Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong Brings Out Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson for Bowie Cover at Comic-Con

Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson made a surprise appearance with Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong and his covers band The Coverups on Thursday, July 23, 2026, joining them for a rendition of Mott the Hoople’s 1972 classic “All the Young Dudes.” The cameo took place at a Fandom/Z2 Comics party at FLOAT in the Hard Rock Hotel in San Diego, kicking off San Diego Comic-Con weekend.

Dickinson’s appearance came five songs into The Coverups’ 26-song set. The song, written by David Bowie and recorded by Mott the Hoople for their Bowie-produced 1972 album, is one Dickinson knows well: he previously covered “All the Young Dudes” on his 1990 solo debut album, “Tattooed Millionaire.”

• The party was presented by Xbox’s “Halo: Campaign Evolved,” with sponsors including Suntory -196 Vodka Seltzer and Z2, which used the event to present the graphic novel and film “…And Out Comes the Wolf.”
• The Coverups are made up of Billie Joe Armstrong on guitar and vocals, Green Day touring guitarist Jason White, Green Day audio engineer Chris Dugan, and tour manager Bill Schneider, who also plays in Pinhead Gunpowder.
• The San Diego show was the band’s second California date that week, following a performance at The Roxy in West Hollywood on Monday, July 20, 2026.

What Songs Did The Coverups Play in San Diego?

The Coverups’ San Diego set ran through 26 covers spanning punk, new wave and classic rock, opening with Cheap Trick’s “Hello There” and closing with a second Cheap Trick cut, “Surrender.” Bruce Dickinson’s turn on “All the Young Dudes” landed early in the set, and the band later returned to Bowie with a cover of “Ziggy Stardust.”

1. Hello There (Cheap Trick)
2. A Million Miles Away (The Plimsouls)
3. I Wanna Be Sedated (Ramones)
4. I Think We’re Alone Now (Tommy James & the Shondells)
5. All the Young Dudes (David Bowie, with Bruce Dickinson)
6. Sometime to Return (Soul Asylum)
7. Message of Love (Pretenders)
8. Summer of ’69 (Bryan Adams)
9. American Girl (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers)
10. I Fought the Law (The Crickets)
11. Do You Wanna Dance? (Bobby Freeman, played twice)
12. Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t’ve) (Buzzcocks)
13. I Melt With You (Modern English)
14. Rockaway Beach (Ramones)
15. Ziggy Stardust (David Bowie)
16. Last Nite (The Strokes)
17. Drain You (Nirvana)
18. Fox on the Run (Sweet)
19. Should I Stay or Should I Go (The Clash)
20. We Got the Beat (Go-Go’s)
21. Crazy Train (Ozzy Osbourne)
22. Live Wire (Motley Crue)
23. Talk Dirty to Me (Poison)
24. Surrender (Cheap Trick)

The Coverups Honored L7’s Jennifer Finch at The Roxy

Three days before the Comic-Con show, The Coverups played The Roxy in West Hollywood and covered Nirvana’s “Drain You” from 1991’s “Nevermind.” Billie Joe Armstrong dedicated the performance to L7 bassist Jennifer Finch, telling the crowd, “This song goes out to Jennifer Finch from L7.”

Finch died on July 18, 2026, at age 59, two days before the Roxy show, after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer. L7 said in a statement that they were “shattered by the loss of our beloved bandmate, sister and friend Jennifer Finch, whose fierce spirit, humour and boundless creativity helped shape L7 and changed all of our lives forever,” adding that she was “a true original who lived entirely on her own terms.”

Adrienne Armstrong, Billie Joe’s wife, contributed to a fundraiser covering Jennifer Finch’s treatment costs that raised $300,000 in less than three days. Other contributors to the fundraiser included Garbage, Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan, Korn’s Brian “Head” Welch, and Pearl Jam’s Jeff Ament.