Unbeknownst to the public, shortly before Christmas Iron Maiden revealed a Christmas card that gave us a clue that there will be a new album surfacing this year. Their first release since The Final Frontier in 2010, now five years later the band are believed to be putting the finishing touches on the album with their long time producer Kevin Shirley. Now it transpires that front man and poster boy of rock ‘n’ roll Bruce Dickinson was undergoing treatment for cancer.

Just before Christmas the front man went for a routine check up only to discover that there had been a small cancerous tumour on his tongue. After a seven week course of chemotherapy ensued which was completed yesterday. As treatment started in the earliest stages doctors are confident that Dickinson will make a full recovery and that prognosis is extremely good. However it does mean that the singer will have to rest envisaged to make a full recovery by May.

What a shocker! We’re just glad that the singer is recovering, chemotherapy whoever you are is an incredibly stressful treatment. We wish Dickinson the speediest and easiest of recoveries. You can read the official press release from the bands Facebook below.