Black Sabbaths most famous split was with founding member Ozzy Osbourne, but that had more to do with Osbourne's drug problem than runaway egos. It was when Ronnie James Dio came on board to replace Ozzy that egos flared up. The new lineups first release, Heaven and Hell, was critically praised and continues to be heralded as the bands best post-Ozzy album. Dio had established himself as a metal singer, and one of the genres best, with his tenure in Rainbow, so he seemed a logical replacement for Osbourne. Tony Iommi, meanwhile, had been the band's rock from the very beginning, and wouldn't be shown up or overshadowed by any newcomer. By the time of the bands second studio release, The Mob Rules, egos began running out of control. Dio butted heads with Iommi and Geezer Butler over mixing on the album, and rumors circulated that Iommi and Dio were each sneaking into the studio late at night to turn up their respective parts. On the albums sleeve, Iommi and Butler captured nearly all the attention, with Dio and new drummer Vinny Appice being largely ignored. Dio left the band shortly thereafter and took Appice with him. The group buried the hatchet and eventually reformed twice, but by the time of their second reunion Dio was sadly already well on his way to succumbing to stomach cancer.
Kyle Schmidlin is a writer and musician living in Austin, TX. He manages the news blog at thirdrailnews.wordpress.com. Follow him at facebook.com/kyleschmidlin or twitter.com/kyleschmidlin1.
