VINNY APPICE No Longer 'Disgusted' With DIO DISCIPLES

May 11, 2013

Legendary drummer Vinny Appice (DIO, BLACK SABBATH, HEAVEN & HELL) will fill in for Simon Wright (DIO, AC/DC, UFO) on the following DIO DISCIPLES shows in July:

July 18 - Toronto, Ontario, Canada @ The Rockpile
July 19 - London, Ontario, Canada @ The Eastside Bar & Grill
July 20 - Silver Creek, NY @ Willow Creek Winery

DIO DISCIPLES, which pays tribute to legendary heavy metal singer Ronnie James Dio (BLACK SABBATH, RAINBOW, DIO, HEAVEN & HELL) and is fully supported by Dio's widow/manager, Wendy, currently consists of the following musicians:

* Tim "Ripper" Owens (YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, JUDAS PRIEST, ICED EARTH) - Vocals
* Oni Logan (LYNCH MOB) - Vocals
* Craig Goldy (DIO) - Guitar
* Bjorn Englen (YNGWIE MALMSTEEN) - Bass
* Scott Warren (DIO,HEAVEN & HELL) - Keyboards
* Simon Wright (DIO, AC/DC, UFO) – Drums

During an April 2011 appearance on the "All Hail Hair" show on Fightin' Words Radio, Vinny Appice was asked what he thought of DIO DISCIPLES going out on the road and paying tribute to Ronnie James Dio. "I think it's disgusting," he said. "I mean, why are they even doing it? Plus, [Ronnie has] not even been passed away for a year. And, you know… It's kind of… I don't know. It's kind of weird, man. It's weird."

Vinny last year teamed up with fellow original DIO members Vivian Campbell (guitar),Jimmy Bain (bass) and Claude Schnell (keyboards),along with singer Andrew Freeman, in a brand new DIO tribute band called LAST IN LINE.

Last October, Owens was asked in an interview with "Tales From The Stage Volume 1" author Michael Toney what his reaction was when he first heard that Vivian and Vinny were launching their own DIO tribute band. "I'm a bit shocked," he said. "But I could care less what [Vivian] does. I wish he would have probably done something, I guess, or had good things to say about Ronnie when Ronnie was alive. So it is shocking. It's shocking also that… I'm friends also with Vinny as well, but Vinny pretty much knocked [DIO DISCIPLES] for doing [the same thing]. And from the looks of it, we're definitely doing it for the right reason and we're celebrating Ronnie's legacy. And I think they are as well. It's shocking, but I'm glad, to be honest. You can't do too much of this for Ronnie. I just worry about, and focus on, DIO DISCIPLES, really."

Find more on

Prev More News Next

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).