Bruce Dickinson and Billie Joe Armstrong cover Mott the Hoople at Comic-Con
Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson joined Billie Joe Armstrong’s the Coverups for “All the Young Dudes” at a Comic-Con kickoff party.
By Poppy Nakagawa · Culture Writer
2 min read
Bruce Dickinson and Billie Joe Armstrong cover chatter got loud Thursday night when the Iron Maiden singer walked onstage with Armstrong’s the Coverups at a Comic-Con weekend kickoff party in San Francisco, according to Rolling Stone.
The surprise team-up put two rock lifers on one Mott the Hoople classic: “All the Young Dudes.” Rolling Stone reported that Armstrong played his signature red Les Paul while he and Dickinson sang together during the performance.
A video titled “The Coverups with Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson for a live rendition of ‘All the Young Dudes’” was posted to YouTube by Green Day Italy, showing the moment from the room.
What did Bruce Dickinson and Billie Joe Armstrong perform?
Dickinson and Armstrong performed “All the Young Dudes,” the Mott the Hoople song written by David Bowie. The track has ties to both men: Dickinson recorded his own version for his 1990 solo album Tattooed Millionaire, while Rolling Stone reported that Armstrong credited Bowie on Green Day’s 2009 single “21 Guns,” which shares a similar melody.
The pairing was not the only old-school rock moment of the night. Earlier in the set, the Coverups played versions of Cheap Trick’s “Hello There” and the Ramones’ “I Wanna Be Sedated,” according to Rolling Stone.
The Coverups are one of Armstrong’s side projects outside Green Day. The group is built around covers, which made the Dickinson cameo a tidy fit for a night heavy on rock-canon favorites.
Why was Bruce Dickinson at Comic-Con?
Dickinson’s Comic-Con appearance was connected to The Mandrake Project, his solo concept album and 12-issue comic book series. Rolling Stone reported that he was due Friday to sign copies of The Mandrake Project: Year Two, a new collection about the path to the album-comic project.
The Iron Maiden frontman also addressed the Green Day connection in an interview with a CBS affiliate on Friday. “We’ve performed with Green Day quite a lot of times, but we’ve been on separate stages in separate bands,” Dickinson said.
Asked about the surprise cover, Dickinson kept it breezy. “I more or less remember the words,” he said, adding, “It was good fun.”
The appearance gave the Comic-Con kickoff crowd a compact rock-history mashup: an Iron Maiden frontman, Green Day’s singer-guitarist, a Bowie-written glam anthem, and a cover band happy to throw the doors open for a guest with serious metal credentials.
This story draws on original reporting from Rolling Stone.