Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music degree from Queen Mary University in London.

The singer was honoured for his extensive contributions to the music industry.

Dickinson earned his undergraduate history degree from the university back in 1979 and admitted that he used college to get out of going into the army by telling his parents he wanted to get a degree first.

He said, "That was what [my parents] wanted to hear so that was my cover story. When I got down there, I started immediately finding and playing in bands."

Iron Maiden are currently on their ‘The Final Frontier’ tour in support of their 2010 album of the same name and have been playing throughout Europe since early May.

Watch Iron Maiden's video for 'The Final Frontier':