Legendary drummer Vinny Appice wants to set the record straight about Ozzy Osbourne and Ronnie James Dio.
According to the longtime Sabbath and Dio drummer, the so-called feud between the two actually never really existed.
Speaking on Trunk Nation, Appice said the idea that the singers hated each other was mostly a creation of fans and media. “Ozzy would always tell me how he loved Ronnie,” he said. “Everybody created this thing that they hated each other, but Ozzy used to talk about him all the time.”
Appice went on to say that Ozzy brought up Dio often, sometimes even repeating stories from the day before. “He really liked Ronnie,” he said. “There are pictures online where they’re just hanging out. People blow these things up and you never really know what’s true.”
The story goes all the way back to 1980, when Dio replaced Ozzy as the front man of Black Sabbath. He sang on the Heaven and Hell and Mob Rules albums before forming his own band with Appice. Meanwhile, Ozzy launched a massive solo career and later returned to Sabbath in various forms, including their official reunion in 1997.
Ozzy himself even addressed the topic in a 2022 interview, saying he was devastated at the time but ultimately respected what Dio brought to the band. “He did a good job,” Ozzy said. “Looking back, it was the best thing that ever happened. It gave the band a good start again.”
Dio passed away in 2010 after a battle with stomach cancer. He was 67. His legacy lives on, both as a vocalist and as the man who turned the devil horns hand sign into a global symbol for metal.
Now, with Ozzy’s death still sinking in, Appice’s comments land differently. There may have been competition and some bruised egos in the early days, but the respect between the two was real. Most of the bitterness people talk about was just noise, amplified over time by people who were not in the room.
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