Ronnie James Dio
The Man – The Legend!
Written
for RAMzine by Pagan Hel
The Man, the Music, the legend
Ronnie James Dio was born Ronald James Padavona, on July 10, 1942 and
died
Tragically of stomach cancer on May 16, 2010 in
Los Angeles, California.
Ronnie was an American/Italian heavy metal
vocalist and songwriter, who fronted Rainbow and Black Sabbath as well as
fronting his own band called simply Dio.
Dio started his career back in 1958 and it
spans over 40 glorious years. He was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire and
raised in Cortland, near Syracuse in New York.
Dio graduated from Cortland High School in
1960. He went on to do Pharmacology but never graduated after only studying for
a year and once again rubbed shoulders with music when he joined the
University’s Concert band.
Ronnie didn’t always do vocals either! – back
in his Electric Elves days (shortened to Elf in 1970) in which he lent a hand
to bass (and even trumpet of which he learned at the age of 5) before joining
the mighty ‘Rainbow’ from 1975 – 1978 establishing himself as a vocalist and
then joined Sabbath 1979 – 1982 he then had a brief respite before re-joining
in 1992 – 1993.
The new-look Black Sabbath enjoyed further
success with Mob Rules (1981), but the honeymoon period came to an acrimonious
end following arguments over the live album Live Evil (1982). Other band
members accused Dio of wanting to turn his vocals up too loud, while Dio
furiously refused to allow anybody to interfere with the way his voice was
mixed or recorded. The upshot was Dio's sad departure from Sabbath.
Although Dio wanted his own band – sick of
being labelled a band-less frontman after his Sabbath departure and made
headway with his ‘Dio’ project in 1982 (No doubting who was in charge!) and
there on from 1991 – 1993.
Dio was never a trained vocalist but attributed
his powerful voice to the breathing discipline he had acquired as a trumpet
player. Renamed Ronnie and the Red Caps, the group released a single called
Lover in 1958. He listened to a great deal of opera while growing up, hence his
powerful and versatile vocals which allowed him to sing all out rock anthems as
well as lighter ballads.
Dio and his first wife, Loretta Berardi adopted
a son, novelist Dan Padavona. After divorcing Berardi, he married Wendy Gaxiola
(born 1945) who also served as his manager. In the 1980s, she managed the Los
Angeles rock bands Rough Cutt, and Hellion. Dio remained married to Gaxiola
until his death.
Ronnie was a keen sport enthusiast especially
in his native New York where he followed teams such as ‘The Yankees’ ‘The Mets’
and ‘New York Giants’
It is hard to write in the past tense when
writing about Dio as he had a personality and charisma ten times bigger than
his stature, standing a mere 5’ foot 4” but what he lacked in height he made up
for with his tremendous vocal range.
After being fortunate and truly honoured, I met
Dio back in 1984 at the Royal Court Theatre in Liverpool during the ‘Holy
Diver’ tour. I noted he possessed a
caring and nurturing nature and adored his fans. He took time to speak with
everyone who turned up to see him and was indeed a genuine and wonderful man
blessed with heaps of talent!
The name Dio, means ‘God’ in Italian and I
personally feel this title is suited to a man with so much importance in the
Rock Music Industry! He decided to change his name back in 1961 going from the
obscure name of Padovana, which didn’t quite have the same appeal and took the
name Dio from a gangster/Mafia member named Johnny Dio.
Dio was one of the first metal artists to do
the famous ‘ horns’ hand gesture that is still in use today by many rock and
metal fans all over the world. He said
he learned it from his Italian grandmother who apparently used it to ward off
evil spirits or evil eye, but Ronnie would never take credit for being the
first to use it!
There aren’t a lot of famous people with a
street named after them, although there are a few, but in Cortland where he was
raised the people decided it would be a fitting tribute to the small guy with a
big voice and now he has a street named after him called Dio Way. He was also inducted into the Cortland City
Hall of Fame in 2004.
He had become sufficiently revered to have a
multi-artist tribute album recorded in his honour, in the shape of Holy Dio:
Tribute to Ronnie James Dio (2000). In 2006, he made a cameo appearance in the
film Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny, a comedy vehicle for Jack Black. In
the film, Dio urges the young Black to go forth and follow his dreams,
bellowing "now go, my son, and rock!"
His final studio album with his solo band was
2004's Master of the Moon. His final studio recordings released in his lifetime
was the Heaven and Hell album The Devil You Know (which was the only Dio-line-up
Sabbath album released under the Heaven and Hell name.).
Black Sabbath - who Ronnie joined after Ozzy
departed, did quite well for themselves since gaining the voice of Dio with
albums such as "Heaven and Hell", "Mob Rules" and
"Dehumanizer" earning the groups ‘best sales’ since 1974.
Ronnie simply seduced his audiences, keeping
them spellbound until the last note had played. His trademark had to be
‘Dungeons and Dragons’ and all things mystical and medieval which suited the
voice of this true legend in his own right!
After a tour in the summer of 2009 with a
spin-off version of Black Sabbath, Heaven and Hell, Dio revealed he was ill.
Ronnie carried on singing right up until the very end of his memorable career –
he died aged 67 leaving the industry and his millions of fans in tatters!
Since Dio’s death a Cancer Charity has been set
up in his name - Dedicated to support cancer prevention research, raise
awareness and educate the public with the focus that early detection and
prevention is of vital importance when dealing with this deadly disease that
robs families of its loved ones. Link here: http://www.diocancerfund.com/
On March 31, 2014, the tribute album Ronnie
James Dio: This Is Your Life was released. It was organized and produced by
Wendy Gaxiola, with album proceeds benefitting the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up
and Shout Cancer Fund.
The Stand up and Shout Cancer Fund are holding
a Memorial Day for the 5th year celebration of Ronnie James Dio’s Music
at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills, CA
Dio is the legend with a legacy that lives on
in the hearts and minds of metal heads everywhere, sending a shiver down the
spine of not only this Man’s voice but the sheer mention of his name.
His last live performance was with Heaven &
Hell on August 29, 2009, in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
May 16th will always be the day the
thorn resurfaces and opens the wound once again, reminding us of what a true
hero the rock and metal industry has lost!
