NYDN- Eddie the Head must be proud.
Iron Maiden Bruce Dickinson frontman says he may have gotten tongue cancer from performing oral sex on women — and rid himself of the illness only a few months ago.
Speaking with Jim Norton on Opie Radio Tuesday, the British heavy metal singer said he believes his cancer came from the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus (HPV), which led to a golf-ball sized tumor on the base of his tongue.
Dickinson, 57, didn’t specifically blame his cancer on cunnlingus, but the HPV virus is more likely to start in someone’s mouth if it’s transmitted by oral sex.
Dickinson mentioned Oscar-winning “Wall Street” actor Michael Douglas, who alluded to oral sex as a cause for his own case of throat cancer years ago but directly connected it to his tongue activities.
Actor Michael Douglas mentioned oral sex as a cause of his throat cancer years ago, but never made a direct connection.
Actor Michael Douglas mentioned oral sex as a cause of his throat cancer years ago, but never made a direct connection.
“Everybody went ‘Ha ha ha ha’ (about Douglas), but in actual fact, the thing about the HPV virus is people don’t know a great deal about it,” Dickinson said.
“It comes and goes, it comes and goes. For some reason, and nobody knows why, in guys over 40 it can persist … and it’s a cunning little beast.”
The singer for Iron Maiden — the legendary metal band that used the monster mascot Eddie the Head on most of its album covers — said he was given an all-clear in May and the cancer never affected his massive singing voice, although he’s “still healing up” after nine weeks of chemotherapy.
HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States, and nearly one-third of men Dickinson’s age are at a high risk of it, according to the Centers for Disease Control.