HEAVEN & HELL Is Not Breaking Up BraveWords.com has received the following statement from Niji Management who manage legendary vocalist
Ronnie James Dio (HEAVEN & HELL, BLACK SABBATH, DIO):
"We just want to quash any rumors that
Heaven & Hell have broken up.
Tony Iommi (guitarist) has to have surgery on his hand and needs some down time for recovery. Therefore Dio will be performing some dates in the U.K. and Europe in November/December during this time off. Heaven & Hell are already making plans for dates next year."
Iommi spoke to
Theaquarian.com recently about his health: "I’ve got to have an operation on my hand, and that’s sort of a major thing I need to get done and I’ve been putting it off now. So we’re going to have some time off while I get that done. That’ll be a bit of a break, I think. Not for everybody, but it’ll be some time off from touring for me for sure."
When asked what happened to his hand, Iommi responded: "The cartilage is gone from the thumb in my fingering hand. It’s been like that now, to be honest, for a year and I’ve been taking anti-inflammatories and all sorts of stuff to try and calm it down, but it’s inevitable I’ve got to have the operation because the bone is rubbing on the bone. Funny enough, I talked to Eddie Van Halen this morning, because he’s had the same sort of problem, so I’m seeing him to have a chat about what happened to him. He thinks it’s very successful, so we’ll see."