Star-studded ‘80s music project to finally return after 40 years

A star-studded 1980s music project is finally coming back.

Wendy Dio, the widow and longtime manager of legendary Central New York native Ronnie James Dio , announced at the Metal Hall of Fame that a long-lost 1985 charity single will be reissued next year. "Stars," released under the name Hear 'n Aid, featured 40 metal and rock artists helping to raise money for famine relief in Africa and around the world.

Ronnie James Dio, known for his work with Black Sabbath , Rainbow and his eponymous band Dio, led the collaboration and co-wrote "Stars." Others who donated their time and talents included Rob Halford ( Judas Priest ), Geoff Tate (Queensyche), Neal Schon ( Journey ), Ted Nugent and members of Motley Crue , Iron Maiden, Twisted Sister , Blue Oyster Cult, Quiet Riot , Dokken, Night Ranger, and Spinal Tap.

According to Blabbermouth , the musicians met to record the project in May 1985, but "Stars" wasn't released until January 1986 due to contract differences with the artists' labels. The song appeared on the charity album, titled "Hear 'n Aid," along with songs by KISS , Motorhead, Rush and Jimi Hendrix.

Hear 'n Aid reportedly raised more than $3 million for famine relief in Africa, but didn't receive as much mainstream acclaim as other celebrity-filled charity singles like 1985's "We Are the World" and 1984's "Do They Know It's Christmas?"

Wendy Dio told Reality Check TV on Wednesday that the reissue of "Stars" will finally arrive in 2027. An exact date has not been announced.

She previously told SiriusXM radio host Eddie Trunk that it will likely include both a new version with younger bands and the original recording of "Stars" because "the old version was only ever on, I think, vinyl and cassette." A special package will be released with a CD and DVD, featuring bonus content, and raise money for the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up And Shout Cancer Fund, a 501(c)(3) non-profit charitable fund dedicated to support research and education that furthers early detection, prevention and treatment of prostate, colon and stomach cancers.

Ronnie James Dio, who was born Ronald James Padavona in New Hampshire and raised in Cortland, N.Y., was a metal singer who famously replaced Ozzy Osbourne in Black Sabbath and popularizing "devil horns" in rock and roll. A street was named after him in Cortland ("Dio Way") and he was posthumously awarded a SAMMYs Lifetime Achievement Award from the Syracuse Area Music Hall of Fame in 2014.

He died of stomach cancer in 2010. He was 67.

Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell, who co-wrote "Stars" with Ronnie James Dio and Jimmy Bain when they were all in Dio, told Guitar Interactive magazine in 2023 that the project came during a "dark" time when Ronnie and Wendy were separated. They got the idea for "Stars" during a radio interview when a DJ asked why no hard rock artists were asked to participate in "We Are the World."

"And we thought, 'You know, you're absolutely right.' And this was an era when hard rock was really sort of shunned. I mean, it never got nominated for a Grammy or anything. There was no real industry recognition, even though it was a very, very popular cultural force and sold in multi-millions. But the industry was yet to really fully recognize it as being legit," Campbell said.

"And so anyway, we were joking about this, and it was Jimmy who — he was a funny guy — and Jimmy right off the bat said, 'Yeah, we should do one. We should call it Hear 'n Aid.' We were all, like, 'Hahaha'; we fell off our stools. And then we went back to our apartment and Jimmy said, 'Well, do you wanna actually do this?' [And I said] 'Really? I mean, do we have time for this?' And he said, 'Yeah.' So Jimmy and I wrote the song. We didn't write the lyrics. We put the music together," Campbell continued. "We thought, 'We're not gonna get this off the ground without Ronnie. We need some clout. We need the name.' So we went in the studio the next day As I said, we're in the middle of doing the 'Sacred Heart' album. Ronnie's in a real dark spot. We offer it, and we say, 'Ronnie, what about this?' He immediately shuts it down. No interest. So, we keep pushing it on him for a couple of weeks, and then eventually he came back to us and said, 'You know what? Yeah. I'll get on board with this.' So he wrote the lyric for it."

Campbell said he and a publicist worked together to recruit other artists, cold-calling people like Jon Bon Jovi (who did not participate) and Schon. Few people would commit until Ronnie James Dio got on board.

"It was something I'd never done before, but I spent weeks and weeks and weeks doing it," Campbell said. "And so it all came together, and it was just bonkers that it did."

Read the original article on syracuse.com .