Blaise Bailey but the chat with him is assistant goes I am Maiden I am Maiden that was a band of my youth and he goes to the other doctor the main surgeon and he goes you don't know I am Maiden and then he comes back in the next day and he goes my wife knows you what you had to do Blaise you had to turn your head around so she's the back of your head that's right all that's Blaise yeah now they recognise me yeah now you see me oh what yeah so that was fun and you know what when I was a young man and what do you do I'm a singer yeah sure you are okay I'm an old man now I'm an old man but I refuse to give up I refuse to stop and I refuse to feel embarrassed about what I do and they said what's your occupation and with immense pride I say I'm a singer and I suppose something about the way I look they're probably going this guy is a turtle fruitcake just agree with him he's obviously a knock cake just agree with him I know what he said to me I told you Blaise I'm a singer they just said okay singer let's get her back and then when you throw in heavy metal like hmm yeah heavy metal singer not like oh I can't be serious they didn't say no okay heavy metal singer it's like singing her an astronaut there was a rumor about a book with that trilogy concept I remember you talking about I'm writing a book alright I'm writing it one sentence a year feels like it's tough I had a lot of advice about writing a book but the best thing is now I realize just keep writing and writing and it's very much like a song except you don't know where the ending is you only know where you go and it will take me my imagination is vast and it will take me everywhere all of the details the little things where the characters have to go they're on the trilogy they're on the album they're touched on in the songs how they get to those places to get to those songs that's not on there and that's what the book is it's all of the backstory of all of the characters and the things that you don't know that happen in between the songs so that's what I'm writing it's difficult to get into the routine of writing but that's my problem I am working on it and you write nag me about it next interview and see how far I've got this will be your Game of Thrones right? that's the scale of it really William Black this character comes from this place he's an outsider and he joins the British Army he's a Canadian actually who joins the British Army and he's a failure of a washout but the sergeant that is training him manages to turn him into a fantastic soldier and that's the beginning of his journey and his life takes all kinds of twists and turns and the tragedies that happen to him that turn him into a ruthless psychopathic killer those tragedies and that journey and how that part of his personality is then hacked into and used and then how he searches for redemption and how he finds that redemption all of those bits and pieces that's what the story is that's what the book is and when I start writing oh yeah and he does that oh and he chops his person's head off I don't know things like this it's a lot it's a lot it's big I just got to get myself working on it yeah yeah yeah absolutely we got a next interview about the concept album and the book alright in the last few minutes that we have let's say hi look people have been texting throughout this whole interview it's just there's just so much to talk about there's so much to hear about if anybody wants to say hi to blaze feel free to say something to blaze maybe you want to say a statement maybe you want to ask them a very quick question because we've got like just two minutes left here's one here's one is blaze going to be at doors 40th anniversary show Düsseldorf so far no because I've got my own shows to do I'd love to go but so far no I'm not confirmed to go there at this point it's an absolute pleasure we've had her on the show a couple of times her energy is off the charts almost as strong as yours yeah she's helped me so much over the years in some dark times she's you know I've supported Dara I'm on the classic diamonds record I was on the tour she's helped me so much man what a wonderful wonderful person Jim Harrison so glad blaze on the road to better health Tom we're so glad you're here with us I know you had bad things happen so happen to you so many times right and you know what blaze just a book alone on the challenges and the obstacles you faced throughout your whole life I mean we've gone into depth many many times about that but just to me you are the man that would not die basically that's what it comes down to blaze bouyakus all the way from Hawaii saying aloha so there you go good luck with your weather problems over there yeah blaze have you a set date for your wedding well my wonderful fiance Kate I'm so lucky she looked after me out of hospital made all my meals everything I could basically couldn't use my arms I couldn't use my shoulders she had to do everything for me I wasn't allowed to lift a single thing and thanks Kate for that so yeah we haven't got an absolutely fixed date yet but we want it to be this year either in October or December alright that was from Dale and effin saying you are one of the most amazing human beings that I know Tim saying come back to USA too Smyos is saying join late the party blaze all my love from Greece Greek people love you Klaus is saying love you blaze metal greetings from Sweden Seagull is saying live fast die young well in this case live slow die old yeah eat more greens Kim love you babe and that might actually be Kate who just wrote a text might be I mean trouble if it's not yeah and on that note blaze always a pleasure look forward to seeing you in Canada thank you so much once again a true metal man now yes yes yes well thanks guys thanks absolute pleasure to be here a big thank you to all of my fans for supporting me in my dream and also through my health problems and everybody that bought the t-shirt for the tour that couldn't happen because I was actually in hospital but they bought the t-shirt anyway and the album so thank you everybody for supporting me thanks for hundreds of cards and letters that I've had telling me to keep going and all the wonderful things people have said thank you all so so much can't wait to get back to Canada can't wait to get back on tour in October can't wait to get back on the stage very very excited thank you everybody for all of your support I hope you enjoy the live album and it was Kate it was Kate by the way so you're in the clear you're in the clear thanks for the inspiration and so glad we're able to talk to you today thanks all