Heaven And Hell!

[Faster Eddie]

Taken from BLABBERMOUTH.NET

RONNIE JAMES DIO Says HEAVEN AND HELL Will Do 'A Year Of Touring' -
Nov. 9, 2006

Legendary heavy metal singer Ronnie James Dio (DIO, BLACK SABBATH, RAINBOW) has revealed to Classic Rock magazine that HEAVEN AND HELL — the new band featuring Dio alongside original BLACK SABBATH members Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward — will likely headline next year's Monsters of Rock festival.

Monsters of Rock returned to the U.K. festival scene at Milton Keynes Bowl this past summer, with DEEP PURPLE as headliners. Now it looks like it will return in 2007, with HEAVEN AND HELL on the bill.

The following is a brief interview Classic Rock conducted with Dio at Monday's (Nov. 6) Classic Rock Roll of Honour event in London:

Classic Rock: Speaking of Tony Iommi, there are of course rumors that you will be reuniting with him, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward as HEAVEN AND HELL next year.

Ronnie: They're absolutely true. We'll probably be doing a year of touring together. And it's looking like you'll see us at the Monsters of Rock festival, then shows in America. And after that we'll come back to the U.K. for eight or nine more shows.

Classic Rock: That's amazing news. More amazing still was that Ozzy Osbourne wished you well with HEAVEN AND HELL.

Ronnie: Yes, he did. Bless Ozzy. He's a special, special person. He's one of the creators of heavy metal music. He deserves wondrous applause, he's a wonderful man and I hope he and Sharon's lives are very, very happy.

Ronnie James Dio recently spent time in the U.K. "kicking around ideas" with Tony Iommi for a couple of new tracks to be included on SABBATH's forthcoming box set, "Black Sabbath: The Dio Years". In addition, according to Ozzy, a BLACK SABBATH tour with Osbourne, Iommi, Butler and Ward will kick off late 2007 to coincide with the group's first new studio album featuring that lineup since 1978's "Never Say Die!"

Dio was honored with the "Metal Guru" award at the Classic Rock Roll of Honour event, which was organized by Classic Rock magazine.

[Apocalypso]

Black Sabbath w/Dio, new song "The Devil Cried." Download with extreme prejudice:

http://www.yousendit.com/download/ME...Z1BveE41VEE9PQ

Pretty good song, not up there with my favorites like Neon Nights or Turn Up The Night, but still good stuff.

T.B.

[tahoewabo]

Not to bad. Glad to see both the members of Sabbath and Dio putting something out.

[At0micPunk]

Black Sabbath w/Dio, new song "The Devil Cried." Download with extreme prejudice:

http://www.yousendit.com/download/ME...Z1BveE41VEE9PQ

Pretty good song, not up there with my favorites like Neon Nights or Turn Up The Night, but still good stuff.

T.B.

Cool stuff man thanks for posting! I love the Dio Sabbath albums, cool to see this configuration again.They are putting out a new release or new songs on a best of?

[Bad to the Bone]

dio w/sabbath is one of the most underrated things in the history of heavy metal, those cd's are incredible. It's a shame that Dehumanizer wasn't given any recognition, it's an incredible album. I'm really looking forward to this.

[Apocalypso]

Cool stuff man thanks for posting! I love the Dio Sabbath albums, cool to see this configuration again.They are putting out a new release or new songs on a best of?

It'll be 3 new songs recorded at the end of last year for a single cd "Best Of" featuring tracks off the 3 Dio era studio and 1 live albums for release at the beginning of April.

T.B.

[Mikey Metalhead]

i realize that sabath should be dark etc.. but my favs from this line up are actually rockers like neon nights, die young mob rules etc...

[Nostalgia Act]

Thought i read somewhere that Vinnie Appice was taking Bill Wards place in Heaven & Hell. Anyone?

[padraig5150]

Yeah, it's actually Appice playing drums on these tracks as well as on tour. Bill Ward was initially part of this project, but dropped out due to unknown reasons. But all band members have stated that there's no bad blood between them; Bill just decided not to be a part of this. Appice then seemed to be the perfect fit on drums, since he had replaced Ward after his first departure in 1980.

Here's a new band pic from www.black-sabbath.com:

[Apocalypso]

Yeah, it's actually Appice playing drums on these tracks as well as on tour. Bill Ward was initially part of this project, but dropped out due to unknown reasons. But all band members have stated that there's no bad blood between them; Bill just decided not to be a part of this. Appice then seemed to be the perfect fit on drums, since he had replaced Ward after his first departure in 1980.

Here's a new band pic from www.black-sabbath.com:

Heh, always wear black to hide the bellies.

Anyway, regarding Ward, two key reasons why he's not on board for this tour.

His health. He's simply not in top shape anymore and a long 8 month worldwide tour is just too much for him. Figure that of any of the original 3 musicians in the band, he's put himself through more wear and tear via substance and alcohol abuse than any of 'em, maybe even Ozzy himself, plus he has the most physically demanding job being the drummer and it's pretty obvious he's not up for the tour.

His feelings regading playing with Ozzy vs Dio. Bill hasn't had any real conflicts with RJD in the past, but he's often said in past interviews that he just didn't feel right or enjoy playing in a non-Ozzy Black Sabbath lineup which is one reason he dropped out of the 1980 tour and was replaced by Appice. Also, it's been surmised that he wants to maintain a good relationship with Ozzy (ie: Sharon) to continue doing any future Ozzy/Black Sabbath studio or live shows. It's no secret Sharon Osbourne was pissed about the Dio reunion but could do little to stop it (Iommi owns the BS name and trademark) but you know she probably put any pressure she could on interferring with it (she did manage to convince Iommi to change the name of the band to "Heaven and Hell") and Ward would be one of the first and easiest people she'd try to influence to not do the tour.

With Ward, the carrot of Ozzy recording a new studio with Black Sabbath is always out there and since any tour with Ozzy will always be far shorter in both show duration and overall length of the tour (like the lastOzzfest tour with BS), mostly because Ozzy himself can't hack it anymore, Ward probably feels he could still handle such a tour.

T.B.

[Wolfgang_'99]

I see them in like 16 days!!

[padraig5150]

she did manage to convince Iommi to change the name of the band to "Heaven and Hell"

Where did you get that from? Sorry, I'm not saying I don't believe you or anything, I'm just curious.

In the interviews I've read or heard, Dio and Iommi claimed that the both of them mutually decided to name this project "Heaven and Hell" in order not to confuse concert goers who might expect Ozzy when they see "Black Sabbath" billed. Don't know if this holds any water, but that's the "official" reason.

[Apocalypso]

Where did you get that from? Sorry, I'm not saying I don't believe you or anything, I'm just curious.

In the interviews I've read or heard, Dio and Iommi claimed that the both of them mutually decided to name this project "Heaven and Hell" in order not to confuse concert goers who might expect Ozzy when they see "Black Sabbath" billed. Don't know if this holds any water, but that's the "official" reason.

Actually, I heard Sharon Osbourne went ballistic when she first heard of the Dio/BS tour being discussed and contacted Iommi about it. When anyone says they "mutually" agreed to something and Sharon Osbourne is involved in any way, it's because she threw a hissy fit about whatever the issue was and either outright threatened the person(s) with something or at least used some sort of leverage. In Iommi's case, she probably said she'd take him to court or would keep Ozzy from performing with Iommi in the future whether she actually could or not and Dio went along with the decision. There is simply no way Iommi wouldn't have loved to otherwise continue using the Black Sabbath name for the simple name recognition for this tour if he could have.

As it stands, the tour seems to be generating decent word of mouth and the promoters are obviously feeling confident enough to book shows this Spring in the US in larger venues than I think they were originally planning to play:

Apr. 22 - Phoenix, AZ @ Dodge Theatre
Apr. 24 - San Jose, CA @ HP Pavilion
Apr. 25 - Los Angeles, CA @ Forum
Apr. 26 - San Diego, CA @ Coors Amphitheatre
Apr. 28 - Albuquerque, NM @ Journal Pavilion
Apr. 29 - Denver, CO @ Broomfield Events Center
May 01 - San Antonio, TX @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
May 02 - Houston, TX @ Cynthia Woods Pavillion
May 03 - Dallas, TX @ Nokia Theater
May 05 - Chicago, IL @ All State Arena
May 06 - Minneapolis, MN @ Theatre @ Target Center
May 08 - Cincinnati, OH @ US Bank Arena
May 10 - Philadelphia, PA @ Wachovia Arena
May 11 - Cleveland, OH @ Tower City Amphitheatre
May 12 - Detroit, MI @ Cobo Hall
May 14 - Albany, NY @ Times Union Center
May 15 - Uncasville, CT @ Mohegan Sun Arena
May 17 - Lowell, MA @ Tsongas Arena
May 18 - Baltimore, MD @ Merriweather Pavilion
May 19 - Holmdell, NJ @ PNC Arts Center

I know my wife's gonna be pissed. I'm seeing Iggy Pop and The Stooges on 4/24 at The Wiltern in LA and I'll be going to this show on the 25th at the caverous Forum. I was figureing they'd play someplace like the smaller Universal Amphitheater.

T.B.

[Mikey Metalhead]

May 03 - Dallas, TX @ Nokia Theater

excellent place to see and hear a concert... anyone else in dfw area going?

[jrk5150]

Anyone know how to get the internet presale info? Goes on sale here tomorrow, the 8th, for Lowell, MA, and I'd like to go.

I could get GA floor today through front gate tickets, but don't want to be throwing down on the floor, would rather have a seat.