1980
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Learn about the life and career of Ronnie James Dio, an American heavy metal singer who fronted bands such as Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath and Dio. Find out his musical influences, achievements, legacy and cause of death.
Jun 9, 2020 · Ronnie James Dio is a titan of metal that joined Black Sabbath after Ozzy Osborne got kicked out of the band in 1979 for unstable behavior resulting from alcohol and drug abuse.
Learn about the life and legacy of Ronnie James Dio, the legendary singer of Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Heaven and Hell and DIO. Watch the trailer of his documentary film, order his albums and merchandise, and explore his discography.
- Tarot Woman
- Catch The Rainbow
- Stand Up and Shout
- Long Live Rock and Roll
- Gates of Babylon
- Kill The King
- We Rock
- Die Young
- The Sign of The Southern Cross
- The Mob Rules
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In its essence, "Tarot Woman" is a bluesy archetypal song about a femme fatale, which is then rearranged by Blackmore into a true hard-rock extravaganza and given a unique, tangible personality by Dio's signature esoteric lyrics. In addition to Blackmore's tasty licks and Dio's godly singing, it also features some very fine keyboard playing from To...
Since Ronnie James Dio as a lyricist remains largely remembered for the smart and engaging way he used occult and fantastical themes to tackle some of humanity's timeless pitfalls such as hubris, hypocrisy, despair, and alienation, people tend to forget just how well he could write a (sad) love song. "Catch the Rainbow" is about a great love, the k...
One of the fastest-paced songs from Dio's iconic solo debut album "Holy Diver", "Stand Up and Shout" is almost like a more optimistic version of "Die Young" from Sabbath's "Heaven and Hell" (although the two songs both stand perfectly on their own and shouldn't be compared in any way other than both being fast-paced songs on slower albums and both ...
Although "Long Live Rock and Roll" from 1978 was the last album Dio did with Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, it sounds just as amazing as the first two (perhaps even more, in its own way) - and that's saying something about the energy Dio had going on with Blackmore, despite the latter being notoriously hard to work with. The album's title track is a ...
One of the most grandiose songs of Dio-era Rainbow, "Gates of Babylon" is a Phrygian-mode masterpiece of hard rock. Remaining a strong counterpoint to a Blackmore-led band in a song complex as this is perhaps the ultimate test for any singer, and Dio completely kicks it out of the ballpark while still working in harmony with the rest of the musicia...
If there was ever any proof needed how an almost fairytale-like medieval-themed song could be rock as hell, this is it, and the music really speaks for itself. Dio later revealed that the song was, in fact, about a chess game (that explains why the queen's doing all the killing a bit more). God, I love Dio.
A very ambitious song from "The Last in Line" that never lets down. And just like on "Long Live Rock and Roll", Dio takes a very simple premise and turns it into a timeless classic. It also features some of Dio's most visceral singing in a fast-paced song.
One might say that "Die Young" represents everything that happened to Black Sabbath when "Heaven and Hell" came about. It couldn't be further away from the Ozzy-era sound, and it is instead a glorious new thing full of vicious, raw vitality of its own. Dio and Iommi made wonders together, and it is perhaps best heard on "Die Young" how much those w...
"Mob Rules" is often overlooked in the context of both Dio and Black Sabbath. However, while the much more revered "Heaven and Hell" was as iconic and essential as people credit it, "Mob Rules" does a great job of building upon that foundation. In that regard, "Sign of the Southern Cross" is pretty much to "Mob Rules" what the title track was to "H...
Brimming with ridiculously guitar work by Iommi and immortalized by Dio's singing, "The Mob Rules" is an instant classic that, like the rest of the album, should be given much more credit. It's also one of the best things about the animated movie "Heavy Metal" for which it was made, and that thing is already full of amazing stuff, both visual and m...
A tribute to the legendary singer of Rainbow, Black Sabbath, and Dio, who passed away 10 years ago. The UG community voted for their favourite Dio songs, from classics like "Holy Diver" and "Rainbow in the Dark" to lesser-known gems like "Tarot Woman" and "I".
- Vladimir Nikolić
May 16, 2010 · The metal icon and former Black Sabbath singer passed away in 2010 after revealing his stomach cancer diagnosis. He was known for his high falsetto, devil horns and mythic lyrics.
May 16, 2024 · The late Ronnie James Dio may have been small in stature, but the man who fronted Rainbow, Black Sabbath and Dio was one of rock’s giants. In 2004 Ronnie the rainbow chaser proved he was also a man of letters, as he sat down with Classic Rock to guide us through a revealing A to Z.
2 days ago · When 40-year-old Ronnie James Dio stormed out of Black Sabbath in 1982, finally defeated by the rampant drug abuse of guitarist Tony Iommi and bassist Geezer Butler, the world’s greatest heavy metal singer had an ace up his billowing wizard’s sleeve. Ronnie had recently begun working on a new song, originally with Sabbath in mind, but by ...
