Fan-filmed video footage of
HEAVEN & HELL's August 22, 2009 concert in Cleveland, Ohio can be viewed below (courtesy of
"rjohnstun").
The management for
HEAVEN & HELL/
DIO vocalist
Ronnie James Dio released a statement to
BLABBERMOUTH.NET on August 27 in an attempt to "quash any rumors that
HEAVEN & HELL have broken up." The statement read in part, "[
HEAVEN & HELL guitarist]
Tony Iommi 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."
In a recent interview with
The Aquarian Weekly,
Iommi stated about his upcoming surgery, "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 replied, "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."
HEAVEN & HELL was forced to cancel its June 21 appearance at the
Metalway Festival in Zaragoza, Spain due to back pain suffered by
Iommi.
