The long-awaited reissue of the 1985 heavy metal charity project Hear ‘N Aid might finally be moving forward. According to Wendy Dio, the widow and longtime manager of legendary frontman Ronnie James Dio, a formal label offer is currently on the table to re-release the iconic single “Stars“.
During an April 29 appearance on SiriusXM‘s “Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk,” she confirmed that progress is being made behind the scenes to navigate the complex industry logistics. The new release package is also expected to include a companion photo book.
“We have been working on that. We’ve had a couple of little things that have happened. But Metal Blade has offered us a deal for this. And hopefully it could come out, yes, soon. And we’re working on a book as well, a Hear ‘N Aid book of photos, because we have so many photos from that time. So, yeah, there’s a lot of Hear ‘N Aid stuff in the works right now. As I said, we have an offer from Metal Blade, and we’ve been working on getting that together. It’s just a lot of stuff, red-tape stuff that has to be done before you can put something out,” Wendy shared (as transcribed by Blabbermouth).
While past discussions hinted at recording a modernized version of “Stars” with contemporary musicians, she clarified that the immediate focus is strictly on bringing the 1980s original to modern physical formats.
“Not at the moment, but I would still like to do that. At the moment, we’re trying to get out the Hear ‘N Aid, the original one, on vinyl and on CD. So we’ve been trying to work with that at the moment, and that is what we will put out. In the future. I would like to do that. Yes, I definitely would,” she noted.
Providing more details about the accompanying book, she revealed that several key figures from the original recording session will contribute written pieces.
“With the book that we’re working on, we are getting people to write, [some of the artists] that were [there], like [Judas Priest‘s] Rob Halford. And [prominent U.K. music writer, journalist, and industry executive] Dante Bonutto, who actually wrote the foreword for the original record, he’s going to write something for us. So, yeah, we’ve been working on that. It’s been a very long, hard road to get it out, but we will get it out. We never give up,” she explained.
Spearheaded by Ronnie James Dio, the Hear ‘N Aid project gathered 40 artists from the hard rock and metal community at A&M Records Studios in Hollywood on May 20 and May 21, 1985. The collaborative single “Stars” and its companion documentary were created as a plea for unity to raise funds for global famine relief. The massive roster of volunteers donating their time included members of Mötley Crüe, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Quiet Riot, Twisted Sister, Blue Öyster Cult, and Spinal Tap.
Because of complex contractual differences between various record labels, the track did not officially hit shelves until New Year’s Day in 1986, and was only ever issued on cassette and vinyl.
Wendy Dio has been highly vocal about wanting to rectify the format limitations for years. In 2023, she expressed her ultimate goal of adding new artists to the legacy project, with all proceeds benefiting the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up And Shout Cancer Fund. However, she continually pointed to the massive amount of industry red tape, coordinating between multiple managers and labels, as the primary hurdle delaying the highly anticipated reissue.
