Dio

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Dio

Background information
Origin United States
Genre(s) Heavy metal
Years active 1982-1991
1993-Present
Label(s) Eagle, Warner Bros., Reprise, Universal, Vertigo, Phonogram, Spitfire, Sanctuary
Website Official website
Members
Ronnie James Dio
Simon Wright
Craig Goldy
Scott Warren
Rudy Sarzo

Dio is a heavy metal band led by vocalist Ronnie James Dio, who formed it in October 1982 after leaving Black Sabbath. In an interview, available on the special edition re-release of Holy Diver, Dio states that he never intended to begin a solo career. His intention was to form a new band with fellow former Black Sabbath member drummer Vinny Appice. Naming the band Dio made sense from a commercial standpoint, as the name was already well-known at that time. In addition to Dio on vocals and keyboards originally, and Vinny Appice on drums, the band featured Vivian Campbell who played guitar, and Jimmy Bain, bass. Dio has sold over 47 million albums worldwide

Contents

In May 1983 they released their debut album Holy Diver, on which Ronnie sang and played keyboards. To avoid having the vocalist stuck behind a keyboard in concert, the band recruited keyboardist Claude Schnell in 1984.

Now a quintet, they released The Last in Line on July 2, 1984, followed by Sacred Heart on August 15, 1985. Several songs were recorded during the tour for that album. They were released along with the studio-recorded "Time To Burn" on the Intermission mini LP. In 1985 Ronnie also wrote the song "Stars" for the Hear 'n Aid project, with Campbell contributing on guitar.

Dio's logo, when reversed 180 degrees, seems to spell out the word "Devil", although this is disputed and Ronnie James Dio insists that he does not see it and never intended to do this.

The Dio logo, when rotated, seems to spell either "DIE" or "DEVIL".
The Dio logo, when rotated, seems to spell either "DIE" or "DEVIL".

In 1986 Campbell, citing creative differences, left the band to join Whitesnake and was replaced by Craig Goldy. On July 21, 1987 their fourth album Dream Evil was released. Goldy left in 1988, also because of musical differences. When Ronnie announced in June 1989 that Goldy's replacement would be 18 year-old Rowan Robertson, Bain and Schnell left the band, followed by Appice in December. They were replaced, respectively, with Teddy Cook, Jens Johansson, and former AC/DC drummer Simon Wright. The new band released the album Lock up the Wolves in the spring of 1990. During the tour, Ronnie had a chance meeting with former Black Sabbath bandmate Geezer Butler which ultimately led their short-lived reunion, producing only one album, Dehumanizer. After this Ronnie James Dio reassembled the band once again, retaining only Appice on the drums. By late 1994 guitarist Tracy G, keyboardist Scott Warren of Warrant and bassist Jeff Pilson had all joined the band. During this era, the band adopted a more modern sound, leaving many fans of their older style disappointed. As a result some fans regard the albums made during this period--1994's Strange Highways, 1996's Angry Machines and the live album Inferno - Last in Live--as the worst in Dio's catalogue, while others view them positively as a step away from the increasingly outdated sound of the 1980s. Ronnie Dio has made it clear in interviews that he intensely dislikes this point in his career (particularly the Angry Machines album) and asked Craig Goldy to return in June 1999. Reportedly, Tracy G was asked to stay as a rhythm guitarist, but declined.

Craig Goldy's return facilitated the release of Dio's eighth studio album in 2000, Magica, which was regarded by many as the band's "comeback album" and reached #13 on the Billboard independent charts. It featured the return not only of Goldy but of Simon Wright and Jimmy Bain as well. A concept album, Magica features a return to the band's older, more successful sound, while increased use of keyboards gives it a modern feel. During the following tour, however, tensions rose between Goldy on the one hand and Bain and Dio on the other, as Goldy was dealing with the obligations of a family. Goldy left the band in January 2002 and was replaced with Doug Aldrich, whom Bain had met while recording a tribute album for Metallica. Because of his late arrival, Aldrich did not contribute much to Dio's ninth work, Killing the Dragon, which was written primarily by Dio and Bain. Killing The Dragon was released in 2002 through Spitfire Records and was well received in the metal community, even reaching the overall charts in the UK. Aldrich would stay in the band until April of the following year, when he, like Campbell before him, joined Whitesnake, prompting Goldy's return. Soon afterwards, Bain left the band for reasons unclear.

In 2004 Dio released their tenth studio album, Master of the Moon on August 30, 2004 in Europe through SPV Records and on September 7, 2004 in the United States through Sanctuary Records, The album features multi-instrumentalist Jeff Pilson (formerly of Dokken) on bass duties; however, because of prior obligations with Foreigner, he was only available for the recording sessions, and so was replaced by Rudy Sarzo.

2005 saw the release of the Dio live album Evil or Divine - Live In New York City, which featured the same show that was released on DVD in 2003. Dio has claimed he did not have much input on this release, as he had already left the label that released it. Dio toured South America, Japan, Europe, and Russia in 2005. Their fall tour was titled "An Evening With Dio" and featured a regular set, and then a second set of the band playing his 1983 album Holy Diver in its entirety. The band was purportedly going to film a date from this show in Russia for future DVD release; however, the show on the DVD was actually filmed in London, England. The audio of this performance, a double CD named "Holy Diver Live" was released in April 2006.

In 1999, an animated spoof of Dio appeared in an episode of South Park titled "Hooked on Monkey Phonics". The band appears performing "Holy Diver" at an elementary school dance. Although Ronnie James Dio's appearance is somewhat like himself in reality, the rest of the band just appears as a "stereotypical" heavy metal band with no reference to the real band members.

In 2006, Dio made a brief appearance in the Tenacious D film, The Pick of Destiny. In a scene where a young Jack Black appeals to a poster of Dio for advice, Dio's image comes to life and offers instruction. The appearance is also available on the soundtrack for the movie, in the song titled "Kickapoo". There is also a song about Dio on Tenacious D's first album. The song is called Dio.

In 2007 it was announced that Black Sabbath would reunite with Dio and go under the name Heaven and Hell. This has some people debating if the band Dio will release a new album during 2008, though Dio states that his time with Heaven and Hell will end before 2008 to give him time to make another Dio album before he has anything to do with Black Sabbath again.

  1. Ronnie James Dio – vocals/Guitar
  2. Simon Wright - Drums
  3. Craig Goldy - Guitar
  4. Scott Warren - Keyboards

dio

  1. Jimmy Bain - Bass
  2. Vinny Appice - Drums
  3. Vivian Campbell - Guitar
  4. Rudy Sarzo - Bass
  5. Jeff Pilson - Bass


Years Line-up Releases
1983-1984
1984-1986
  • Ronnie James Dio - vocals
  • Vivian Campbell - guitar
  • Jimmy Bain - bass
  • Claude Schnell - keyboards
  • Vinny Appice - drums
1986-1989
  • Ronnie James Dio - vocals
  • Craig Goldy - guitar
  • Jimmy Bain - bass
  • Claude Schnell - keyboards
  • Vinny Appice - drums
1989-1991
1991 - 1992

Band Split (Ronnie and Appice return to Black Sabbath)

1993-1997
1997-1999
  • Ronnie James Dio - vocals
  • Tracy G - guitar
  • Larry Dennison - bass
  • Scott Warren - keyboards
  • Vinny Appice - drums
1999-2000
  • Ronnie James Dio - vocals
  • Craig Goldy - guitar
  • Jimmy Bain - bass
  • Scott Warren - keyboards
  • Simon Wright - drums
2000-2001
  • Ronnie James Dio - vocals
  • Craig Goldy - guitar
  • Jimmy Bain - bass
  • Chuck Garric - bass (tour)
  • Scott Warren - keyboards
  • Simon Wright - drums
2001-2004
  • Ronnie James Dio - vocals
  • Doug Aldrich - guitar
  • Jimmy Bain - bass
  • Scott Warren - keyboards
  • Simon Wright - drums
2004-2005
  • Ronnie James Dio - vocals
  • Craig Goldy - guitar
  • Jeff Pilson - bass
  • Rudy Sarzo - bass (tour)
  • Scott Warren - keyboards
  • Simon Wright - drums
2005-2006
  • Ronnie James Dio - vocals
  • Doug Aldrich - guitar
  • Rudy Sarzo - bass
  • Scott Warren - keyboards
  • Simon Wright - drums
2006-present
  • Ronnie James Dio - vocals
  • Craig Goldy - guitar
  • Rudy Sarzo - bass
  • Scott Warren - keyboards
  • Simon Wright - drums

Founding members in bold

  • Ronnie James Dio (1982 - 1991, 1993 - present)

  • Vivian Campbell (1983 - 1986)
  • Craig Goldy (1986 - 1989, 1999 - 2001, 2004 - 2005, 2006 - present)
  • Rowan Robertson (1989 - 1991)
  • Tracy G (1993 - 1999)
  • Doug Aldrich (2001 - 2004, 2005 - 2006)

  • Jimmy Bain (1983 - 1989, 1999 - 2000)
  • Teddy Cook (1989 - 1991)
  • Jeff Pilson (1993 - 1997, 2004)
  • Larry Dennison (1997 - 1999)
  • Chuck Garric (live, 2000 - 2001)
  • Rudy Sarzo (2004 - present)

  • Vinny Appice (1983 - 1989, 1993 - 1999)
  • Simon Wright (1989 - 1991, 1999 - present)

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