he is gay
{{Infobox musical artist | The Rumblers]] and finally to Ronnie And The Red Caps. Their first 7-inch single was released in 1958.
Ronnie took up the name "Dio" after mafia member Johnny Dio, and first used it in a more commercial direction.
After leaving Rainbow, Dio joined Black Sabbath in 1979, replacing Ozzy Osbourne. Dio gave a new jumpstart to Black Sabbath's commercially sagging career with the hugely popular Heaven and Hell album. It was during his time with Black Sabbath that he popularized the "devil's horns" gesture. Dio says that his grandmother used to make the hand gesture to ward off the evil eye, which is very common among superstitious Southern Italians. The "horns," or "Corna," themselves are used to both scare away and give someone the "Malocchio" (the Evil Eye). In 1982, during the mixing of the live album Live Evil, internal band problems and nasty accusations developed, which led to Dio and drummer Vinny Appice quitting the band to form Dio. Ronnie James Dio currently lives in California and still records and tours worldwide with Dio.
Despite being known for his powerful singing voice, Dio claims never to have taken any vocal training.[1] He attributes his singing ability to the correct breathing techniques he learnt when playing the French horn as a child.
Tenacious D have written a tribute song entitled Dio that appears on their self-titled album that calls for the singer to 'Pass the torch' on to them. Comments he's made on the song have been conflicting. Reportedly, Dio approved of it, and he has also appeared in the film Tenacious D in: The Pick of Destiny, playing himself, but on VH1, some have interpreted small clips of an interview with him as expressing resentment at the idea that he needs to "pass the torch" and seemed uncertain that Tenacious D are worthy of such an honor. When viewed in full, this interview seems to be done in good humor.
In 2005, Dio was revealed to be the voice behind Dr.X in Operation: Mindcrime II, the sequel of Queensrÿche's seminal concept album Operation: Mindcrime. In October 2006 it was confirmed that Dio would be reuniting with Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Vinny Appice to tour under the moniker 'Heaven and Hell', which was the title of the first Dio era Black Sabbath record. They've used the name "Heaven and Hell" as Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler are still in the Black Sabbath band with Ozzy Osbourne and felt it was best to use a different moniker for the Dio version of the band. Original Black Sabbath Drummer Bill Ward was to be involved in this project, but he later withdrew. In 2007 the band completed a 98-date world tour.
Family
Dio married his first wife, Loretta Berardi (born 1941), sometime in the 1960s. They adopted one son, Dan Padavona (born July 1968), who works as a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Binghamton, New York. [2]
After divorcing Berardi, he married Wendy Gaxiola (born 1947), who also serves as his manager. Not much else is known about Wendy or their family other than she is the chairwoman for the privately sponsored organization, Children of the Night, which is a program dedicated to rescuing America's children from prostitution. Also, in the 1980s she managed the Los Angeles rock bands Rough Cutt and Hellion.
Dio currently has two grandchildren, Joey and Julia.
Age dispute
There is a long-standing dispute regarding Dio's age. His most likely birth year is 1942. Dio himself has said in the past that he was born July 10, 1949 and, at other times, outright refused to give the year of his birth. The consensus is that the 1942 date is probably correct, due to the following:
The United States Library of Congress copyright searches for both Ronnie James Dio and Ronald James Padavona material both return listings invariably citing the 1942 birthdate.
He was in his first band in 1958, which means that if the 1949 date were correct, he would have been 9 years old. This would be unlikely, but not impossible. (Dio has also said that he started his first group around age 10). According to classmates from his high school, and reportedly also a yearbook, which is available in the reference section of the Cortland City Library show a Ronald James Padavona graduated from Cortland High School in 1960. He would have graduated high school a few days before his 11th birthday if he was born in 1949. He was also his senior class president and was voted most popular. His first band photos, with "Ronnie and the Red Caps" from ca. 1960 or 1961[1], are also widely circulated on the Internet. In the photo, he looks to be somewhere in his mid teens, and probably older than the 12 years old he would have been, if the 1949 birth date were correct.
British-born/Australian-based singer Graham Bonnet, who replaced Dio in Rainbow, has disputed the age difference between him and Ronnie. Bonnet was born September 23, 1947. However, in a 2005 interview, while discussing guitarist and former bandmate, Ritchie Blackmore, Dio said that Ritchie "isn't that much younger" than him. Blackmore was born in 1945. Online public records searches (done in 2005) list Dio as 64 years old under the name "Ronald Padavona" and as 57 years old under the name "Ronnie James Dio". Another search shows a "Ronald and Wendy Padavona" in Studio City, CA (presumably a business address), ages 64 and 58 (as of February, 2006), which would fit with the assumed birth years of 1942 and 1947 for Dio and his wife, Wendy. This also suggests that Dio's legal name is still Ronald Padavona. Interestingly, Blackmore has said that Ronnie is younger than him at other times, although this could easily be attributed to Dio's maintaining a false birth date that Blackmore (and others who know Dio) assumed was correct. In an article on Black Sabbath in an issue of Circus magazine ("Black Sabbath Pray For Brighter Days") in the spring of 1982, Dio's age is listed as 33. This would seem to support a birth date of 1948, since the interview appeared before Dio's July birthday. Again, if Dio had been giving an incorrect date of birth for years, it's not out of the question that this number is also wrong.
In 2004 Dio was elected to the Cortland City School Hall of Fame. The plaque shows his graduation year was in fact 1960, which essentially puts this dispute to rest. http://www.cortlandschools.org/alumni/wallpresentation.swf
Band timeline
- The Vegas Kings (1957-1958)
- Ronnie & The Rumblers (1958)
- Ronnie and the Red Caps (1958-1967)
- The Elves (1968)
- Elf (1969-1976)
- Rainbow (1974-1979)
- Black Sabbath (1979-1982)
- Dio (1982-1991)
- Black Sabbath (1991-1992)
- Dio (1993-present)
- Heaven and Hell (2006-present)
Trivia
- Dio performed vocals on the 1974 UK single 'Love is All' taken from Roger Glover's concept album 'The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper Feast'. The song has been used recently by the Dutch political party CDA in its election ads for the 2006 Dutch General Election. Dio also provided vocals for the songs 'Homeward' and 'Sitting in a dream' on Glover's album. Former Deep Purple alumni Glenn Hughes and David Coverdale also appeared.
- On November 15, 1988, a street in Ronnie James Dio's hometown of Cortland, New York was named after him - Dio Way, located between Central Avenue and East Court Street.
- In 1997, Dio made a cameo on Pat Boone's "In a Metal Mood", an album of famous heavy metal songs played in Big Band style. Dio can be heard singing backup on Boone's take of the Dio song, "Holy Diver."
- In 2000, Century Media released Holy Dio: Tribute to Ronnie James Dio, an album featuring a number of covers by mainly power metal bands.
- Ronnie James Dio is about 5'4" (1.65 m) tall. In a photo appearance with Black Sabbath Ronnie stood on a ledge so as to appear the same height as his bandmates.
- There was a short-lived effort to elect Ronnie James Dio as President of the United States in the 2004 election. Nothing came of this, and the website promoting him at the time is no longer in operation. A new campaign has begun for the 2008 election and the progress can be tracked at the dio4president last.fm page.
- As a character, Ronnie James Dio appeared in the third season episode of South Park titled "Hooked on Monkey Phonics", playing "Holy Diver" at the school dance. Ronnie James Dio himself did not provide the character's speaking voice.
- Dio Brando, the primary antagonist of the manga series Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, is named after Ronnie James Dio. Jojo's Bizarre Adventure is known for its multitude of music references.
- Had a brief cameo in Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny where he sang to a young Jack Black in his bedroom during the song "Kickapoo".
- Although Dio is considered the creator of the "devil's horns" as a heavy metal symbol, some argue that it originated from Kiss' Love Gun album cover from 1977, which shows Gene Simmons doing the sign. However, Simmons extends his thumb which is sign language for "love."
- Additionally, Dio will voice a currently undefined character in the upcoming, heavy metal-influenced action adventure video game Brütal Legend.
Discography
Some of Dio's early appearances on 45 rpm singles are collected on several volumes of the LP series "The History of Syracuse Music," released in the 1980's. A complete discography with lyrics can be found here.
Ronnie Dio & The Prophets
- Dio at Dominos (1963)
The Elves
Elf
- Live At The Bank 1972 (Bootleg Recording)' (1972)
- Elf (1972)
- Carolina County Ball (1974)
- The History Of Syracuse Music Volume VI (1974)
- Trying to Burn the Sun (1975)
- 20 Years Of Syracuse Rock (1989)
- The Gargantuan (1989)
- The Elf Albums (1991)
Rainbow
- Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow (1975)
- Rainbow Rising (1976)
- On Stage (1977)
- Long Live Rock 'n' Roll (1978)
- Finyl Vinyl (1986)
- Live in Germany 1976 (1990)
- Ritchie Blackmore: Rock Profile Volume Two (1991)
- Live In Munich 1977 (2006)
- Deutschland Tournee 1976 (2006)
- Live In Cologne (2007)
- Live In Dusseldorf (2007)
- Live In Nurnberg (2007)
- The Polydor Years 1975-1986 (2007)
Black Sabbath
- Heaven and Hell (1980)
- Black And Blue (VHS) (1980)
- Music From The Motion Picture Heavy Metal (1981)
- Mob Rules (1981)
- Live Evil (1982)
- Dehumanizer (1992)
- The Dio Years (2007)
- Live at Hammersmith Odeon (2007)
- Live From Radio City Music Hall (2007) (as Heaven and Hell)
Dio
- Holy Diver (1983)
- The Last in Line (1984)
- Sacred Heart (1985)
- Intermission (1986)
- Dream Evil (1987)
- Lock up the Wolves (1990)
- Strange Highways (1994)
- Diamonds – The Best of Dio (1995)
- Angry Machines (1996)
- Inferno - Last in Live (1998)
- Magica (2000)
- Killing the Dragon (2002)
- Master of the Moon (2004)
- Evil or Divine - Live In New York City (2005)
- Holy Diver - Live (2006)
Guest Appearances
- Bobby Comstock And The Counts: Run My Heart 7" Single (1963)
- Austin Gravelding: Self Made Man (1970)
- Roger Glover: Butterfly Ball (1974)
- David Coverdale: Northwinds (1978)
- Kerry Livgren: Seeds of Change (1980)
- Kerry Livgren: The Best Of Kerry Livgren (2002)
- Heaven: Where Angels Fear To Tread (1983)
- Rough Cutt: Rough Cutt (1984)
- Hear 'n Aid: Hear 'n Aid (1986)
- Dog Eat Dog: Play Games (1996)
- Eddie Hardin & Guests: Wizard's Convention (1994)
- Munetaka Higuchi With Dream Castle: Free World (1997)
- Pat Boone: In a Metal Mood: No More Mr. Nice Guy (1998)
- A Tribute To Alice Cooper: Humanary Stew (1999)
- A Tribute To Aerosmith: Not The Same Old Song And Dance (1999)
- Deep Purple: In Concert With The London Symphony Orchestra Conducted By Paul Mann (1999)
- Deep Purple: Live at the Rotterdam Ahoy (2001)
- Deep Purple: The Soundboard Series (2001)
- Eddie Ojeda: Axes 2 Axes (2005)
- Ian Gillan: Gillan's Inn (2006)
- Queensrÿche: Operation: Mindcrime II (2006)
- Queensrÿche: Mindcrime at the Moore (2007)
- Tenacious D: The Pick of Destiny (2006)
Other Media
- Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny (Film) (2006)
- Brütal Legend (Video Game) (2008)
References
- ^ ">Van Pelt, Doug (1997). "What Dio Sez". HM Magazine (65). ISSN 1066-6923. Retrieved 2007-04-30.
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ignored (help) - ^ Dan Padvona's bio on his Cortland State Red Dragon Football website