Everything about Ronnie James Dio totally explained
Ronnie James Dio (born
Ronald James Padavona on
July 10,
1942 in
Portsmouth,
New Hampshire, USA), is an
American heavy metal vocalist who has performed with
Elf,
Rainbow,
Black Sabbath, and his own band
Dio. Other musical projects include the collective fundraiser
Hear 'n Aid. He is widely hailed as one of the most powerful singers in heavy metal; renowned for his consistently powerful voice and for popularizing the "
devil's horns" hand gesture in metal culture. He is currently collaborating on a project with former Black Sabbath bandmates
Tony Iommi,
Geezer Butler and
Vinny Appice, which is going under the name
Heaven and Hell.
Early years
Ronnie James Dio was born Ronald James Padavona, an only child to an
Italian family. The family moved to
Cortland, New York early in his life. His parents raised him in the
Roman Catholic church, an experience he ultimately found unsatisfactory. Dio shared some of his feelings for Catholicism in an interview with
Hmmagzine
In 1960 Dio graduated from the Cortland City School and was inducted to the Cortland City School Hall of Fame in 2004.
(External Link
) He was also honored on November 15, 1988 by Dio's hometown of
Cortland, New York naming a street after him -
Dio Way, located between Central Avenue and East Court Street.
He initially played the
trumpet and even recorded several singles with various
rockabilly bands when he was a kid. When he was in high school, he joined a band called
The Vegas Kings, in which he played the
bass guitar. He eventually became the lead singer of this band, which changed its name to
Ronnie & The Rumblers and finally to
Ronnie And The Red Caps. Their first
7-inch single was released in 1958.
Ronnie took up the name "Dio" after
mafia member
Johnny Dio, and first used it professionally in the early 1960s, playing in a band called
Ronnie Dio and the Prophets. This was essentially the same band as Ronnie And The Red Caps, but with a different name.
Dio is the Italian word for
God.
During the Heaven and Hell Performance at the
Darien Lake Performing Arts Center in
Darien, NY (near
Buffalo, NY) on September 19, 2007, Ronnie revealed that he'd attended the
University at Buffalo, where he earned a pharmacy degree.
(External Link). He formed one of his early bands during his freshman year.
(External Link)
He was also offered a scholarship to the prestigious
Juilliard School of Music but didn't pursue it due to his interest in rock music.
(External Link)
Career
Ronnie Dio and the Prophets disbanded in 1967, but he and Prophets guitarist Nick Pantas started a new band called the
Electric Elves. They shortened their name to
Elf in
1969, and went on to become an opening act for
Deep Purple. Dio's vocals caught the ear of Deep Purple guitarist
Ritchie Blackmore, and when Blackmore left the band, he recruited Dio and other members of Elf to form
Rainbow. Rainbow released its first album in
1975. Dio recorded two more albums with Rainbow, but he left the band due to creative differences: Blackmore had wanted to take the band in a more commercial direction.
Dio performed vocals on the
1974 UK single 'Love is All' taken from
Roger Glover's concept album '
The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper Feast'. The song was used by the Dutch political party CDA in its election ads for the
2006 Dutch General Election. Dio also provided vocals for the songs 'Homeward' and 'Sitting in a dream' on Glover's album. Former
Deep Purple alumni
Glenn Hughes and
David Coverdale also appeared.
After leaving Rainbow, Dio joined
Black Sabbath in
1979, replacing
Ozzy Osbourne. Dio gave a new jumpstart to Black Sabbath's commercially sagging career with the hugely popular
Heaven and Hell album. It was during his time with Black Sabbath that he popularized the "
devil's horns" gesture. Dio says that his grandmother used to make the hand gesture to ward off the
evil eye, which is very common among superstitious Southern Italians. The "horns," or "
Corna," themselves are used to both scare away and give someone the "Malocchio" (the
Evil Eye). In 1982, during the mixing of the live album
Live Evil, internal band problems and nasty accusations developed, which led to Dio and drummer
Vinny Appice quitting the band to form
Dio. Ronnie James Dio currently lives in
California and still records and tours worldwide with Dio.
Despite being known for his powerful singing voice, Dio claims never to have taken any vocal training. He attributes his singing ability to the correct breathing techniques he learned when playing the French horn as a child.
In
1997, Dio made a cameo on
Pat Boone's "In a Metal Mood", an album of famous heavy metal songs played in Big Band style. Dio can be heard singing backup on Boone's take of the Dio song, "Holy Diver."
In
2000,
Century Media released, an album featuring a number of covers by mainly
power metal bands.
Tenacious D have written a tribute song entitled Dio that appears on their self-titled album that calls for the singer to 'Pass the torch' on to them. Comments he's made on the song have been conflicting. Reportedly, Dio approved of it, and he's also appeared in the film, playing himself, but on
VH1, some have interpreted small clips of an interview with him as expressing resentment at the idea that he needs to "pass the torch" and seemed uncertain that Tenacious D are worthy of such an honor. When viewed in full, this interview seems to be done in good humor.
In 2005, Dio was revealed to be the voice behind Dr.X in, the sequel of
Queensrÿche's seminal concept album . In October 2006 it was confirmed that Dio would be reuniting with
Tony Iommi,
Geezer Butler, and
Vinny Appice to tour under the moniker 'Heaven and Hell', which was the title of the first Dio era Black Sabbath record. They've used the name "Heaven and Hell" as Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler are still in the Black Sabbath band with Ozzy Osbourne and felt it was best to use a different moniker for the Dio version of the band. Original
Black Sabbath drummer
Bill Ward was to be involved in this project, but he later withdrew. In 2007 the band completed a 98-date world tour.
On
January 17 2007, he was inducted into the Rock Walk of Fame at
Guitar Center on Hollywood's
Sunset Boulevard.
Although Dio is considered the creator of the "
devil's horns" as a heavy metal symbol, some argue that it originated from
Kiss' Love Gun album cover from
1977, which shows
Gene Simmons doing the sign. However, Simmons extends his thumb which is
sign language for "I love you."
Family
Dio married his first wife, Loretta Berardi (born 1941), sometime in the
1960s. They adopted one son, Dan Padavona (born July 1968), who works as a meteorologist for the
National Weather Service in
Binghamton, New York.
After divorcing Berardi, he married Wendy Galaxiola (born 1947), who also serves as his manager. In the 1980s she managed the Los Angeles rock bands
Rough Cutt and
Hellion. She is the chairwoman for the privately sponsored organization, Children of the Night, dedicated to rescuing America's children from prostitution.
Dio currently has two grandchildren, Joey and Julia.
Television
As a character, Ronnie James Dio appeared in the third season episode of
South Park titled "
Hooked on Monkey Phonics", playing "Holy Diver" at the school dance. Ronnie James Dio himself didn't provide the character's speaking voice.
Dio Brando, the primary antagonist of the manga series
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, is named after Ronnie James Dio. Jojo's Bizarre Adventure is known for its multitude of music references.
Additionally, Dio will voice a currently undefined character in the upcoming,
heavy metal-influenced
action adventure video game Brütal Legend.
Band timeline
Discography
Some of Dio's early appearances on 45 rpm singles are collected on several volumes of the LP series "
The History of Syracuse Music," released in the 1980's. A complete discography with lyrics can be found
here.
Ronnie Dio & The Prophets
Dio at Dominos (1963)
The Elves
Live At The Beacon 1971 (Bootleg Recording) (1971)
Elf
Live At The Bank 1972 (Bootleg Recording)' (1972)
Elf (1972)
Carolina County Ball (1974)
The History Of Syracuse Music Volume VI (1974)
Trying to Burn the Sun (1975)
20 Years Of Syracuse Rock (1989)
The Gargantuan (1978)
The Elf Albums (1994)
Rainbow
Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow (1975)
Rainbow Rising (1976)
On Stage (1977)
Long Live Rock 'n' Roll (1978)
Finyl Vinyl (1986)
Live in Germany 1976 (1990)
(1991)
Live In Munich 1977 (2006)
Deutschland Tournee 1976 (2006)
Live In Cologne (2007)
Live In Dusseldorf (2007)
Live In Nurnberg (2007)
The Polydor Years 1975-1986 (2007)
Black Sabbath
Heaven and Hell (1980)
Black And Blue (VHS) (1980)
Music From The Motion Picture Heavy Metal (1981)
Mob Rules (1981)
Live Evil (1982)
Dehumanizer (1992)
(2007)
Live at Hammersmith Odeon (2007)
(2007) (as Heaven and Hell)
The Rules of Hell (Boxed Set) (2008)
Dio
For more details, see Dio discography
Holy Diver (1983)
The Last in Line (1984)
Sacred Heart (1985)
Intermission (1986)
Dream Evil (1987)
Lock up the Wolves (1990)
Diamonds – The Best of Dio (1992)
Strange Highways (1994)
Angry Machines (1996)
Inferno - Last in Live (1998)
Magica (2000)
Killing the Dragon (2002)
Master of the Moon (2004)
Evil or Divine - Live In New York City (2005)
Holy Diver - Live (2006)
Guest Appearances
Bobby Comstock And The Counts: Run My Heart 7" Single (1963)
Austin Gravelding: Self Made Man (1970)
Roger Glover: Butterfly Ball (1974)
David Coverdale: Northwinds (1978)
Kerry Livgren: Seeds of Change (1980)
Kerry Livgren: The Best Of Kerry Livgren (2002)
Heaven: Where Angels Fear To Tread (1983)
Rough Cutt: Rough Cutt (1984)
Hear 'n Aid: Hear 'n Aid (1986)
Dog Eat Dog: Play Games (1996)
Eddie Hardin & Guests: Wizard's Convention (1994)
Munetaka Higuchi With Dream Castle: Free World (1997)
Pat Boone: (1998)
A Tribute To Alice Cooper: Humanary Stew (1999)
A Tribute To Aerosmith: Not The Same Old Song And Dance (1999)
Deep Purple: In Concert With The London Symphony Orchestra Conducted By Paul Mann (1999)
Deep Purple: Live at the Rotterdam Ahoy (2001)
Deep Purple: The Soundboard Series (2001)
Eddie Ojeda: Axes 2 Axes (2005)
Ian Gillan: Gillan's Inn (2006)
Queensrÿche: (2006)
Queensrÿche: Mindcrime at the Moore (2007)
Tenacious D: The Pick of Destiny (2006)
The Rods: Forthcoming album (2008)
Other Media
Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny (Film) (2006)
Brütal Legend (Video Game) (2008)
Goldfinger's cover of "Rio" replaces "Her name is Rio" with "His name is Dio, Ronnie James Dio" at the end of the song.Further Information
Get more info on 'Ronnie James Dio'.
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