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Heavy metal lost one of its icons Sunday when singer Ronnie James Dio died at 67. He was being treated in a Houston hospital for stomach cancer.
“My heart is broken, Ronnie passed away at 7:45 a.m,” said a statement by his wife, Wendy, posted Sunday on the singer’s Web site and confirmed by publicist Maureen O'Connor.
Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins commented on Twitter, “Ronnie was a true gentleman, and obviously one of
the best rock singers there will ever be. What a sad loss. … I only
got to meet him once and I can honestly say he was the nicest person I
have ever met in music.”
Dio’s neo-operatic voice was one of metal’s most distinctive instruments, an over-the-top stylist perfectly suited for a genre that demanded excess.
He fronted some of metal’s most revered bands, including a Deep Purple offshoot called Rainbow, the second incarnation of Black Sabbath and his namesake group, Dio. As a result, he had a hand in a half-dozen of metal’s greatest albums, including Sabbath’s “Heaven and Hell” and Dio’s “Holy Diver.” Most recently he was heard fronting a Sabbath offshoot, Heaven and Hell, which released a fine 2009 album, “The Devil You Know,” and toured extensively in 2008-09.
Dio’s piercing voice and equally flamboyant persona – he is sometimes credited with popularizing the two-fingered “devil’s horns” gesture – made him fodder for affectionate parody, most notably by the best-selling comedy duo Tenacious D.
Dio was born Ronald James Padavona in 1942 in Portsmouth, N.H. He began playing in rock bands starting in the late ‘50s in Cortland, N.Y., and eventually formed the band Elf in 1969. A tour as opening act with Deep Purple led to Dio’s first big break – he caught the ear of guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, who formed the band Rainbow with the vocalist.
The singer then joined Black Sabbath in 1979 after the departure of Ozzy Osbourne, and sparked one of the group’s best albums, “Heaven and Hell.” He would continue working off and on with Sabbath and Sabbath band members throughout the remainder of his career, in between stints with Dio – a classic, old-school metal band that toured and recorded consistently over the last three decades. The Dio band released 10 studio albums since 1983 and went through numerous lineup changes, with the singer the sole constant.
For many fans, Dio embodied metal’s virtues, notably its confrontational power and hell-raising subject matter. That affection spilled over into the comedy of Tenacious D – a duo led by movie star Jack Black — who wrote the tribute song “Dio” and even had the singer appear as an oracle of sorts in the movie “Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny.” Dio guides the young Black to pursue his dreams. “Now go, my son,” he bellowed, “and rock!”
greg@gregkot.com
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May 16
2010
09:06 PM ET
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Ronnie James Dio: An Appreciation
by Clark Collis
Categories: Metal, News, R.I.P.
As a teenage metal head I may have spent more time listening to Ronnie James Dio, who died today from cancer, than any other singer. This is partly because he was in so many darn bands—including Rainbow, Black Sabbath, and Dio—but mostly due to the fact that he was just a terrific frontman with an operatic control of his vocal instrument that few have ever matched. There are many people who only know the man from his fondness for flashing “the Devil’s horns” or his cameo in the 2006 Tenacious D movie The Pick of Destiny. However, to a certain section of the metal-loving fraternity, Ronnie James Dio really is a legend.
The singer first came to the attention of rock fans in the mid-’70s as the frontman of Rainbow, the band legendary guitarist Ritchie Blackmore formed after departing from Deep Purple. Blackmore would gain a reputation as a tough, dictatorial, boss who tended to re-shuffle the Rainbow lineup with each record. But he clearly recognized the value of Dio’s singing and songwriting skills as the vocalist would ultimately grace four Rainbow albums—1975′s Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow, 1976′s Rising, 1977′s On Stage, and 1978′s Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll—before he finally departed. Notable Dio highlights from his days with Rainbow include “Man on the Silver Mountain” and “Kill the King,” a hammering showcase for his full-throated howl.
Dio next joined Black Sabbath for two albums: 1980′s Heaven and Hell and the following year’s Mob Rules. Over time it has become accepted rock wisdom that the only Sabbbath worth listening to is one that features a certain John Michael “Ozzy” Osbourne on vocals. That’s just plain wrong. The two Dio-fronted collections are terrific slabs of rock mayhem that in no way disgrace the Sabs’ history.
In 1982, he left the band and formed Dio with Sabbath drummer Vinnie Appice. The group’s debut album, Holy Diver, once again showed Dio on top form and spawned the swaggering single of the same name. Dio-the-band continued to release albums over the next decade. Meanwhile, Dio-the-singer periodically returned to the Sabbath fold. In recent years, the Mob Rules-era lineup—Dio, Appice, guitarist Tony Iommi, and bassist Geezer Butler—toured extensively under the name “Heaven & Hell” and last year released an album called The Devil You Know. If the latter collection was not the finest work of anyone involved, it did very much show that the singer still possessed one of rock’s great voices.
I’ve posted some tracks after the jump that hopefully do show Ronnie James Dio at his very best. Please check them out.
More on Ronnie James Dio:
Ronnie James Dio, lead singer of Black Sabbath, Dio, Rainbow dies at 67
Black Sabbath lead singer Ronnie James Dio dies
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sam Sun 05/16/10 9:21 PMGone too soon.
RIP
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ks Sun 05/16/10 9:40 PMSo Sad! I am so glad that I had a chance to meet him. My daughter met him and just loved his music-she is now 30 and never lost the love of his music.
His first band was Elf in the 60′s.
He is truly now the man on the silver mountain! Prayers go out to his family, friends and fans. What a huge loss to the music world.
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Ally Sun 05/16/10 10:05 PMWho would have thought that Dio would go before Ozzy? Thanks for all the great music Ronnie!
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Black Sabbath Sun 05/16/10 10:22 PMSaw Dio in ’85 on the Sacred Heart tour. Great show. Giant dragon on the stage. Played Heaven and Hell. We loved it.
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Joe Sun 05/16/10 10:35 PMI was at that show too…Ronnie will be missed, what a huge loss!
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jon peterson Sun 05/16/10 11:28 PMdio rocked saw him 5 times
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ophu Sun 05/16/10 10:27 PMHe also had an hilarious cameo singing the part of “Dr. X” on Queensryche’s Operation Mindcrime II.
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son of sam Sun 05/16/10 10:28 PMPlease, he wasn’t even remembered by many of the early BS fans, legend ? More than half of the rockers from the 60′s and 70′s didn’t even know his name
Obviously your mom dropped you on your head while breast-feeding you. Nobody likes a jackass who comments on something they know nothing about. Your parents need to throw your pathetic ass out of their home. You sorry parasite!!!
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