DIE YOUNG

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I was cruising through Hollywood when I heard the DJ on KLOS radio announce that “Ron Keel has just been confirmed as the new lead singer in Black Sabbath.” When I got home, I turned on MTV and saw Martha Quinn delivering the rock music news proclaiming that “It’s just been announced that Ron Keel has replaced Ian Gillian in Black Sabbath.” A very surreal evening for a 23-year-old kid who had moved to California chasing rock star dreams.

With a signed contract in place and intense meetings with Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler, I got to work on the set list they had supplied and prepared for the challenges ahead. Spencer Proffer (who had just produced Quiet Riot’s mega-hit Metal Health album) was set to produce the next Sabbath release with me as vocalist; Tony and Geezer pushed back against the pressure to pursue a more commercial direction and I got caught in the crossfire.

Things worked out okay – my band KEEL got signed to A&M Records with KISS’ Gene Simmons as our producer, and our major label debut “The Right To Rock” became the fastest selling debut album in the label’s history. During that decade, all of our major label releases charted in Billboard’s Hot 100, and we toured with/opened for Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, Van Halen, Motley Crue and more; former Black Sabbath vocalist Ronnie James Dio took us under his wing, and we toured across Europe together. So, a lot of those rock star dreams did come true.

Because I had never released an album with Black Sabbath, I did not mention that experience in interviews or list it in my bio. With the internet age came the questions from the media and the fans who remembered those 1984 announcements, and journalists who were documenting the turbulent history of the band. I was encouraged to tell my side of the story for books like Garry Sharpe-Young’s “Never Say Die” and I became included in Sabbath’s lineup on the web site https://www.black-sabbath.com/theband/keel. And, I started adding some of those classic songs to my live shows.

In recent years, I’ve worked closely with “Emerald Sabbath,” a tribute project consisting of many ex-Sabbath members such as Vinny Appice, Bev Bevan, Neil Murray, Bobby Rondinelli, Lawrence Cottle, Dave Walker and members of the extended Sabbath family like Rudy Sarzo. It’s truly been a thrill singing those iconic Black Sabbath songs with those musicians; our version of “Children Of The Grave” also appears on my latest (2024) album “KEELWORLD” (which debuted at #89 on the Luminate Current Hard Music Albums chart).