Iron Maiden released their sixteenth studio album, ‘The Book of Souls,’ a year after Robin Williams’ suicide.
The track “Tears of a Clown” on the album was inspired by Robin Williams, with vocalist Bruce Dickinson calling it his favorite song.
Bassist Steve Harris and guitarist Adrian Smith wrote “Tears of a Clown” without revealing its true inspiration until after it was recorded.
Dickinson was surprised to learn that the song was about Williams, as Harris usually doesn’t reveal the specific subject matter of his songs.
Dickinson speculated that Harris may have felt an affinity to the sense of isolation that Robin Williams experienced, as reflected in the song’s lyrics.
