Iron Maiden's Steve Harris thinks Bruce Dickinson's voice is "better than ever" after battling cancer.

Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson

Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson

The heavy metal group's bassist spoke of his joy at the band's reformation in May of last year when the 56-year-old rocker got the all-clear from the life-threatening illness that was attacking his tongue.

He said: "It's a fantastic feeling just to be out there again, because last year we didn't know whether we even had a band, let alone a tour, obviously he's fine, he's singing fantastic - in fact, I think he's probably singing better than ever."

Steve, 60, also admits that the key to the 'Run to the Hills' hitmakers longevity is down to the fact they gave up booze and stopped partying in favour of keeping fit and healthy.

He told radio Planet Rock radio: "29 years, well that's amazing! But yeah we're still out there, still with the family and still touring and that's probably why I'm still here because I gave up all the partying all them years ago!

"The first two tours that we toured around the world we were hitting every single bar there was, as you do when you're young and you've got to find out all these things.

"I mean these days you have to do a lot more running in preparing for a tour but yeah, we're still here, we're still jumping about and yeah, long may it continue."

Bruce previously claimed being diagnosed with cancer was a "life enhancing" experience, because it made him re-evaluate his existence and what his goals were.

He told BANG Showbiz: "Once I got through it, I just wanted to get on with life, and stop wasting time. I now have less time for people who waste my time. It's not that I'm impatient, I just think now that there are more important things to do than waste my time on people who are just wasting my time, there are more important things really. That's it really, not a great deal has changed. I didn't have any great religious experience as a result of it."