Bruce Dickinson found life on the road with heavy metallers Iron Maiden eye-opening - because of the hardcore levels of drug abuse he witnessed on a daily basis.

The booze-loving singer has always avoided illegal substances, and was shocked by how far some women would demean themselves in return for cocaine.

Bruce says, "People in America, especially in the eighties, got very upset if you turned them down. I never indulged in all that. I'm not a chemical person and I don't smoke, so it was all beer for me.

"I've never touched anything hallucinogenic because I'm mad as a goose anyway.

"The women who hung around the rock clubs were especially bad - they would do anything as long as you gave them some coke.

"We had one assistant tour manager who kept a girl tied up in his room for three days. He had this woman trussed up, rocking on his bed stark naked."

15/12/2003 17:24