Possibly the worst news ever, Dio has cancelled his upcoming UK tour.
DIO — the band fronted by legendary heavy metal vocalist Ronnie James Dio (HEAVEN & HELL, BLACK SABBATH, RAINBOW) — has cancelled its previously announced European tour after Ronnie was taken ill. "Ronnie has been hospitalized and we are waiting for further news," the singer's wife/manager Wendy Dio told BLABBERMOUTH.NET.
dude im sorry but that is oldschool. i hope he gets better but i hate that old music, 6fu and suicidesilence roks over that
How old are you about 17? Dio is a rock n roll icon. Do some research and you will see he has a history of great music. Thoughts and prayers for his recovery.
Wish4fish, I wish you had been born in a different era. Sorry to sound old, but you kids missed out on the best of the best. Music in the 70's and 80's was at the crossroads of new experiments and fusion of punk, hardcore, thrash, rap, and metal. The koolest sounds came out of that era. If I could wish anything for ya, bro, it would be to go back in a time machine so you could see some of the shows that went down back then.
Youth is wasted on the young.
Prayers for a speedy recovery for Dio. Like our newest member said, the guy is a legend.
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Fixed it for ya, Frankie. I think what happened is you missed copying the complete code.
You seem to be missing an underline "_" space before the letters you copied. All that stuff after the "&" sign is part of the code you need to copy in its entirety.
For example:
_Sb46VD5CmA is correct
instead of:
Sb46VD5CmA
It's either that, or you accidentally added an EXTRA space there. The embed code is very literal, and that's why it needs to be an exact match to the youtube identifier.
You'll soon be able to C&P the youtube link and the video will already show up as embedded. Thanks to Jake, we now have the code and Pebbles will hopefully be weaving it into the site next week or sooner.
BTW, Venom was an excellent choice, brings back a lot of memories for me.
Last edited by DarkSkies; 11-22-2009 at 12:54 PM.
Reason: Add embed link
I heard he's out of the hospital, just got released.
A Dio history
THE HISTORY OF RONNIE JAMES DIO
By Curt Jensen & Jim Scheet
Ronnie James Dio, real name Ronald James Padavona, was born in Cortland, NY, on July 10th 1942. His parents are Italian immigrants; Ronnie is a first-generation American. The city of Cortland to this day continues to have a large percentage of Italian Americans. Ronnie once said that one of the more exciting things to do in rural Cortland while growing up was “cow tipping.” Ronnie’s first serious musical instrument was the trumpet, with which he became very proficient. During that time Ronnie played trumpet in the Cortland High Jazz Band. Later, he switched to playing bass guitar. Ronnie graduated from Cortland High in 1960. He was senior class president. In high school, he was very popular with classmates and faculty alike. Former classmates describe him as being a clean-cut type of guy, with very neat short hair and say that he sometimes wore a suit and tie to school. Apparently, his looks then were a complete opposite to his current heavy metal tough guy appearance.
He formed three bands while in high school: the Vegas Kings, the Rumblers, and the Redcaps. They played classic 50s and 60s music. Ronnie and the Redcaps played exclusively at Domino’s, a bar/restaurant on Main Street in Cortland. Later in 1961, he formed a new band called the Prophets. Legend has it that this was when the young Padavona took the last name Dio because it’s close to “God” in Italian. Apparently, Ronnie had a very high opinion of himself as a kid. In 1963, the band recorded a live record at Domino’s in which among other things they did a really great cover of “Great Balls of Fire.” Ronnie Dio used to practice with his new band the Prophets in a homemade studio on Tompkins St. in Cortland, in a barn-like garage. It was a very small studio, with one end being a walled-off booth for the mixers, and the remaining section being your basic egg-crate covered walls and ceiling. Inspired by the Beatles, Ronnie changed the name of his band to the Electric Elves in 1967. Later, his band simply became “The Elves.” Perhaps the choice of this fantasy creature as their mascot is reflective of the vertically challenged nature of most of the members of Ronnie’s band, especially himself.
Ronnie was in a very severe automobile accident in 1968 with his band while traveling back from a gig in Connecticut. A drunk driver hit Ronnie’s van head on. Killed in the accident was Nicky Pantas, Ronnie’s best friend at the time and one of the bands guitar players. Nicky’s chest was crushed by the van’s steering wheel. Ronnie, who was in the passenger seat at the time, almost had his scalp ripped off. He needed about 100 stitches to repair the injury. Doug Thaler, the keyboard player for the band, ended up in a body cast for an entire year. The band’s other guitarist, David Feinstein, who suffered a broken ankle from the accident, says that the only thing he remembers about the whole incident was waking up the next day in the hospital with Ronnie in the other bed next to him. Ronnie received a major scar on his face from the accident. Later, the City of Cortland named the street where Ronnie grew up Dio Way. He married a Cortland girl named Loretta Berardi, and they later adapted a son, Danny. The couple later divorced. His family still lives in the Cortland area.
Ronnie James Dio’s hard rock roots started with the New York based bar room blues band called Elf. The first Elf Lp came out in 1972, and consisted of Ronnie’s cousin David Feinstein (guitar), Mickey Lee Soule (piano), and Gary Driscoll (drums). This was the only album that Dio ever played bass guitar on. From then on, he decided to concentrate on his singing. Deep Purple’s Roger Glover produced the album, and he did a very good job on it. Elf was actually one hell of a band. Highlights on the first album were the songs Never More, Dixie Lee Junction, Sit Down Honey, Hoochie Koochie Lady, and First Avenue.
Never More was a preview of Dio’s later work that would come with Rainbow. The song is real dark and Dioesque. It’s a great song. It’s also the first sign of the medieval sword and sorcery based material that started to form in Ronnie’s creative mind. The next two Elf albums saw some personnel changes as Craig Gruber replaced Ronnie on bass guitar, and Steve Edwards filled in for Feinstein. Later, Feinstein would go on to the hard rock band known as the Rods. Elf put out some great songs, but unless you’re a big Dio fan there’s no way you’ve ever heard them. The remastered album has the last two Elf albums called Carolina County Ball and Trying to Burn the Sun. After listening to fast power metal for any extended period of time, it would take some getting used to for the typical Dio fan. However, any fan of any one of the genres of Rock could really enjoy Elf. Ronnie sounds just as good with this band as he does with Rainbow, Black Sabbath, or his own band. Out of 18 songs on those two albums, about 12 of those are really high quality combinations of Rock and Jazz. Songs like Rocking Chair Rock ‘N’ Roll, Black Swampy Water, and Streetwalker are pure gems. Right now, there are serious talks about Ronnie and Feinstein getting back together and having a reunion.
The end to Elf came when Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple “discovered” RJD. Elf used to open for Deep Purple on tour, and Blackmore became quite impressed with Ronnie’s band. After Deep Purple’s Stormbringer album, Blackmore became disenchanted with Deep Purple and he parted ways with them. Blackmore invited Ronnie, Mickey Lee Soule, and Craig Gruber to form his new band. The end of Elf and the downfall of Deep Purple brought on the beginnings of Rainbow.
The first Rainbow album is one of the better Rock albums of the 1970s. Dio has commented that this is his favorite Rainbow album. The album was titled Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow to get exposure, because at the time Blackmore was known all around the world for his work with Deep Purple. The debut album started all of the medieval fantasy lyrics that Dio became so famous for. Song highlights include the famous Man on the Silver Mountain, The Temple of the King, Sixteenth Century Greensleeves, and the beautiful song Catch the Rainbow. Sixteenth Century Greensleeves is definitely one of the better Rock songs of the entire 70s. There’s another track on this album called Self Portrait. It’s one of those really dark 70’s Dio songs that are just buried in time. It’s laced with the classic Ronnie James Dio sound. There really isn’t a bad song on the first Rainbow album.
For the next album, Blackmore released most of the Elf guys except Ronnie and brought in his own crew. This was a shame, because the Elf backup performers were very good musicians. In particular, Mickey Lee’s Jazz piano style would be sorely missed. Blackmore brought in Cozy Powell (drums), Tony Carey (keyboards), and Jimmy Bain (bass). The second album was called Rainbow Rising. Rising is a rather short album. With only six songs on it, it’s only about 35 minutes long. Most of the songs on the album are fantasy based and the highlights of the album are the two eight minute long songs Light in the Black and Stargazer. These two songs make up about half the album’s length. Run with the Wolf, Tarot Woman, and Starstruck are also great songs.
The following two years, Rainbow put out two live albums, and they are both great Rock albums. Long Live Rock n Roll was the last Dio era Rainbow album recorded. By this time, Blackmore and Dio had different visions musically. Blackmore wanted to sell out and start playing radio friendly love songs like the bands Foreigner and Boston were doing at the time. Ronnie wanted to keep playing his style of music, which was about dragons, wizards, kings, and all of that good stuff. Despite Blackmore’s adamant objections to this musical direction of the band, Long Live Rock n Roll turned out to be an outstanding album. Song highlights include Gates of Babylon, Long Live Rock n Roll, Lady of the Lake, and the lightning-fast Kill the King. There is only one love song on the album, and it’s called Rainbow Eyes. This song was probably Blackmore’s idea. Rainbow Eyes is the only love song that Ronnie has sung since 1978. He sings about women sometimes, but not like a lovesick teenager.
After Dio left Rainbow, Blackmore stayed on with them as they went through three different singers: Joe Lynn Turner, Graham Bonnet, and another performer named Doogie White. The 1975-78 lineups are often referred to as the classic Rainbow lineup. Rainbow was bigger in Europe than they were in the United States. They would play small shows in Canada and the northern states, but they never really drew large crowds. Rainbow’s fantasy lyrics alienated them from the mainstream pop music oriented radio stations. You’ll rarely ever hear a Rainbow song on the radio, but you’ll get the same recycled Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd copycat material all day. Ronnie has never really sold out. Radio would have destroyed his work and ruined the typical metal fan’s listening enjoyment. Immediately after Ronnie and Blackmore had their falling out, Dio decided to move on, one way or another. Ritchie Blackmore is without a doubt a very talented guitarist and musician, but he is extremely difficult to work for. For instance, the Rainbow lineup from May 1975 to April 1984 went through three singers, four drummers, five keyboardists, and five bassists.
It was at this time that Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath contacted Ronnie, and a whole new era started. They met at a Los Angeles club called, ironically, The Rainbow. At the time, Black Sabbath had just completed the horrible Never Say Die album. Iommi was also having severe problems with Ozzy Osbourne, who was at the point of near incapacitation. At one point, it was not exactly clear how Ozzy left Sabbath. Perhaps all of the members of this band were so high on drugs and alcohol at the time that none of them actually knew to this day what happened. In a recent interview, however, Ozzy himself admits that he was fired from Sabbath for excessive drug and alcohol usage. After being discharged from the band, Ozzy spent the next six months in a hotel room getting high. He eventually recovered from his various chemical dependences. To this day, he sees a counselor and attends AA meetings every day. In any event, Ozzy was out, and Dio was in.
Later, in the summer of 1980, Vinny Appice replaced Bill Ward on drums. Rumor has it that Ozzy later referred to this new Sabbath lineup as, “Geezer and the three Italians.” Now that Black Sabbath had Ronnie, for the first time ever, they had a great songwriter, musician, vocalist, and above all, a true professional. Some sources say that Ozzy Osbourne wrote very few Black Sabbath songs. Previously, Iommi, Butler, and Ward wrote most of the material. Now, Ronnie took total control over the songwriting. Their first album with Ronnie was Heaven and Hell and it was a national success. The album charted in the top 30. A lot of people are either fans of the Ozzy era, or they are fans of the Dio era. Either way, no one can deny that Heaven and Hell was a great heavy metal album. Song highlights on this first album are Lady Evil, Neon Nights, Children of the Sea, Wishing Well, Die Young, Lonely is the Word, and Heaven and Hell. That’s just about the entire album. This album is a true classic. Heaven and Hell is probably Sabbath’s best album, even better than Paranoid.
The next Sabbath album with Ronnie came out in 1981. Mob Rules was an extension of the great hard rock songs from HIH. Mob Rules should be in the musical library of every heavy metal fan. Once again, there isn’t a weak song on this album except for the fourth track, which is just a minute and a half guitar playing sound effects cut. Favorites on this include Falling off the Edge of the World, The Sign of the Southern Cross, and Mob Rules. The Dio Sabbath era was slightly harder than the Rainbow era. The songs were darker and more sinister. It’s hard to say which Dio era is the best. There are 5 distinct Dio eras. There is the Elf era, the Rainbow era, the Black Sabbath era, the old Dio solo era, and the new Dio solo era (1989 to present), which would have to include the album Dehumanizer. Dio left Sabbath soon after the Mob Rules tour. At the studio recording of Mob Rules, Tony Iommi accused Ronnie and drummer Vinny Cappice of breaking into the studio late at night and turning the volume up on the drums and vocals, while lowering the guitar mixes. Later, Iommi quietly said that this did not happen. Ronnie and Vinny never really got along with Geezer and Tony because of severe personality differences. Warner Brothers released a live album of the Mob Rules tour in 1983 called Live Evil. On this album, Ronnie sings both Ozzy songs and his own material. Funny thing about this album, when it came out, nobody in the general public knew about it being released. Perhaps Warner Brothers had a contract to put out so many Sabbath albums. Another factor is that only two months earlier, Ozzy released his own live album called, “Speak of the Devil.” The post Dio Sabbath albums with Tony Martin and Ian Gillan didn’t sell well, and were even more hated by the critics than the “classic” Sabbath releases.
After Ronnie left Sabbath, he formed his own band called Dio. Ronnie’s first solo album, Holy Diver, was a nationwide success and he became world famous. The next three years would become the mainstream pinnacle of Ronnie’s career. Holy Diver became one of the biggest selling heavy metal albums ever, selling millions of copies. This is the album that put food on the table for the fat cats at Warner Brothers. Legend has it that Ronnie visited a medieval castle in Southern England several times to gain inspiration for his new solo project. One source claims it was Tintagel Castle, the legendary home of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. It is not known whether he walked through the ruins brandishing a sword, like he did in the famous Holy Diver MTV video from the 80s.
Holy Diver is an outstanding heavy metal album, and there isn’t one weak track on it. The album featured Irish guitarist Vivian Campbell, who would become well known for his very cool British-inspired blues-based material. By 1983, Ronnie’s shows were sold out, and heavy metal was at its all-time peak in America. Holy Diver is by far the best Dio solo album from 83 to 89. Every song on it is great. The Holy Diver album cover was a big controversy because of Ronnie’s mascot: Murray the mutated Malacovian giant. Murray is seen on the album cover drowning a priest. Many religious groups dubbed the album as satanic across the United States. Perceptive people look at it is this way. The priest that was being drowned was a child molester. The priest is symbolic of child molesters. That’s all there is to it. In a way, it could be considered indirect criticism of the Catholic Church.
Poor Ronnie took a lot of heat for this. This is the same guy who sang on a gospel album in 1980 with Kerry Livgren of Kansas. That shows just how much people know about some things regarding Rock & Roll. As far as the music on Holy Diver is concerned, every song on this album is a metal masterpiece. In 1984 Ronnie came out with The Last in Line. One of the songs on that album is called Egypt (The Chains are On), and it’s a shear classic. It is Dio’s Stargazer of the eighties. Every time one listens to Stargazer or Egypt, you can just picture masses of people suffering in the scalding hot Egyptian desert, people from thousands of years ago. Ronnie brings the long forgotten dead back to life with these two songs. The mental imagery of the sun, the desert, and hordes of suffering people is remarkable. Song highlights on LIL are the title track itself, Evil Eyes, Egypt, I Speed at Night, and Breathless. Last in Line was a very successful follow-up to Ronnie’s solo debut album.
Sacred Heart came out in 1985, and it was the last album that superlative guitarist Vivian Campbell would appear on. Campbell’s melodic and sultry soloing was at his very best on this release. To be fair to Campbell, none of the Dio albums since his departure from the band have had the same Dioesque emotional conveyance to them. Future guitarists tended to reply more upon flash than substance. The Sacred Heart video came out the same year. This video gives one a good idea what a Dio concert looked like in the mid-eighties, which were about 25,000 crazy screaming fans. Dream Evil was released in 1987. By this time, Campbell had left and the Southern California product Craig Goldie was the new guitarist. Goldie’s guitar work is more reminiscent of the LA guitar scene, with virtuosos such as Warren DeMartini, Eddie Van Halen, and George Lynch. Craig thus added a new really modern guitar sound to the new Dio album. Dream Evil featured many great songs like Sunset Superman, I Could Have Been a Dreamer, and All the Fools Sailed Away. Most of these songs were real nice songs, as this was Dio’s softest solo album. In spite of his, a lot of his most ardent fans think Dream Evil is his best solo album. Lock up the Wolves came out in 1989. Over 5,000 different guitarists were interviewed and had a tryout for LUTW. Dio picked 18-year-old guitar prodigy Rowan Robertson. The album didn’t sell too well, and by this time all of the fair weather fans had left Ronnie’s side. LUTW sounds very late eighties. This was also about the same time that many glam bands were busy destroying metal’s image, and had completely saturated the hard rock market. During the 1990s, Dio continued to release additional solo projects, but none were as fresh and musically inspirational as his excellent work in the 80s. His latest project, Killing the Dragon, is scheduled to be released in May 2002.
Clearly, Ronnie James Dio’s impact on the hard rock music scene has been vast and dramatic. He’s already celebrated his 30th anniversary in heavy metal music. He will also be celebrating his 60th birthday in 2002. To this day, he still influences many Rock groups of all styles. Anytime a Rock & Roll band sings or performs any sort of song relating to dragons, castles, swords or fire, Dio automatically comes to mind. The bands Danzig, Gwar and many others perhaps owe their very existence to the 5’ 3” Elf-like wonder from Cortland, NY.
Junior Member
Ronnie James Dio Hospitalized
Originally Posted by wish4fish
dude im sorry but that is oldschool. i hope he gets better but i hate that old music, 6fu and suicidesilence roks over thatDio is a rock n roll icon. Do some research and you will see he has a history of great music. Thoughts and prayers for his recovery.
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we now have the code and Pebbles will hopefully be weaving it into the site next week or sooner.
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