What to Know About the Singer on Tony Iommi's New Solo Album

Tony Iommi's new singer and songwriting partner may seem like a newcomer to some, but Jørn Lande has a long and diverse resume — and a 20-year history with the Black Sabbath guitarist.

The Norwegian singer is credited as co-writer on all eight tracks of Iommi’s new solo album From the Dark, which comes out Oct. 23.

The duo are joined by drummer Karl Brazil, who’s worked with pop icons Robbie Williams and James Blunt, and bassist Becky Baldwin, best known as a relatively new member of Danish metal veterans Mercyful Fate.

Following the death of Ronnie James Dio in 2010, his Heaven & Hell bandmates – Iommi, Geezer Butler and Vinny Appice – performed a memorial show at London’s High Voltage Festival, with Lande and Glenn Hughes covering vocals.

Lande, 58, went on to release a tribute album titled Dio, having first released the track “Song For Ronnie” weeks after his hero’s passing. He’d first written songs with Iommi in 2005, although nothing came of the project.

He first drew attention in the early ‘90s when he fronted Vagabond, made up of ex-members of Norwegian rockers TNT. He went on to sing with Whitesnake exes Bernie Marsden and Micky Moody in The Snakes.

In the early ‘00s Lande was with Masterplan, formed by Helloween’s Roland Grapow and Uli Kusch, and later collaborated with Symphony X in a duet format with Russell Allen. A tour as Yngwie Malmsteen’s singer in 2000 didn’t work out and he left before it was completed. In addition he’s worked with the expansive European metal project Avantasia.

READ MORE: Tony Iommi Says He Still Watches Ozzy Osbourne on YouTube

“In 1973, my folks came home with the Sweet single ‘Ballroom Blitz,’ and that was when I first started getting into rock music,” Lande told My Global Mind in 2013, adding that he’d moved on to love Free, Whitesnake and Judas Priest before discovering Dio.

“I realized that Ronnie James Dio would stay true to something that he loved to do. … [A]ll these other artists of the ‘60s and ‘70s would try to feed the market, but he stayed true to himself.”

Watch Jørn Lande at the 2010 Ronnie James Dio Memorial 

Lande recalled how he’d met his hero when touring with Malmsteen in 2000: “really changed my whole thinking… everything changed after that. … I always end up with elements of Ronnie in things that I do.

Describing Dio as his mentor, he continued: “Ronnie had something unique… nobody else could affect him in any way; he just chose his own path, and that’s what really impressed me.”

BMG Records said in a statement: “The existential questioning of Lande’s lyrics — full of dystopian imagery and ruminations on the fleeting nature of the human experience — is writ large throughout the album, especially on ‘Stormwatcher’ with its nautical metaphors and dreams of new horizons.

“‘Stormwatcher’ is matched in scope and drama by the subsequent ‘Death Wake’ – both music and lyrics combining to create a vivid picture of the cruelties of a life without love and humanity.”

Hear Jørn Lande Cover Rainbow’s ‘Kill the King’

Though unconfirmed, it’s possible that some of the new songs are among those co-written by Lande and Iommi. “I did some demo things with Tony back around 2005,” the singer told South East of Heaven in 2016. “After that, Heaven & Hell happened so [the material] has never been released.”

He went on to reveal: “When Ronnie was sick, I was asked to do some shows that they had already booked. … They asked me if I would be up for it to do some songs and then Ronnie would be onstage to sing some songs, so we would just go back and forth.

Jørn Lande Always Hoped for More Work With Tony Iommi

“A few weeks later, I got the message that Ronnie had passed. It was kind of strange … thinking back now, I’m honored that I was asked at the time.”

Lande said he’d kept quiet about those conversations for several years out of respect for Dio. “I’m really grateful for the experience and I owe a lot to Tony and Geezer and everybody in that camp. They were always so nice to me and treated me with respect.”

By the time he discussed the Dio situation, Black Sabbath were partway through what would be their final run. Assuming that meant his work with Iommi would remain unheard, Lande said: “I wish we could’ve played some more shows … I wish we could’ve written some more stuff together. Maybe it will even happen, but who knows? It’s not something I expect.

“If it’s the right time in the future and it happens, that’s fine – but I’m also fine if it doesn’t happen.”

Watch Jørn Lande’s ‘Song for Ronnie’ Video

Below, see how we ranked all 19 Black Sabbath albums: