Heaven & Hell (band)

Heaven & Hell
Heaven & Hell at Sauna Open Air Metal Festival
Background information
Origin	Los Angeles, California, United States
Genres	Heavy metal, doom metal
Years active	2006–2010
Labels	Rhino, SPV, Roadrunner
Associated acts	Black Sabbath, Dio, GZR, Rainbow, Iommi
Past members	Vinny Appice Geezer Butler Ronnie James Dio Tony Iommi

Heaven & Hell were an English-American heavy metal band active from 2006 to 2010. The band was a collaboration featuring founding Black Sabbath members Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler along with former Black Sabbath members Ronnie James Dio and Vinny Appice.

The four members of Heaven & Hell recorded and toured together as Black Sabbath from 1980 to 1982, and again from 1991 to 1992. After they reunited to record three new songs for the 2007 compilation album, Black Sabbath: The Dio Years, they embarked on a 2007–2008 tour. Iommi, owner of the Black Sabbath name, decided to call the touring group Heaven & Hell to differentiate the project from the Ozzy Osbourne-led Black Sabbath. The moniker was taken from the first Dio-fronted Black Sabbath album, Heaven and Hell. According to Iommi, the name change was made so that fans at concerts would not expect "to hear “Iron Man” and “War Pigs” and all that... it’s none of the old stuff, it’s none of the Ozzy period. It’s all Dio stuff. So by calling ourselves Heaven and Hell, it’s revisiting that period."

The group disbanded following Dio's death from stomach cancer in 2010.

In an October 2005 interview with the programme "Masters of Rock", aired on BBC Radio 2, Ronnie James Dio revealed his plans to work with Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi once again. He stated that two songs would be penned, and were to feature on a "project" entitled Black Sabbath - The Dio Years. Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward were initially named as the rhythm section completing the project. At Iommi's behest, the group rebranded themselves Heaven & Hell to differentiate this incarnation from the Osbourne-fronted Black Sabbath which was then only on a hiatus. However, for The Dio Years - for which the band would end up recording three new songs rather than two - the band continued to use the Black Sabbath name.