It’s been a long 5 year wait for Iron Maiden fans. The band’s last studio album, The Final Frontier, was released in 2010. In the interim, the band has been very busy with a litany of projects. They toured the globe on a massive world tour celebrating the 25th anniversary of their landmark album Seventh Son of A Seventh Son, launched their own Trooper brand of beer, bassist and principal songwriter Steve Harris recorded and toured for a solo record, and singer Bruce Dickinson started an airline!

Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson has undergone cancer treatment for a small tumor at the back of his tongue, the band revealed today via their official website and Facebook page.

The heavy metal frontman was diagnosed with cancer around Christmas time last year and yesterday completed a seven-week course of chemotherapy and radiology treatment. Reports are that because the tumor was caught early on, Dickinson’s prognosis is “extremely good,” with his doctors expecting him to make a full recovery by late May. The energetic frontman will then need an additional few months to “get back to full fitness.”

Always the most literate of the 1980s-era metal bands, British metal masters Iron Maiden often tapped historical events and the great works of literature for subject matter when writing songs. For their 1984 opus Powerslave, the band looked to 18th century poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s epic work “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” and penned a 14-minute song of the same name. The song condenses the tale down, but hits on most of the high points of the story. Singer Bruce Dickinson sums it up best in his usual intro to the song when they perform it live: “This is what NOT to do if a bird shits on you.”

Check out Iron Maiden performing “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” live in concert here below.

In their annual Christmas card to fan club members, Iron Maiden has dropped clues about the band’s plans for the coming year. The card (pictured above) features Maiden mascot Eddie leaving a building labeled “studio.” This has led many to speculate that the band is working on a new album. If this is true, it would be Iron Maiden’s first studio album since 2010’s The Final Frontier.

The card also features a sign with the cryptic message “UROTON 51,” which happens to be an anagram for “on tour 15.” So, will we be fortunate enough to be graced with both an album and tour from Maiden in the coming months? Only time will tell.

You may recall the story from last week about the guy who started an online petition to make the Swedish band Ghost disband because they’re not metal enough to suit his taste. You may also recall that Ghost fans fought back with a petition of their own to ask the group not to disband.

Now comes the story of American Iron Maiden fan Derek Tigner, who has started a petition that actually makes a bit more sense and might actually stand some chance of making a difference. Tigner is petitioning metal giants Iron Maiden to re-enlist the services of artist Derek Riggs who worked with the band for the bulk of their early career, creating the band’s iconic mascot Eddie and drawing him for several album covers and countless items of merchandise.