Vinny Appice
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Vinny Appice (born September 13, 1957 in Brooklyn, New York) is a rock drummer, best known for his work with the bands Dio and Black Sabbath. He is the younger brother of rock drummer Carmine Appice, who was in Vanilla Fudge and Cactus. He is currently involved in Heaven and Hell.
[edit] Early years
Vinny took up the drums aged 9, taking lessons from the same teacher as Carmine had had. At the tender age of 16, Vinny and his band BOMF met John Lennon at The Record Plant in NYC, which led to Vinny appearing on several Lennon projects. He then recorded and toured with Rick Derringer on Derringer (1976), Sweet Evil (1977) and Derringer Live (1977), before forming his own band Axis, releasing one album, It's A Circus World (1978).
[edit] The Black Sabbath and Dio years
Appice joined Black Sabbath in 1980 during the Heaven and Hell tour, and later appeared on the albums Mob Rules (1981) and the album recorded on that tour, Live Evil (1982). In late 1982, before Live Evil had even hit the shelves, he had left Sabbath with vocalist Ronnie James Dio, and formed the band Dio. He appeared on the Dio albums Holy Diver (1983), The Last in Line (1984), Sacred Heart (1985), Intermission (1986), and Dream Evil (1987). In December 1989 Appice left Dio for reasons somewhat unclear.
In 1990 Appice joined World War III and the band released an album. In 1992 Appice returned to Black Sabbath, with Ronnie James Dio, for the Dehumanizer album and tour. When Black Sabbath, with Rob Halford singing instead of Ronnie James Dio, opened as special guest on Ozzy's (supposed) final two solo shows in Costa Mesa, CA in November 1992, Appice still sat in the drum-stool. Thereafter, he rejoined Dio and is present on Strange Highways (1993), Angry Machines (1996) and Inferno - Last in Live (1998).
On the 1998 Black Sabbath tour he replaced original drummer Bill Ward, who was absent while he recovered from a heart-attack. Ward returned to the band in 1999. As of 2006, it seems that Appice will be reunited with Ronnie James Dio and Black Sabbath members Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler to tour under the name "Heaven and Hell" during 2007. Initially Bill Ward was going to be the drummer for this project but once again Appice will be taking over from Ward.
[edit] Other recordings
His recorded output is extensive, as detailed on his official homepage. Recent sessions include those for Lana Lane, Mark Boals and, in 2003, Erik Norlander's Music Machine CD. He has also released insructional drumming videos and regularly appears at drum clinics, sometimes with brother Carmine. Despite being known as one of rock's heaviest drummers Vinny uses a single bass-drum.
He once said in an interview with a UK drumming magazine that the correct pronunciation of the family name is 'a-PEACH-ee' but he generally finds people pronounce it 'AP-a-sea' and doesn't lose sleep over it. Certainly the pronunciation in interviews and onstage by Ronnie James Dio was the latter way.
