Ronnie James Dio

Heavy metal singer Ronnie James Dio began his music career in 1957 when he was still in high school. In 1979 he joined Black Sabbath after Ozzy Osbourne was fired. In 1982 he formed a band called "Dio" and a year later released the debut album Holy Diver which received excellent reviews, and is said to be a classic in the heavy metal genre.

Ronnie James Dio also known as Ronald James Padavona, was born in the city of Portsmouth, to a family of Italian immigrants in 1942. While Dio was young, he along with his family relocated to Cortland, New York and Dio began his musical career here. He began by playing the trumpet and performing in his high school jazz band. While Dio was in high school, he was a part of three different bands. He began as the bass guitarist for ‘’The Vegas Kings’’, then went on to ‘’The Rumblers’’, and lastly ‘’The Redcaps’’. Once Dio graduated he formed ‘’The Prophets’’ which is where Dio adopted the last name ‘’Dio’’.

On May 15th rumor had it that Ronnie James Dio had finally passed on, however this turned out to be a part of an ongoing hoax on Wikipedia. Unfortuantely as of May 16th the hoax became the truth.

The Wikipedia page for Dio has been altered numerous times since Sunday morning listing Dio as dead. At this time Wikipedia has confirmed that the information about the death has been removed and the access to change the page has been frozen since Dio has actually passed on.

This hoax turned out to be rather sick in many opinions, rumors started circulating via the Internet late Saturday night claiming that Dio lost his battle with cancer. This rumor lead Blabbermouth.net to reach out to Dio's wife/manager, who sent the following message back:

I am at the hospital and Ronnie has NOT passed away!!!!

He is not doing good, but he is not dead.

I will let you know if anything changes. Thank you for your concern. http://www.examiner.com/x-29040-Boise-Music-Examiner~y2010m5d16-Ronnie-James-Dio-death-rumors-thankfully-turn-out-to-be-a-hoax-video

At approximately 1:30 PM PST on the day of Ronnie James Dio's death, his official website was updated in order to confirm the fact that the singer had in fact died. Once updated, Dio's website contained the following message from his wife—Wendy—who, additionally, served as his manager:

"Today my heart is broken, Ronnie passed away at 7:45am 16th May. Many, many friends and family were able to say their private good-byes before he peacefully passed away. Ronnie knew how much he was loved by all. We so appreciate the love and support that you have all given us. Please give us a few days of privacy to deal with this terrible loss. Please know he loved you all and his music will live on forever."

— Wendy Diohttp://www.ronniejamesdio.com/

Dio was interested in music as a child. He played the trumpet, and then bass guitar. In high school he joined a band called The Vegas Kings and played bass, but later became the lead singer, and the band's name was changed to Ronnie & The Rumblers, then to . They released a single in 1958.

In the early 1960s he started going by the name "Dio" changed the name of the band he was in Ronnie And The Red Caps to Ronnie Dio and the Prophets. They broke up in 1967.

The guitarist of Deep Purple and Dio went on to form a band called Rainbow, and they released their first album in 1975. Dio left the band after making two more albums with them, and cited creative differences as the reason for his departure.

Dio joined Black Sabbath after leaving Rainbow in 1979. Both Dio and the drummer left in 1982 and formed the band Dio.

• 1975: Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow
• 1976: Rainbow Rising
• 1980: Heaven and Hell
• 1981: Mob Rules
• 1983: Holy Diver
• 1984: 'The Last in Line
• 1987: Dream Evil
• 1992: Diamonds - The Best of Dio
• 1994: Strange Highways
• 1996:Angry Machines
• 2000: Magica
• 2004: Master of the Moon
• 2007: The Dio Years
• 2008: The Rules of Hell