Ronnie James Dio passed away earlier this week, regarded by many as one of the best vocalists to grace the Heavy Metal genre.
Having begun his interest in music through playing trumpet in his teens, he subsequently moved onto bass then lead vocal duties in Ronnie Dio and The Prophets, a role for which he would later become synonymous. From the ashes of The Prophets he formed the band Electric Elves in 1967 with guitarist Nick Pantas, later shortened to Elf before they toured with Deep Purple two years later whereupon legendary guitarist Ritchie Blackmore took notice of his vocal talents.
Upon Blackmore's departure from Deep Purple Ronnie was recruited along with other Elf members to join new venture Rainbow, their time in the band would be short but Dio was a member of for three albums before being fired in 1965 as artistic differences surfaced over the more commercial direction Blackmore was pushing the sound towards.
Going against fan and press opinion of the time Ronnie James Dio then performed the unlikely, replacing Ozzy Osbourne as the lead singer of Black Sabbath and forming a creative partnership that bore fruit with Heaven And Hell in 1980 - 30 years on regarded as a classic Heavy Metal album. He would only stay in the band for one more record though, Mob Rules preceded his exit in a dispute over the mixing of a the live album, Live Evil.
Setting up a new band under his own name, Dio released 11 albums, with 1983's Holy Diver generally considered their best work and a fitting summary of the man himself and the embodiment of his musical ambition.
Alongside the prolific Dio output, he would later rejoin Black Sabbath for 1991's Dehumanizer album and in 2006 they re-grouped for a third time under the moniker Heaven And Hell (to avoid disputes over the Sabbath name), releasing the new studio album The Devil You Know in 2009.
In November 2009 a statement was released confirming Ronnie had stomach cancer, however following a positive response to treatment the Heaven And Hell concert dates for Summer 2010 were announced.
Unfortunately the news came again and it was not so good, those dates were canceled at the beginning of this month and on Sunday May 16, Wendy Dio announced that her husband Ronnie had passed, offering a message to his fans and paying tribute she said "Please know he loved you all and his music will live on forever. "
Ozzy Osborne, whom Dio replaced in Sabbath and Lars Ulrich of Metallica have both also since payed tribute, Lars in an open letter citing Ronnie's musical abilities and humanity, "Ronnie, your voice impacted and empowered me, your music inspired and influenced me, and your kindness touched and moved me." In a separate statement Ozzy said, "Metal has truly lost one of its greatest voices. My heart goes out to his family and to his many fans. ... Love and respect."
Aswell as the legacy of his musical projects and his vocal style which set the template for many bands to follow, Ronnie James Dio is also credited with giving Metal and Rock fans the "horns" salute (Ronnie pictured demonstrating), now often seen at gigs and festivals of all genres but forever most associated with Ronnie's own. Some of his musical legacy is below, the BBC take an affectionate look at that cultural legacy here.
Ronnie James Dio website.
Leave condolences on Ronnie's official Facebook page.
Rainbow - Man On The Silver Mountain
Black Sabbath - Heaven And Hell
Dio - Holy Diver
2:33 PM | 18/05/2010
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You were one of the best. A piece of my youth dies with you. Rest easy Ronnie.
Posted by Christal at 10:43 PM | 18/05/2010 | Report Abuse
I love ronnie james dio music he number 1 all time rainbow in the dark!!!!
Posted by James williams at 8:20 PM | 21/05/2010 | Report Abuse
I love ronnie james dio music he number 1 all time rainbow in the dark!!!!
Posted by James williams at 8:20 PM | 21/05/2010 | Report Abuse
I love ronnie james dio music he number 1 all time rainbow in the dark!!!!
Posted by James williams at 8:20 PM | 21/05/2010 | Report Abuse
I love ronnie james dio music he number 1 all time rainbow in the dark!!!!
Posted by James williams at 8:21 PM | 21/05/2010 | Report Abuse
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