Ronnie celebrates his birthday today - still rockin' as hard as ever!

Happy Birthday to Ronnie!

*due to time constraints, the band will only sign copies of The Rules of Hell box set or Heaven and Hell: Live from Radio City Music Hall (DVD/CD)

LOS ANGELES – Heavy metal pioneers Black Sabbath were reborn in 1980 when founding members Tony Iommi and Terry “Geezer” Butler added vocalist Ronnie James Dio to the lineup. The band’s short but memorable time together added an unforgettable chapter in Sabbath’s storied history. Rhino relives the demonic fury conjured by the Dio era with THE RULES OF HELL, a boxed set featuring all three of the band’s studio releases (Heaven And Hell, Mob Rules, Dehumanizer) and their double live collection (Live Evil) – each recently remastered for the first time. The set comes packaged in a deluxe slipcase with extensive liner notes featuring all new interviews with the band. This five-disc boxed set will be available from Rhino on July 22 at all physical outlets, as well as www.rhino.com, for a suggested list price of $54.98. The set will also be available the same day at all digital outlets for a suggested list price of $24.99.

Two years ago, Dio, Iommi and Butler and drummer Vinny Appice reunited to record a trio of new songs for Rhino’s Black Sabbath: The Dio Years before launching a highly anticipated and greatly acclaimed world tour under their new moniker Heaven & Hell. Revitalized by the reunion, the lineup is back in the studio now recording the first ever full-length studio album from Heaven & Hell, set to be released by Rhino in early 2009. To whet the fans’ appetites for the new album, Heaven & Hell will return to the road for a short stint on the Metal Masters Tour, a month-long North American trek with Judas Priest, Motörhead, and Testament. This blistering metal juggernaut will launch August 6 in Philadelphia.

The Dio-era’s first effort, HEAVEN AND HELL, hit the racks on April 25, 1980. Greeted by ecstatic reviews, the album peaked at #9 in Britain. In the U.S., its Top 30 success gave the group its first platinum disc in six years. Opening with the chugging anthem “Neon Knights,” the album also includes the epic title track, “Wishing Well,” “Die Young” and “Lonely Is The Word.”

The group’s follow-up, MOB RULES, was the first without original drummer Bill Ward, who was replaced with Appice. The album bristles with Iommi’s signature dark riffs, Butler’s elaborate bass lines, Appice’s hammering behind the drums and Dio’s inimitable growling. The album includes the high-octane tracks—“Falling Off The Edge Of The World,” “Turn Up The Night,” and the title track—plus the mid-tempo rocker “Voodoo” and the slow-churning epic “The Sign Of The Southern Cross,” a favorite among band members and fans alike.

Released in December 1982, LIVE EVIL stands as a modern metal masterpiece and a testament to the power of the Dio, Iommi, Butler and Appice lineup. Recorded in Seattle, Dallas, and San Antonio, the sound is upfront and aggressive, a virtual front-row seat for epic versions of their classics including “Neon Knights,” “Children Of The Sea,” “The Sign Of The Southern Cross” and “Heaven And Hell.”

DEHUMANIZER (1992) is seen by many metal aficionados as one of—if not the most—underrated work to ever carry the Sabbath name. After the lineup fell apart in 1982, the group reconvened a decade later to release this lost classic. The album forged something new, pushing its legend to a new generation of metal heads with incredible tracks like “I,” “Computer God” and “TV Crimes.”

THE RULES OF HELL
Track Listing

HEAVEN AND HELL
1. “Neon Knights”
2. “Children Of The Sea”
3. “Lady Evil”
4. “Heaven And Hell”
5. “Wishing Well”
6. “Die Young”
7. “Walk Away”
8. “Lonely Is The Word”

MOB RULES
1. “Turn Up The Night”
2. “Voodoo”
3. “The Sign Of The Southern Cross”
4. “E5150”
5. “The Mob Rules”
6. “Country Girl”
7. “Slipping Away”
8. “Falling Off The Edge Of The World”
9. “Over And Over”

LIVE EVIL
Disc 1
1. “E5150”
2. “Neon Knights”
3. “N.I.B.”
4. “Children Of The Sea”
5. “Voodoo”
6. “Black Sabbath”
7. “War Pigs”
8. “Iron Man”

Disc 2
1. “The Mob Rules”
2. “Heaven And Hell”
3. “The Sign Of The Southern Cross/Heaven And Hell”
4. “Paranoid”
5. “Children Of The Grave”
6. “Fluff”

DEHUMANIZER
1. “Computer God”
2. “After All (The Dead)”
3. “TV Crimes”
4. “Letters From Earth”
5. “Master Of Insanity”
6. “Time Machine”
7. “Sins Of The Father”
8. “Too Late”
9. “I”
10. “Buried Alive”
11. “Time Machine” (Wayne’s World Version)

Heaven & Hell North American Tour Dates
(Except where noted, all shows also feature Judas Priest, Motörhead, and Testament)

AUGUST
6 Philadelphia, PA Susquehanna Bank Center
7 Washington, DC Nissan Pavilion
9 Holmdel, NJ PNC Arts Center
10 Wantagh, NJ Jones Beach Theater
12 Hamburg, NY Grandstand Stage/America's Fair **
13 Toronto, ONT Molson Amphitheatre
15 Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun Arena##
16 Pittsburgh, PA Post-Gazette Pavilion
18 Detroit, MI DTE Energy Center
19 Chicago, IL First Midwest Band Amphitheatre
22 Dallas, TX Superpages.com Center
23 Houston, TX Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
24 San Antonio, TX Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
27 Albuquerque, NM Journal Pavilion
28 Phoenix, AZ Cricket Wireless Pavilion
30 San Bernadino, CA Hyundai Pavilion
31 Mountain View, CA Shoreline Amphitheatre

**Featuring Motörhead and Testament ONLY
## Featuring Judas Priest and Testament ONLY

After weeks of speculation, Live Nation has put together a killer package that is bound to go down as the heavy metal event of 2008 - Judas Priest, Heaven and Hell, Motorhead, and Testament will be touring together for the first time.

Dubbed ‘The Metal Masters Tour,’ the sixteen date U.S. trek kicks off August 6th at the Susquehanna Bank Center in Camden, New Jersey.

Judas Priest will be supporting their epic concept album, ‘Nostradamus,’ which will arrive on June 17th via Epic Records, and tells the tale of the renowned 16th century prophet. A few tracks from ‘Nostradamus’ will make their in-concert debut on ‘The Metal Masters Tour,’ but the majority of Priest’s set list will include some of metal’s all-time classics, as well as fan favorites that span the quintet’s entire career. Without a doubt, this will be one of Priest’s most powerful sets ever. As a ‘sneak peak treat’ to fans starved for a musical taster, the first cut off the new album will make its world premiere debut as exclusive free MP3 download starting today exclusively at www.livenation.com/judaspriest.

Heaven & Hell will be supporting the release of The Rules Of Hell, a five-CD boxed set available on July 22nd from Rhino Records which features re-mastered versions of all four Dio-era Black Sabbath albums (‘Heaven and Hell,’ ‘Mob Rules,’ ‘Live Evil,’ and ‘Dehumanizer’) in a deluxe package with new liner notes.

Perennial road rats Motorhead will be touring strictly for the love of it, offering a fan favorites set spanning more than three decades worth of molar-rattling metal. Motorhead’s last album was 2006’s ‘Kiss of Death’ (released via Sanctuary Records), their 19th studio set of their long and highly influential career. A new album is currently in the works as well, which is currently being recorded at their old pal Dave Grohl’s studio with a August release date targeted. Lemmy blairs out, "Here it comes everybody, the test of your Metalness in 2008 and the years to come! Come one come all and be abused!"

Rounding out the line-up will be legendary thrash metal titans Testament, whose new album, ‘The Formation of Damnation,’ (April 29th,) displays Testament as the quintessential modern heavy metal band, whose experience and accumulated skill allows them to attack with reserves of anger, energy and finesse that make them more powerful than ever. Lead singer Chuck Billy says, “Uniting these bands is the heavy metal event of generations. We are so proud to be a part of it.”

Although all four bands may represent different subgenres of heavy metal, all four have one thing in common – they have stuck to their stylistic guns through thick and thin, and have remained true to the metal form. And soon, band and fan will be united as one on ‘The Metal Masters Tour.’

“As ever, we look forward to screaming out loud with our metal maniac fans when we hit the road,” enthuses Priest singer, Rob Halford. “Thank you once again for your devotion and support. The Priest is back!”

This tour will be limited to fifteen very special engagements, and Citi cardmembers will have pre-sale access to tickets through Citi's Private Pass® Program, available to all Citi cardmembers at www.privatepass.citi.com.

Metal maniacs seeking the ultimate concert experience can access unique VIP ticket and fan experience packages that offer premium seats, meet & greets, pre-concert parties and more brought to you by the band's official websites, www.judaspriest.com and www.heavenandhelllive.com. VIP packages for the first events will be on sale by 10 a.m eastern time on Friday, April 25th. Also, not all VIP packages are the same, so be sure to pick the right one that suits you best.

Tickets go on sale to the public beginning this weekend at www.livenation.com.

See the official web sites for continually updated tour information and on-sale dates.

The dates are as follows:

DIO is proud to welcome along with us for the Birmingham and London UK dates GIRLSCHOOL, and for Sweden and Denmark, Stockholm exports FATAL SMILE, who are currently out on tour here in the US with our good friend DORO.

Please be aware that the DIO band is not playing any North American dates this year, and that there is a person going around booking fictitious dates with unsuspecting promoters.

The only dates this year that are legitimate are the UK/Scandinavian dates as listed on the tour section.

Then, Ronnie will take a break during the summer to play a few special up close and personal dates for the Dio fans. The dates are now coming together, so check the tour section for the latest info on concerts.

Filmed in high-definition and boasting 5.1 Surround Sound, every metallic flourish and bone-crushing riff brings you as close as possible to being at this destined-to-be-legendary show, which sold out in minutes. DVD extras include the documentary Heaven And Hell Road Movie, encompassing backstage, rehearsal and interview footage and other features.

Stop by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and celebrate the release of Rhino's new Heaven and Hell Live from Radio City Music Hall DVD with a FREE screening!  The DVD will be shown in its entirety in the Rock Hall's fourth floor theatre.  FREE Heaven and Hell band merchandise including tour shirts, programs and limited edition posters will be passed out at the end of the showing (while supplies last - limit 1 item per person).

Heaven and Hell Live from Radio City Music Hall
Official Rhino Records Heaven and Hell DVD Screening
at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Weds. August 29th - 6:30pm-9:00pm
Free Admission! Free Merch!
For details http://www.rockhall.com/calendar/

Ronnie, Tony, Geezer and Vinny will be signing copies of the new DVD and CD Heaven and Hell: Live from Radio City Music Hall at the Hot Topic in Hollywood Tuesday, August 28 at 6pm.

Hot Topic (Hollywood & Highland)
6801 Hollywood Boulevard
Hollywood, CA 90028
(323) 462-2590

Beginning Friday, August 17th pre-order the new Heaven and Hell CD Live From Radio City Music Hall, and get a wristband that guarantees a place in line to meet Heaven and Hell! Note: Pre-order only available at the Hollywood & Highland Hot Topic Store.

One wristband per person. Space is limited.  No cameras allowed and one autograph per person.  Due to time constraints, the band will only sign copies of the Live from Radio City Music Hall DVD or CD.

For more information, go to http://www.hottopic.com

Heaven and Hell will play 3 dates in Mexico, which have just been added to the tour page

Simon Wright will make a guest appearance with Rhino Bucket at the Rocklahoma Rock Fever Fest Sunday, July 15 at 11:20AM.

For more information on the Rocklahoma Rock Fever Fest, visit www.rockfeverfest.com.

Following the group’s successful spring tour, Heaven And Hell will again wow American audiences with its bewitching stage set and truly timeless, classic metal as Ronnie James Dio, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Vinny Appice return for the second U.S.leg of the quartet’s continuing world tour. Set to launch on September 5, Heaven And Hell’s tour will stop in many cities not included on the previous leg and will feature opening sets from Alice Cooper and Queensrÿche. Tickets for the first 13 dates will go on sale the weekend of June 22 with more dates to be announced soon. There will also be a special fan presale for the first dates beginning Wednesday, June 20 at 12 Noon EST at http://heavenandhell.frontgatetickets.com.

Alice Cooper and Queensrÿche will join Heaven And Hell on the road this fall creating one of the year’s hardest-hitting triple bills. In addition to his duties as a rock ’n’ roll icon, Cooper is the host of the syndicated Nights With Alice Cooper radio show. Cooper’s autobiography, Alice Cooper, Golf Monster, was released last month. Queensrÿche is riding high on the success of last year’s Operation: Mindcrime II album and tour, which brought the group’s complete Mindcrime saga to the stage in its entirety. On July 3, Rhino will release CD and DVD versions Mindcrime At The Moore, which feature Queensrÿche’s performance in front of its hometown crowd at Moore Theatre in Seattle.

For more information about the Heaven and Hell fan presale, please go to http://heavenandhell.frontgatetickets.com.

The Heaven And Hell Fall U.S. Tour will include the following stops with more dates to be announced soon.

SEPTEMBER
5 Binghampton, NY Broom County Arena
7 Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun Arena
8 Long Island, NY Jones Beach Amphitheatre
9 Mansfield, CT Tweeter Center
14 Tampa, FL St. Petersburg Times Forum
15 Sunrise, FL Bank Atlantic Center
16 Orlando, FL Amway Arena
22 Chicago, IL First Midwest Bank Pavilion
25 Denver, CO Coors Amphitheatre
28 Reno, NV Reno Events Center
29 Kelseyville, CA Konocti Harbor
30 Concord, CA Sleep Train Amphitheatre

OCTOBER
2 Fresno, CA Selland Arena

Currently there are 12 scheduled stops, starting on March 11 in Vancouver and ending on March 30 in New York City. The Heaven And Hell world tour will continue until the end of the year with shows in the US, Asia and Europe. Additional dates will be announced shortly.

Multi-platinum recording artist Megadeth will be joining the tour, previewing never before heard material from their upcoming release on Roadrunner Records, United Abominations. The tour also brings the return of Down, featuring Philip Anselmo and Rex Brown from Pantera, as well as Pepper Keenan of COC.

The heavy metal icons are also scheduled to release a new anthology entitled Black Sabbath: The Dio Years. Anticipated release date is 4/3/07 on Rhino/Warner Bros. Records.

The Heaven and Hell Tour 2007 will include the following stops:

• Mar 11, 2007, Pacific Coliseum, Vancouver, British Columbia
  
• Mar 13, 2007, Rexall Place, Edmonton, Alberta
  
• Mar 14, 2007, Saddledome, Calgary, Alberta
  
• Mar 16, 2007, Brandt Centre, Regina, Saskatchewan
  
• Mar 18, 2007, MTS Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba
  
• Mar 20, 2007, Steelback Centre, Sault Ste Marie, Ontario
  
• Mar 22, 2007, Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Ontario
  
• Mar 24, 2007, John Labatt Centre, London, Ontario
  
• Mar 26, 2007, Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec
  
• Mar 27, 2007, Colisee Pepsi Arena, Quebec City, Quebec
  
• Mar 28, 2007, Civic Centre, Ottawa, Ontario
  
• Mar 30, 2007, Radio City Music Hall, New York, New York (No Down)

For more information, visit www.heavenandhelllive.com

It's Official: Ronnie James Dio will appear on stage with Queensryche, October 5th at the Gibson Amphitheater, one night only to sing his part of Dr. X on Queensryche's Operation Mindcrime II.

Dio stated, "I've been asked to reprise my performance as Dr. X on the Operation Mindcrime II in a live venue. It worked out where I was able to do it for this show, and it should be quite a treat."

Dio heads off to Scandinavia next weekend, playing Copenhagen's Amager Bio on 8/28, Aarhus' Train on 8/29, the Hamar Music Festival on 8/31, Riga's Skonto Hall on 9/2, and then the Loud Park Festival in Japan in October with stops in Tokyo and Osaka before heading home to work on the next Dio studio record and putting finishing touches on the new tracks for Black Sabbath: The Dio Years.

We also wanted to thank all the fans for the tons of e-mails, comments and friend requests we have received through the DIO Myspace site since its inception. We really appreciate all the support we've received from you all. If you haven't yet seen it, you can find us at www.myspace.com/dioofficial

The X-Fest in Athens, Greece on June 6 has been cancelled, so DIO will not be appearing there. Word has it there are some new dates for South America which are being confirmed as we speak, and once they are, the tour page will be updated, so keep watching!

Also, we now have an Official Dio Myspace page, so come check us out at www.myspace.com/dioofficial!

As we get more information, we will keep you posted.

Holy Diver Live features the classic Holy Diver album in its entirety, from start to finish, recorded live for the very first time along with other Dio, Rainbow and Black Sabbath classics.

The complete tracklisting of Holy Diver Live is as follows:

Disc 1

Stand Up And Shout
Holy Diver
Gypsy
Caught In The Middle
Don't Talk To Strangers
Straight Through The Heart
Invisible
Rainbow In The Dark
Shame On The Night

Disc 2

Tarot Woman
Sign Of The Southern Cross
One Night In The City
Gates Of Babylon
Heaven And Hell
Man On The Silver Mountain
Long Live Rock & Roll
We Rock

In addition, DIO's classic CD, Holy Diver, will be re-released on CD April 17, 2006 in Europe and April 18, 2006 in the U.S. through Eagle Records featuring a recent in-depth interview with Ronnie.

For more information, please visit www.guitarworld.com.

Ronnie and the band will start working on writing for a new record in January, and it's looking like the band will hit South America in March 2006.

We'll have more tour information for you as it comes together, so keep watching the tour section. In the meantime, Ronnie's performance as Dr. X on the new Queensryche album, Operation Mindcrime II, hits stores on March 14, and we are told that Tenacious D: The Pick of Destiny, Ronnie's movie debut, will be coming out in March as well.

Ronnie, Simon, Doug, Rudy and Scott would like to thank you for your gift of support through the years and are looking forward to bringing you another year of Dio cheer in 2006!

Ronnie recently headed up to the Bay Area to record his part on the record, and commented on being chosen to play Dr. X: "I was flattered to be asked to be part of the Operation Mindcrime II project, and it was truly great to work with Geoff Tate again."

We are all very excited to hear the record, due in record stores March 14, 2006.

We will keep you posted on what develops with this situation.

With respect to the recent rumors of Ronnie's rejoining Black Sabbath, Wendy Dio commented, “Ronnie is not re-joining Black Sabbath. He’s very happy with his own band and will be touring festivals next year with Dio, NOT OZZFEST." She went on to clarify that, "the writing project is just something that may happen between Tony and Ronnie if they have time between their own projects to write one or two songs to be included on the Black Sabbath: The Dio Years box set.”

Wendy Dio states emphatically that,"Craig has NOT been drinking, and has been a real trooper, trying to perform in pain with his arm. We are very pleased that Doug is able to perform with Dio and that we do not have to cancel any shows."

In coordination with the tour, Holy Diver will be re-released on October 3rd in Europe (still working on a USA release), along with a live DVD entitled We Rock.

In other news, the December shows are slowly coming together. We should have dates for you shortly (watch the tour section), but in the meantime we can tell you that the tour will be Scandinavia December 1-10, and Germany December 13-21.

Russian dates have now been confirmed, so we have added those to the site -- Enjoy!

Billboard.com recently did a piece of the forthcoming book, which you can read here. We will have copies of the book available shortly on the merch page and also out on the road, so get yours!

We are working hard on the Hear N Aid II project. It's coming along nicely, and we are hopeful it should be finished this year sometime. Also, the Stand Up & Shout video anthology will be coming out on Rhino Records in June 2005.

Dio's 2005 tour schedule is being worked out now and looks like we will be playing South America April 2005, Asia May 2005, European festivals June & July 2005, Russia in September 2005 and the UK October 2005, followed by Christmas shows in Germany in December.

Tour dates will be posted as soon as they are officially confirmed, so keep watching the tour page for more details on when Dio is coming to YOUR town!

In other news, Master of the Moon hits record stores in Japan today, and look for Stand Up & Shout, an anthology of all the Dio videos, to be released in the United States in June 2005.

The members of DIO will be making several appearances at the NAMM convention held at the Anaheim Convention Center this year. The entire band will be appearing on Friday, January 21 at the Dean Markley booth from 1-2pm, and then at Peavey from 2-3pm. On Saturday, January 22, Craig will be signing at the Seymour Duncan booth at from 1-2pm; Rudy, Craig and Simon will be at the Digitech booth from 2-2:45pm and Simon will be signing over at Vic Firth from 3-4pm. Additionally, Rudy will be at the Washburn booth Thurs. Jan 20 from 1:30-2:30pm.

We'll be taking some time off over the holidays, but we will be in Monterey, Mexico on November 13 for the Monterey Metalfest along with Twisted Sister, Dokken, Quiet Riot and others, so if you can make it, come rock with us!

Make your plans to come join the legendary Master of Darkness, DIO for Halloween weekend! Aah-oooooooo!

The tour kicked off Wednesday night in Hartford, CT, and what a show! Fireball Ministry really rocked the house and pleasantly surprised a lot of people who hadn't heard of them before this tour. Anthrax is keeping the crowds energized and highly motivated as usual, and the Dio set has probably every favorite song you can think of as well as a few surprises.

The new record is available at the shows, and we've also got some cool new shirts at the merch booth. For now, they're only available at the shows, but we hope to be adding those to the site as well. Keep watching!