Bio

Bio

Born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Ronnie James Dio was raised in Cortland, New York near Syracuse. Having studied trumpet as a youngster, he switched to bass guitar in his teens and formed Elf in the early 70s. The band recorded several albums and toured extensively as an opening act for Deep Purple. It was through this association that Ritchie Blackmore and Ronnie became friends and later formed Rainbow. After three years and five albums, Dio left Rainbow, and replaced Ozzy Osbourne in Black Sabbath. In addition to Sabbath's first live album, Live Evil, Ronnie recorded two studio albums with the band before leaving.

Having firmly established his reputation as one of heavy metal’s premier screechers, it was relatively easy for Ronnie to go from being part of someone else’s band to forming his own. The result is the five piece outfit known as Dio, consisting of drummer Vinny Appice (from Black Sabbath), guitarist Craig Goldie (replacing Vivian Campbell and one-time guitarist for Rough Cutt and Guiffria), bassist Jimmy Bain (from Rainbow) and keyboardist Claude Schnell (Rough Cutt). Although they bear his name, Ronnie is adament about the fact that they are a band (“I’m fortunate that I have four good friends who are also four great players!”).

Signed to Warner Brothers Records, Dio are currently making their fourth album for the label, following the sturdy selling success of Holy Diver, The Last In Line, and Sacred Heart. In addition, the band released a six song mini-LP last year called Intermission consisting of live versions of “King Of Rock ’N’ Roll,” “Rainbow In The Dark,” “Sacred Heart,” “Rock ’N’ Roll Children”, “Long Live Rock ’N’ Roll!” and “Man On The Silver Mountain.” The LP also included one studio track, “Time To Burn.”

Considering himself a tireless champion of humanity, Ronnie sums up his philosophy this way: “I’m about people and their problems. Especially about people who are considered abnormal by those who consider themselves to be normal. If you’re an individual, you’re normal.”