VINNY APPICE On RONNIE JAMES DIO: 'He Loved His Fans' And 'He Loved The Music'

In a recent interview with Metal Swap Meet, Vinny Appice was asked what it was like to work with legendary heavy metal singer Ronnie James Dio in BLACK SABBATH, DIO and HEAVEN & HELL. The 66-year-old drummer responded (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET):  "It was amazing. He'd be sitting there in the rehearsal room, writing lyrics. We'd be jamming on something, both with SABBATH and DIO, and then he'd go up to the mic and sing a couple of lines. I'd go, 'Holy shit. This sounds like the record's finished.' It was so spot-on and strong, I was, like, 'Oh, man.' And then I watched him the way he worked with the fans. One of the first things I remember, we pulled out of an arena with SABBATH. We had two limos, Ronnie and I in one, and Tony [Iommi, SABBATH guitarist] and Geezer [Butler, SABBATH bassist] would leave early. We would stay and hang out. We pull up, go out of the arena, go up the hill and go to the gates and let us out and there's a whole bunch of fans there. And it's freezing cold out. It's January in upstate New York. Ronnie says, 'Stop,' gets out of the limo, walks over to the fans, starts signing stuff for them. [I thought] 'Wow, that's cool.' So I did the same thing. I wasn't that known back then, but now that's somebody who cares. He cares about his fans. He remembers your name. And it's just amazing. The next year or tour, you'd go see Ronnie, he'd go, Hey, Brian. How are you doing, man?' He remembers your name. And I'd be going, 'Hey, Bob, it's really good to see you.' He remembered everybody's name. It was incredible. He loved his fans. He loved the music."

Vinny has recorded and co-written songs on several dozen albums and CDs, including many multi-platinum records. Vinny's drumming can also be heard on numerous movie soundtracks, including "Wayne's World 2", "Heavy Metal", "Iron Eagle" and "Bedazzled". Vinny, the author of drum instruction book "Rock Steady" and DVD "Hard Rock Drumming Techniques", has performed incredible powerhouse drum clinics around the globe. Numerous books have been written about BLACK SABBATH and DIO with the authors always mentioned Vinny's drumming style.

Vinny's unique drumming approach has influenced many artists over the last few decades. Never one to rest on his laurels, he is constantly putting out new music and is currently recording and touring with LAST IN LINE.

Vinny currently endorses Sawtooth drums, Evans drumheads, Istanbul Mehmet cymbals and Chromacast drumsticks.