Ronnie James Dio
Ronnie James Dio
Ronnie James Dio was born in 1942 in New Hampshire USA. He was born Ronald James Padanova
He began his career as a singer & songwriter in the band The Vegas Kings in 1957, as a bassist. Later he moved to the singing slot in Ronnie & The Redcaps. In 1961 the band changed their name to Ronnie Dio & The Prophets. This is the first time he used the name Dio. Supposedly he got the idea from a mafia figure named Johnny Dio. Dio is the Italian word for “God”. Next up in Ronnie’s career was the band Elf. Elf opened for Deep Purple on a few occasions and caught the attention of Ritchie Blackmore. It was this that led to the formation of Rainbow. After Rainbow came Dio’s stint in Black Sabbath, replacing the recently excused Ozzy Osbourne. During his tenure in Black Sabbath Dio popularized the “Devil Horns” hand gesture that has become synonomous in metal music. According to Dio, his grandmother came up with it to ward off “The Evil Eye”. In 1982 Ronnie exited Sabbath to form “Dio”.
In 2006, Dio rejoined band members Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Carmine Appice to reform Black Sabbath. The couldn’t use the Black Sabbath name for legal reasons, so they chose the moniker “Heaven & Hell” after their first album as Black Sabbath.
In 2007 Dio was inducted into the Rock Walk Of Fame.
Band Timeline
The Vegas Kings (1957–1958)
Ronnie & The Rumblers (1958)
Ronnie and the Red Caps (1958–1961)
Ronnie Dio and the Prophets (1961–1967)
The Electric Elves (1967–1969)
The Elves (1969–1970)
Elf (1970–1975)
Rainbow (1975–1979)
Black Sabbath (1979–1982)
Dio (1982–1991)
Black Sabbath (1991–1992)
Dio (1993-present)
Heaven and Hell (2006-present)
