References[edit]<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n<\/label><\/div>\n\n1<\/span>Early life<\/span><\/li>\n2<\/span>Career<\/span>\n\n2.1<\/span>Early career<\/span><\/li>\n2.2<\/span>Rainbow<\/span><\/li>\n2.3<\/span>Black Sabbath<\/span><\/li>\n2.4<\/span>Dio<\/span><\/li>\n2.5<\/span>Heaven & Hell<\/span><\/li>\n2.6<\/span>Other projects<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n3<\/span>Personal life<\/span>\n\n3.1<\/span>Illness and death<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n4<\/span>Legacy<\/span><\/li>\n5<\/span>Discography<\/span><\/li>\n6<\/span>References<\/span><\/li>\n7<\/span>Sources<\/span><\/li>\n8<\/span>External links<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/span>Early life<\/span>[<\/span>edit]<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h2>\nRonald James “Dio” Padavona was born in\u00a0Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to\u00a0Italian-American\u00a0parents from\u00a0Cortland, New York. His family moved to Portsmouth from Cortland as part of his father’s service in the U.S. Army during World War II[11]<\/sup>\u00a0and they resided there for only a short time before returning to Cortland. Padavona listened to a great deal of opera while growing up, and was influenced vocally by American\u00a0tenor\u00a0Mario Lanza.[12]<\/sup>\u00a0His first formal musical training began at age 5, learning to play the\u00a0trumpet.[12]<\/sup>\u00a0Padavona participated in his high school’s band program and was one of the youngest members selected to play in the school’s official dance band.[citation needed<\/span><\/i>]<\/sup>\u00a0It was also during high school that Padavona formed his first rock-n-roll group, “The Vegas Kings”, which would later be named “Ronnie and the Rumblers” and then “Ronnie and the Red Caps”. Though Padavona began his rock-n-roll career on trumpet, he added singing to his skill set and also assumed bass guitar duties for the groups.[citation needed<\/span><\/i>]<\/sup><\/p>\nPadavona graduated from Cortland High School in 1960. He was allegedly offered a scholarship to the prestigious\u00a0Juilliard School of Music\u00a0but did not take up the offer due to his interest in rock music.[13]<\/sup>\u00a0He instead attended the\u00a0University at Buffalo\u00a0to major in\u00a0pharmacology.[14]<\/sup>\u00a0There he played trumpet in the university’s concert band; however, he only attended the university from 1960 to 1961 and did not graduate.[11]<\/sup>\u00a0Then he enrolled at\u00a0Cortland State College\u00a0but dropped out as well.[15]<\/sup>\u00a0In a 2000 interview, he stated that he majored in\u00a0history\u00a0and minored in\u00a0English.[16]<\/sup><\/p>\nDespite being known for his powerful singing voice, Padavona claimed to have never received any vocal training.[17]<\/sup>\u00a0He instead attributed his singing ability to the use of breathing techniques he learned while playing trumpet.[18]<\/sup><\/p>\n<\/span>Career<\/span>[<\/span>edit]<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n<\/span>Early career<\/span>[<\/span>edit]<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\nDio’s musical career began in 1957, when several Cortland, New York musicians formed the band, “The Vegas Kings”. The group’s lineup consisted of Dio on bass guitar, Billy DeWolfe on lead vocals, Nick Pantas on guitar, Tom Rogers on drums, and Jack Musci on saxophone. The band changed its name to “Ronnie and the Rumblers”. In 1958, the band again changed their name to “Ronnie and the Redcaps”. Musci left the band in 1960, and a new guitarist, Dick Botoff, joined the lineup. The Redcaps released two singles: The first single was “Conquest”\/”Lover” with the A-side being an instrumental reminiscent of\u00a0The Ventures\u00a0and the B-side featuring DeWolfe on lead vocals. The second single was “An Angel Is Missing”\/”What’d I Say” featuring Dio on lead vocals for both tracks.<\/p>\n
Explanations vary for how Padavona adopted the stage name “Dio”. One story is that Dio was a reference to\u00a0mafia\u00a0member\u00a0Johnny Dio.[19]<\/sup>\u00a0Another has it that Padavona’s grandmother said he had a gift from God and should be called “Dio” (“God” in Italian), although this was debunked by Padavona’s widow, Wendy, in a February 2017 interview. Padavona first used the name on a recording in 1960, when he added it to the band’s second release on Seneca. Soon after that the band modified their name to “Ronnie Dio and the Prophets”. The Prophets lineup lasted for several years, touring throughout the New York region and playing college fraternity parties. They produced one single for\u00a0Atlantic Records[20]<\/sup>\u00a0and one album. Some of the singles (such as “Mr. Misery”, released on Swan) were labeled as being by Ronnie Dio as a solo artist even if the rest of the Prophets contributed to the recording. The group released several singles during the following years until early 1967. Dio continued to use his birth name on any songwriting credits on those releases.<\/p>\nIn late 1967, Ronnie Dio and the Prophets transformed into a new band called\u00a0The Electric Elves\u00a0and added a keyboard player. After recovering from a deadly car accident in February 1968, which killed guitarist Nick Pantas and put Dio and the other band members briefly in the hospital, the group shortened its name to The Elves and used that name until mid-1972, when it released its first proper album under the name\u00a0Elf. Over the next few years, the group went on to become a regular opening act for\u00a0Deep Purple. Elf recorded three albums until the members’ involvement recording the first\u00a0Rainbow\u00a0album in early 1975 resulted in Elf disbanding.<\/p>\n
<\/span>Rainbow<\/span>[<\/span>edit]<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n\n
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Dio and\u00a0Ritchie Blackmore\u00a0performing with\u00a0Rainbow.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Main article:\u00a0Rainbow (rock band)<\/div>\n
In the mid-1970s Dio’s vocals caught the ear of\u00a0Deep Purple\u00a0guitarist\u00a0Ritchie Blackmore, who was planning on leaving them due to creative differences over the band’s new direction. Blackmore invited Dio along with\u00a0Gary Driscoll\u00a0to record two songs in Tampa, Florida on December 12, 1974. Blackmore stated in 1983, “I left Deep Purple because I’d met up with Ronnie Dio, and he was so easy to work with. He was originally just going to do one track of a solo LP, but we ended up doing the whole LP in three weeks, which I was very excited about.”[21]<\/sup>\u00a0Being satisfied with the results, Blackmore decided to recruit more of Elf’s musicians and form his own band, initially known as\u00a0Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow. They released the self-titled debut album\u00a0Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow<\/i>\u00a0in early 1975. After that, Dio recorded two more studio albums (Rising<\/i>\u00a0and\u00a0Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll<\/i>), the live album\u00a0On Stage<\/i>, and two archival live albums (Live in Munich 1977<\/i>\u00a0and\u00a0Live in Germany 1976<\/i>) with Blackmore. During his tenure with Rainbow, Dio and Blackmore were the only constant members. Dio is credited on those albums for all lyrical authorship as well as collaboration with Blackmore on musical arrangement. Dio and Blackmore split, with Blackmore taking the band in a more commercial direction, with\u00a0Graham Bonnet\u00a0on vocals and the album\u00a0Down to Earth<\/i>.<\/p>\n<\/span>Black Sabbath<\/span>[<\/span>edit]<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\nMain article:\u00a0Black Sabbath<\/div>\n
Following his departure from Rainbow in 1979, Dio joined\u00a0Black Sabbath, replacing the fired\u00a0Ozzy Osbourne. Dio met Sabbath guitarist\u00a0Tony Iommi\u00a0by chance at\u00a0The Rainbow\u00a0on Sunset Strip in Los Angeles in 1979.[21]<\/sup>\u00a0Both men were in similar situations, as Dio was seeking a new project and Iommi needed a vocalist. Dio said of the encounter, “It must have been fate, because we connected so instantly.”[21]<\/sup>\u00a0The pair kept in touch until Dio arrived at Iommi’s Los Angeles house for a relaxed, getting-to-know-you jam session. On that first day the duo wrote the song, “Children of the Sea”, which appeared on the\u00a0Heaven and Hell<\/i>\u00a0album, the first the band recorded with Dio as vocalist, released in 1980.<\/p>\n The follow-up album,\u00a0Mob Rules<\/i>, featured new drummer\u00a0Vinny Appice. Personality conflicts began emerging within the band. “Ronnie came into the band and he was doing whatever we told him, basically because he wanted the gig. The next album was a little different,” Iommi recalled.[21]<\/sup>\u00a0In 1982, conflict arose over the mixing of the\u00a0Live Evil<\/i>\u00a0album. Iommi asserted that the album’s\u00a0engineer\u00a0began complaining to him that he would work all day long on a mix, only to have Dio return to the studio at night to “do his own mix” in which his vocals were more prominent.[21]<\/sup>\u00a0This was denied by Dio.[22]<\/sup>\u00a0The conflict led to Dio and Appice ultimately quitting the band later that year.<\/p>\nIn 1992, Dio briefly returned to Black Sabbath to record the\u00a0Dehumanizer<\/i>\u00a0album. The album was a minor hit, reaching the Top 40 in the United Kingdom and #44 on the\u00a0Billboard<\/i>\u00a0200. The single “Time Machine” was featured in the movie\u00a0Wayne’s World<\/i>, the tenth highest-grossing film of 1992. Soon Dio and Appice again left the band, citing an inability to work with Iommi and Butler.<\/p>\n<\/span>Dio<\/span>[<\/span>edit]<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\nMain article:\u00a0Dio (band)<\/div>\n
Wanting to continue together as a band, Dio and Appice formed Dio, the band, in 1982.\u00a0Vivian Campbell\u00a0played guitar and\u00a0Jimmy Bain\u00a0was on bass; the latter of whom Dio had known since the old\u00a0Rainbow\u00a0days. Their debut album,\u00a0Holy Diver<\/i>, included the hit singles “Rainbow in the Dark” and “Holy Diver”, the album’s title track.<\/p>\n
The band added keyboardist\u00a0Claude Schnell\u00a0and recorded two more full-length studio albums,\u00a0The Last in Line<\/i>\u00a0and\u00a0Sacred Heart<\/i>. A notable live recording,\u00a0A Special From The Spectrum<\/i>, was filmed during the band’s second world tour and released in VHS format only. The band changed members over the years, eventually leaving Dio as the only original member in 1990. Except for a few breaks, Dio, the band, was always touring or recording. They released ten albums, with\u00a0Master of the Moon<\/i>\u00a0being the last one, recorded in 2004.<\/p>\n<\/span><\/span>Heaven & Hell<\/span>[<\/span>edit]<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\nMain article:\u00a0Heaven & Hell (band)<\/div>\n
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Dio “throwing horns”, a gesture commonly used by both artists and fans of heavy metal music<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
In October 2006, Dio joined\u00a0Black Sabbath\u00a0members\u00a0Tony Iommi,\u00a0Geezer Butler, and former Black Sabbath drummer\u00a0Vinny Appice\u00a0to tour under the moniker Heaven & Hell, the title of the first Dio era Black Sabbath album. They chose the name Heaven & Hell as Iommi and Butler were still in Black Sabbath with Osbourne and felt it was best to use a different moniker for the Dio version of the band. Original Black Sabbath drummer\u00a0Bill Ward\u00a0was to be involved in this project, but later withdrew.<\/p>\n
In 2007, the band recorded three new songs under the Black Sabbath name for the compilation album\u00a0Black Sabbath: The Dio Years<\/i>.<\/p>\n
In 2008, the band completed a 98-date world tour. The band released one album under the Heaven & Hell name,\u00a0The Devil You Know<\/i>, to critical and commercial acclaim. They also had planned to release a follow-up in 2010.<\/p>\n<\/span>Other projects<\/span>[<\/span>edit]<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\nIn 1974, Dio sang on the\u00a0Roger Glover\u00a0conducted and produced concept album\u00a0The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper’s Feast<\/i>. Along with other guest-singers, the album featured\u00a0Deep Purple\u00a0alumni\u00a0Glenn Hughes\u00a0and\u00a0David Coverdale. Dio provided vocals for the songs “Homeward”, “Sitting in a Dream”, and the UK single\u00a0Love Is All<\/i>.[23]<\/sup>[24]<\/sup><\/p>\nIn 1980, Dio sang the tracks “To Live for the King” and “Mask of the Great Deceiver” on\u00a0Kerry Livgren’s solo album,\u00a0Seeds of Change<\/i>.<\/p>\n
In 1985, Dio contributed to the metal world’s answer to\u00a0Band Aid\u00a0and\u00a0USA for Africa\u00a0with the\u00a0Hear ‘n Aid\u00a0project. With a heavy metal all-star ensemble\u2014the brainchild of his fellow Dio bandmates Campbell and Bain\u2014he sang some of the vocals on the single “Stars” and an album full of songs from other artists given to charity. The project raised $1 million within a year.<\/p>\n
In 1997, Dio made a cameo on\u00a0Pat Boone’s\u00a0In a Metal Mood: No More Mr. Nice Guy<\/i>, an album of famous heavy metal songs played in\u00a0big band\u00a0style. Dio can be heard singing backup on Boone’s take of “Holy Diver”. In 1999, he was parodied in the TV show\u00a0South Park<\/i>, in the episode “Hooked on Monkey Fonics”, which he later described as “wonderful.”[25]<\/sup><\/p>\nIn 1999, Dio participated in a significant\u00a0Deep Purple\u00a0project,\u00a0In Concert with The London Symphony Orchestra, where he recorded cover versions of Deep Purple songs, and reprised his songs from the earlier\u00a0The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper’s Feast\u00a0album.<\/p>\n
Dio contributed vocals to a cover of “Welcome to my Nightmare” on the 1999 Alice Cooper tribute album Humanary Stew: a Tribute to Alice Cooper.<\/p>\n
Tenacious D\u00a0included a tribute song entitled “Dio” that appeared on their\u00a0self-titled album. The song explains how he has to “pass the torch” for a new generation. Reportedly, Dio approved of it, and had Tenacious D appear in his video “Push” from\u00a0Killing the Dragon<\/i>\u00a0in 2002. He also appeared in the film\u00a0Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny<\/i>, playing himself and providing guest vocals in the movie’s opening musical number “Kickapoo.”[26]<\/sup><\/p>\nIn 2005, Dio was revealed to be the voice behind Dr. X in\u00a0Operation: Mindcrime II<\/i>, the sequel to\u00a0Queensr\u00ffche’s seminal concept album\u00a0Operation: Mindcrime<\/i>.[27]<\/sup>\u00a0His part was shown in a prerecorded video on the subsequent tour, and Dio appeared onstage to sing the part live on at least one occasion (both shown on the\u00a0Mindcrime at the Moore<\/i>\u00a0DVD).<\/p>\n On January 17, 2007, he was inducted into the Rock Walk of Fame at\u00a0Guitar Center\u00a0on Hollywood’s\u00a0Sunset Boulevard.<\/p>\n
In 2008 Dio recorded the Christmas standard “God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman” for the Heavy Metal Christmas album We Wish You a Metal Xmas and a Headbanging New Year Album.<\/p>\n
Dio recorded the song “Metal Will Never Die” for the 2011 album Vengeance by The Rods shorty before his death. Dio’s cousin and former Elf Bandmate David Ferstein is The Rods’ guitar player.<\/p>\n
Dio is thanked in the end credits of the 2011 film\u00a0Atlas Shrugged: Part I<\/i>, due to his being “one of the people who kept the project alive.”[28]<\/sup><\/p>\n<\/span>Personal life<\/span>[<\/span>edit]<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n