Many thanks to the folks at the Black Sabbath fan site who posted footage of Ronnie James Dio‘s last time onstage (via Blabbermouth). Dio is seen here with Sabbath off-shoot Heaven and Hell on August 29th, 2009 in Atlantic City, NJ playing “Mob Rules”, a song he wrote and recorded under the Sabbath name in 1981.
Highlights include: the double point at 0:37, the “rock lock” at 1:57, T-shirt dodge at 2:35, T-shirt spike and kick in time to the music 3:08. Who am I kidding, this whole thing is incredible. We echo the sentiments at the end of the video. The vision never dies, indeed.
Heaven and Hell, comprised of Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, Vinny Appice and formerly Ronnie James Dio, were slated to tour this summer in support of Iron Maiden, but the tour has been cancelled and no further information has been posted regarding the tour or the band’s status.
Other posthumous releases have surfaced too. “Electra” was recorded in the studio for the album Magica II & III. You can check out the Youtube link here. No details are known regarding the release of that album but we will keep you updated should any further information come about.
