Drum legend Vinny Appice (HEAVEN & HELL, BLACK SABBATH, DIO) is featured in an in-depth interview with Steven Rosen at Ultimate-Guitar.com. An excerpt is available below:

UG: Do you remember the first time you met RONNIE JAMES DIO?

Appice: "To tell you the truth, I didn’t know a lot about Ronnie; I just knew that he played in RAINBOW. Right before I got in the band, I heard Sabbath got a new singer and I remember hearing 'Neon Knights' on the radio and I said to myself, 'Wow, that new singer is pretty good [laughs]. Sabbath sounds good.' It’s funny because a couple months later it comes together. Those were my thoughts; I wasn’t that familiar with him. I wasn’t a Rainbow fan either so I really didn’t listen to a lot of Rainbow."

UG: What do you think it was that Ronnie saw in you as a drummer and as a person?

Appice: "It was probably more ‘cause Ronnie’s a musician first—and he always said that—so he saw and heard that I could play. And the feel and just the approach like that. So I think he looked at that first and went, 'Wow, OK, this is cool.' And then as a person hanging out and everybody liked me. ‘Cause I’m not pushy when I come into a situation like that with Sabbath. I observe and sit back and see what’s going on and see how everybody acts; I don’t like to overstep my boundaries and stuff. So I took that approach—and always do—and they seemed to like that. It was easy to get along so I think mainly it was first that Ronnie could see that I can play and that he could see I was a good guy to hang around with."

Go to this location for the complete interview.