RONNIE JAMES DIO - "I Would Think If Tony (Iommi) Owned The Name, We Would Be Calling Ourselves BLACK SABBATH - So Maybe He Doesn't"
March 10, 2007, 17 years ago
Heath McCoy from CanWest News Service spoke to legendary singer RONNIE JAMES DIO about a number of topics including the upcoming HEAVEN AND HELL tour which commences in Vancouver, BC tomorrow (March 11). An excerpt from the chat follows:
So why is the recently reunited Dio-led lineup touring now under the Heaven And Hell moniker? Many fans have speculated OZZY's wife and manager, the ever brassy Sharon Osbourne, is to blame. After all, Ozzy's version of BLACK SABBATH has been headlining his summer Ozzfest tours since 1997, and because of that the Osbournes may be laying claim to the name.
"As far as Sharon being the perpetrator of that, I would certainly not like to think so," says Dio. "I don't like to think that my life is predicated on somebody else's whims who has nothing to do with me."But Dio's not sure who has ultimate control of the Sabbath name. "I have no idea," says the five-foot-four singer with the colossal voice. "That seems to have been a point of contention for a long time. Who owns the name? Is it Sharon? Is it Ozzy? Is it Tony Iommi (guitarist for both Black Sabbath and Heaven & Hell)? I would think if Tony owned the name, we would be calling ourselves Black Sabbath, so maybe he doesn't."
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