8471 - Black Sabbath Signed Drumhead with Ronnie James Dio

Black Sabbath Signed Drumhead with Ronnie James Dio Clear Ludwig Rockers heavy drumhead, 18.5″ in diameter, signed in felt tip by the September 1980 touring lineup of Black Sabbath: “All the best from Ronnie James Dio," "Best wishes to John, Tony Iommi," “Love & Magic, Geezer Butler,” “Vinny Appice,” and "Best wishes, Geoff Nicholls." The upper portion is hand-lettered by the collector, "Jacksonville, Florida Memorial Coliseum, Black Sabbath, Sept. 6, 1980." In very good condition, with expected signs of heavy use. Black Sabbath launched the Heaven and Hell tour in April 1980 behind their first album with Ronnie James Dio, who had replaced Ozzy Osbourne the year before. Four months into the tour, longtime drummer Bill Ward abruptly quit, and the band brought in Vinny Appice, who played his first show with them in Honolulu on August 31. The band played Jacksonville less than a week later, making this head an early document of the Dio-Iommi-Butler-Appice lineup that went on to record Mob Rules and Live Evil. From the collection of a Jacksonville, Florida, limousine operator who provided transportation for touring artists throughout North Florida and southern Georgia in the late 1970s and early 1980s; he often obtained used drumheads from the bands’ touring crews and had the members sign them.