Heaven and Hell (band)

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Black Sabbath in 1980, now known as "Heaven and Hell"

Heaven and Hell is a music collaboration featuring current Black Sabbath members Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler along with former members Ronnie James Dio and Vinny Appice. Founding member Iommi decided to name the group Heaven and Hell as the original lineup of Black Sabbath (featuring Butler, Iommi, Bill Ward and Ozzy Osbourne) is still active but on hiatus.

The possibility of a reunion of the lineup which created the album Heaven and Hell in 1980 after the departure/firing of vocalist Ozzy Osbourne following the 1978 album, Never Say Die!, was first announced on the Spanish site Rafabasa on September 28, 2006. [1]

Previously (August 16), Ronnie James Dio also announced that he and Tony Iommi had written a new track for the Black Sabbath box set consisting of music from the two eras in which he was present in the band.

Rumours of such a reunion were officialy confirmed by the following announcement on Tony Iommi's official website:

The highly anticipated reunion of Ronnie James Dio, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward appears to be shaping up and taking a new form. After various promoters have approached their respective management; the guys have started taking all of this very seriously, as they have wanted to reunite for some time now. It looks as if the new shape may be that of Heaven and Hell - that's the moniker that the band is likely to use on their new venture.

If all goes well, Heaven and Hell should be hitting the road in early 2007. [2]

The same announcement also appeared on that of Ronnie James Dio's and Geezer Butler's official web sites, although the announcement on Butler's website also contains a warning citing unresolved issues as a potential problem for the reunion.

The final piece of confirmation arrived when an announcement appeared on Ozzy Osbourne's website wishing Tony Iommi and Ronnie James Dio luck with their projects in the future. It also clearly states that there is only one Black Sabbath which consists of Ozzy himself, Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi and Bill Ward, also that they will be touring at the end of next year with a new album by Black Sabbath. [3]

On November 23, 2006, the official Black Sabbath web site reported that Bill Ward would no longer be taking part in the union, and he has officially been replaced by former Black Sabbath drummer Vinny Appice. [4] Appice first replaced Ward in 1980 on the original tour to support the Heaven and Hell album and later appeared on the 1981 album The Mob Rules and its live companion, Live Evil. Appice and also replaced Cozy Powell in Sabbath for the short-lived 1992 reunion of the four when they released Dehumanizer. He later replaced Ward in 1998 (with Osbourne on vocals) for a brief European tour before Ward's return in 1999.