WENDY DIO Says Re-Release Of BLACK SABBATH’s ‘Dehumanizer’ Is Coming ‘Very Soon’

“The Church Of What’s Happening Now With Joey CoCo Diaz” recently conducted an interview with Wendy Dio, the widow and manager of legendary RAINBOW, BLACK SABBATH and DIO vocalist Ronnie James Dio. You can watch the entire chat below. A few excerpts follow.

On whether Ronnie James Dio had an acrimonious relationship with Ozzy Osbourne, whom he replaced in BLACK SABBATH in 1980:

Wendy:
“Not at all, no. Not at all. We saw him quite often at the Rainbow or different places, just, ‘Hi, how are you doing? What’s going on?’ They weren’t great friends, but they were always very polite, very nice to each other. Always.“

On BLACK SABBATH’s 1992 album “Dehumanizer”, the first SABBATH studio album to feature Dio since 1981’s “Mob Rules”:

Wendy:
“It’s a very underrated album. And it’s a great album. It came out in the ’90s right when grunge hit, so everybody was now listening to grunge. Actually, we are re-releasing that very soon — next year.“

On original BLACK SABBATH drummer Bill Ward’s involvement with HEAVEN & HELL, the band comprising of Dio, along with SABBATH guitarist Tony Iommi and bassist Geezer Butler:

Wendy:
“They wanted to go back this last time with Bill, but Bill had some health problems so he couldn’t do it, so we got Vinny (Appice) back again. He’s doing great. Bill’s doing great.

On the last time she’s seen RAINBOW guitarist Ritchie Blackmore:

Wendy:
“Oh my goodness. Twenty years, maybe.“

On Ronnie James Dio’s “happiest times”:

Wendy:
“SABBATH. A lot of different times, but his favorite band was SABBATH. I was really glad that he got to reunite with the band and do that last album, and the tour because they all loved each other and they were playing amazing. You’d never know that Ronnie was sick. He was amazing until the last note and I think Ronnie could never have lost his voice or grown old. That’s the only thing I say about him dying when he did — he died on a high note.“