Guesting on The Rock Show With Johnny Walker's "Rock God" segment aired on the BBC here, Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson named Deep Purple vocalist Ian Gillan as his personal rock god.

Dickinson: "So there I was as a young spotty teenager and there was this noise coming through somebody's door, and I opened it, and I... 'What on earth is that?' It was 'Speed King' by Deep Purple off Deep Purple In Rock, and that was what got me started. Having said all that, I met Ian Gillan. Not only did I meet him, I actually went on tour with him when I was in a band called Samson."

"I'm in a studio," Dickinson continues. "We've done an album in Ian Gillan's studio. We've all been at the pub and had a few pints, in walks my god Ian Gillan and goes, 'Hey, what a great vocalist. Who's the singer?' At that moment, I felt the sudden urge to vomit. I ran out of the room, puked up for about 45 minutes in the toilet when in comes my idol, kicks the door and goes, 'C'mon, mate, out you come. Let's get you wiped down with a towel.' He put me in a taxi and sent me home. I've never forgotten that, and he's never let me forget it, either."

In 1996, Dickinson released his third solo album, Skunkworks. Initially released as a non-album B-side, the song "God's Not Coming Back" features a one-line tribute to Gillan. Check it out below.

The song was later featured on the 2005 Expanded Edition of the Skunkworks album.