Black Sabbath members reunite without Ozzy

[Brian Damage]

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Ozzy Osbourne's bandmates in British heavy metal group Black Sabbath have reunited without the singer for a planned tour early next year, a spokeswoman said on Wednesday.

The threesome have joined forces with vocalist Ronnie James Dio, who sang in the band during two stints in the 1980s and 1990s after Osbourne was ousted for his prodigious drug abuse, but will bill themselves as "Heaven and Hell."

Lest anyone think that Osbourne has been ostracized again, representatives for the so-called "Prince of Darkness" issued a separate statement, announcing "there is only one Black Sabbath," and that he would join forces with his old Birmingham buddies for a tour and new album late next year.


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Original Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi and Dio "are working on a project together which has nothing to do with Black Sabbath," the statement said. "However, Ozzy wishes Tony and Ronnie much success in their project together."

The members of Heaven and Hell -- Dio, Iommi, bass player Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward -- were not available for comment. The group's spokeswoman said Dio and Iommi were in England writing songs together.

The combo takes its name from the first album Dio recorded with Black Sabbath in 1980. This lineup recorded another studio album in 1981 and a live album in 1982, after which Dio quit. He reportedly complained there were not enough photos of him in the live album artwork, while Iommi reportedly referred to the diminutive head-banger as a "little Hitler."

After a stint at the helm of a successful 1980s metal band bearing his last name, Dio briefly rejoined Black Sabbath a decade later, by which time Iommi was the only original member left and the group had lost most of its fans.

The founding foursome, famed for such jarring metal anthems as "Paranoid" and "War Pigs," buried their various hatchets in the mid-1990s for a successful series of tours, although plans for a new album never came to fruition. After years of being snubbed, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame earlier this year.

Osbourne concurrently found mainstream notoriety as a reality TV star, thanks to his role as the perpetually confused paterfamilias in MTV's "The Osbournes."

[Ireneparalegal]

I don't think it's the same without him.

[ABlairican Pie]

I am looking forward to seeing what Tony Iommi, Geezer, and Bill have in store
with Ronnie James Dio back with them!!! I wished I had seen Sabbath with Dio
back then in the 80's, and now under the new moniker Heaven and Hell, I just might!! Right now the albums Heaven and Hell and Mob Rules are two of my favorite Sabbath albums.

Did I mention I met Tony Iommi at last year's Ozzfest?

[TJL]

WHy do I have a feeling the Black Sabbath boys just don't want to deal with Sharon Osbourne?

[ABlairican Pie]

Originally Posted by TJL

WHy do I have a feeling the Black Sabbath boys just don't want to deal with Sharon Osbourne?

Can you blame them? I think $haron still holds a grudge for the band, especially toward Tony Iommi, for kicking out her widdle Ozzy Wozzy in 1979.

[dragster58]

I was discussing about Tony, Ozzy and the gang at the local on Halloween and one of my girl friends said BS WAS and still IS only Tony Iommi. Maybe Ozzy should have fought back and defended his right to be in the band and not ousted, but he didn't do it...why?! aaahh, the mysteries of rock bands! I like all the BS line-ups as long as they don't go whimpy and start playing Darkness-oriented sh*t. Sure, I'd like to see Ozzy join up and bring BS up there where it belongs.....again!!!

[ABlairican Pie]

Originally Posted by dragster58

I was discussing about Tony, Ozzy and the gang at the local on Halloween and one of my girl friends said BS WAS and still IS only Tony Iommi. Maybe Ozzy should have fought back and defended his right to be in the band and not ousted, but he didn't do it...why?! aaahh, the mysteries of rock bands! I like all the BS line-ups as long as they don't go whimpy and start playing Darkness-oriented sh*t. Sure, I'd like to see Ozzy join up and bring BS up there where it belongs.....again!!!

You have to remember that when Black Sabbath fired Ozzy back in 1979, he had become a self-destructive, unpredictable, chemically dependent individual who was nearly impossible to work with. He had left on his own back in 1977 for a short while before coming back, but was unhappy about the poppy direction the band had taken (1978's Never Say Die). Tony was getting more into "progressive" jazz styles and the band was no longer what people had come to expect. It's rather strange that people in bands with substance abuse problems weren't ordered to check into rehab and dry out back then. Ozzy has considered himself to be more of a "weak" person, and Tony a bit more agressive of the two. Ozzy felt rather intimidated by him, so when $haron hooked him up with Randy Rhoads and formed his own band, it was a godsend. Black Sabbath was about to call it quits until they teamed up with Ronnie James Dio and came up with a new heavy sound. It's still strange after all these years that that Black Sabbath only seems to exist as a "nostalgia" outfit that comes together for the occasional Ozzfest, since Ozzy says he doesn't want to do another album with them, while Tony has been waiting for quite a while to put out new music.

[dragster58]

Cool read...thanx. Syd Barrett might still be alive today had that happened in his time! I never liked Never Say Die either, but I just knew all along that Tony would have come back strong with his style of rock someday...and he did! All bands go thru their "whimpy hour" as I call it (eg. Kiss with "Dynasty"), but the kick-ass ones always come back to the good vibes sooner or later!

Originally Posted by ABlairican Pie

You have to remember that when Black Sabbath fired Ozzy back in 1979, he had become a self-destructive, unpredictable, chemically dependent individual who was nearly impossible to work with. He had left on his own back in 1977 for a short while before coming back, but was unhappy about the poppy direction the band had taken (1978's Never Say Die). Tony was getting more into "progressive" jazz styles and the band was no longer what people had come to expect. It's rather strange that people in bands with substance abuse problems weren't ordered to check into rehab and dry out back then. Ozzy has considered himself to be more of a "weak" person, and Tony a bit more agressive of the two. Ozzy felt rather intimidated by him, so when $haron hooked him up with Randy Rhoads and formed his own band, it was a godsend. Black Sabbath was about to call it quits until they teamed up with Ronnie James Dio and came up with a new heavy sound. It's still strange after all these years that that Black Sabbath only seems to exist as a "nostalgia" outfit that comes together for the occasional Ozzfest, since Ozzy says he doesn't want to do another album with them, while Tony has been waiting for quite a while to put out new music.

[ABlairican Pie]

Originally Posted by dragster58

Cool read...thanx. Syd Barrett might still be alive today had that happened in his time! I never liked Never Say Die either, but I just knew all along that Tony would have come back strong with his style of rock someday...and he did! All bands go thru their "whimpy hour" as I call it (eg. Kiss with "Dynasty"), but the kick-ass ones always come back to the good vibes sooner or later!

OMG, I saw the Dynasty tour in 1979, it was cool and all, but looking back the costumes and everything were a little TOO much, and for KISS to do a DISCO tune was the unpardonable sin!! No surprise that after that, they began to decline, and not even taking off their makeup helped them a few years later.

[dragster58]

....but you must admit that they did make a cool comeback with "Psycho Circus".

[ABlairican Pie]

Originally Posted by dragster58

....but you must admit that they did make a cool comeback with "Psycho Circus".

Oh yes!! I meant to say that not everything they did was all that bad, like "I Love It Loud", "Lick It Up", "Tears Are Falling", "Heaven's On Fire", "Unholy", and "Psycho Circus" are all great songs. I read that when Ace and Peter rejoined the band, they still caused problems that made them leave in the first place.

[Junichiro]

What the hell is Kiss doing in a thread about a GOOD band?

[dragster58]

Gene Simmons alone is worth the whole band!! Luckily music is subjective!

[ABlairican Pie]

According to a posting on Spain's MariskalRock.com web site, Ronnie James Dio revealed during an appearance at the Classic Rock Roll of Honour event in London Monday night (Nov. 6) that HEAVEN AND HELL — the new band featuring Dio alongside original BLACK SABBATH members Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward — will headline next year's Download festival, set to take place in June 2007 at Donington Park, Leicestershire, England. The group, named after the first post-Ozzy Osbourne SABBATH album, is expected to announce many other festival appearances during 2007.

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.


New Sabbath next year!!!

[dragster58]

New Sabath!!!! New Sabbath!!!