Ronnie James Dio

Ronald James Padavona (10 July 1942 – 16 May 2010), more famous as Ronnie James Dio, was an Italian-American rock musician, who was a vocalist in the bands Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Dio, and later Heaven & Hell.

See also:

Black Sabbath

Dio

• I'm not a very religious person. I have no concept of what a God is; it may be the man on the silver mountain. My image of the man on the silver mountain is a guy with flowing robes and lightning coming from his fingertips, kind of a mytholigal figure like Zeus. The song is more of a plea from the fallen and to the fallen that there is hope, I will make you holy again. Ask me and I will do something for you.
  • Speaking on the Rainbow song "Man on the Silver Mountain", interview by Don Snowden, Los Angeles Vanguard (March 1976)

• It correlates itself with the way almost all of the people in this country believed in Richard Nixon up until the time he decided he was going to take a leap off the tower and fell flat on his ass and became just a little lump of blood and putty. That was my way of saying that the common man will always rise above the leader who oppresses them.
  • Speaking on the Rainbow song "Stargazer", interview by Don Snowden, Los Angeles Vanguard (March 1976)

• We always seem to begin or end in Philadelphia, it's the best place to start and the best place to stop. You're fantastic. My favorite place. Thank you!
  • Dio's Live At The Spectrum, August 25, 1984

• You know, music was given to us to color our world, and some people like blue, some people like green, some people like the combination of both. It's just a matter of personal taste. I don't think that it matters what you do or what your main interest is. I think music especially should be enjoyed and liked in its entirety by everyone.
  • Speaking on hard rock and heavy metal fans being interested in classical music, interview by Steve Newton, 1985

• All Wagner, Ring, whatever. [...] The whole Valkyrie thing was cool, 'cause it was so tied into metal. I like Wagner's strength, just the pureness of it. I like a couple of Mozart things, but mainly Wagner.
  • When asked about his favorite opera, interview by Greg Burk, November 1, 1996

• But I think it's a hell of a book. I think Whoever put it together did quite an interesting job, but I think that it was ... I think that things were put in there to capture a group of people so they would follow a religion.
  • Speaking on the Bible, interview by Doug Van Pelt, HM Magazine (1998)

• The dancer is the free spirit unfettered by chains and not confined by four walls. Noone seems to care much for those they can't control.
  • His answer to the question who the dancer is in the Black Sabbath song "Heaven and Hell", AOL chat session, June 5, 1999, Archived September 30, 2022, at the Wayback Machine

• I am not an Atheist or an anti-God person but my beliefs are that you do not have to go to a place to worship, you don't have to go to a house to do that and that God resides in you and me and so does the Devil and heaven and hell is where we live on this earth. If the God that everyone prays to is such a wonderful God he wouldn't have people suffering so horribly as they are.
  • Interview by David Lee Wilson, 2000

• Lyrically I like to use themes that make the listener use his or her imagination, and to give a little of the lessons I've learned in my own life. The best subjects are always people, who never fail to amaze me by their unpredictability.
  • Speaking on his plans for the Dio album Master of the Moon, interview, Metal Masters, January 2004

• That was obvious that there are people in this world who always going to try and take advantage of you — and do take advantage of you. Those kings and queens are the people who think that they are so important, who want to take advantage of you, and that makes your life Heaven and Hell. Promises that you're going to get [is] the Heaven part, and Hell [is] when they don't come real.
  • Speaking on the Black Sabbath song "Heaven and Hell", interview by Dmitry M. Epstein, September 2005

• I brought melody and classicalness and a great amount of musicality to this band. Ozzy began it, and he deserves all the accolades he can get because he helped invent this kind of music. What he did was absolutely right for what it was, but music grew at that point, and I think it grew beyond what Ozzy was capable of giving an audience from a musical standpoint.
  • Speaking on Black Sabbath, "Black Is Really White" by Andrew Miller, Orlando Weekly (September 13, 2007)

• I'm lucky that I am a very hard person and strong within my beliefs, so that this hasn't really been a problem for me, y'know, I just get cancer, I'll kick the hell outta you.
  • Interview by 39 News in the MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, 2010

• I refuse to be beaten in any way, shape or form, so I'm gonna beat this too.
  • Interview by 39 News in the MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, 2010

• But life's not a wheel
  With chains made of steel,
  So bless me.
  • "Catch the Rainbow" on Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow (1975)

• Where was your star?
  Was it far, was it far?
  When did we leave?
  We believed, we believed, we believed
  (...)
  • "Stargazer" on Rising (1976)

• All my life, it seems
  Just a crazy dream
  Reaching for somebody's star,
  Like an open door
  That you've passed before,
  But you never had the key.
  • "A Light in the Black" on Rising (1976)

• Love is a never ending smile.
  • "Wishing Well" on Heaven and Hell (1980)

• The world is full of kings and queens
  Who blind your eyes and steal your dreams,
  It's heaven and hell, oh well.
  • "Heaven and Hell" on Heaven and Hell (1980)

• We made the mountains shake
  With laughter as we played,
  Hiding in our corner of the world.
  Then we did the demon dance
  And rushed to nevermore,
  Threw away the key and locked the door.
  • "Children of the Sea" on Heaven and Hell (1980)

• If there isn't light when no one sees
  Then how can I know what you might believe?
  • "The Sign of the Southern Cross" on Mob Rules (1981)

• I'll smash your face in,
  But with a smile,
  All together you'll never
  Be stronger than me.
  • "I" on Dehumanizer (1992)

• It's the same old song,
  You've gotta be somewhere at sometime,
  And they never let you fly.
  It's like broken glass,
  You get cut before you see it,
  So open up your eyes.
  • "Stand Up and Shout" on Holy Diver (1983)

• When I see lightning — you know it always brings me down
  'Cause it's free and I see that it's me
  Who's lost and never found.
  • "Rainbow in the Dark" on Holy Diver (1983)

• Each day you hear the sand as it moves and whispers,
  Come and sail on my golden sea,
  Maybe one day you'll be just like me,
  And that's free.
  • "Egypt (The Chains Are On)" on The Last in Line (1984)

• Don't look behind
  'Cause a tear that never dries
  Can only make you blind.
  • "Like the Beat of a Heart" on Sacred Heart (1985)

• Whenever you dream,
  You're holding the key,
  It opens the door
  To let you be free.
  • "Sacred Heart" on Sacred Heart (1985)

• There's perfect harmony
  In the rising and the falling of the sea.
  And as we sail along,
  I never fail to be astounded by
  The things we'll do for promises
  And a song.
  • "All the Fools Sailed Away" on Dream Evil (1987)

• Most dreams are made of glass,
  You throw just one stone,
  And then there goes your last window.
  • "Hollywood Black" on Strange Highways (1993)

• Maybe if we cry together,
  Maybe if we cry as one,
  The tears that fall could kill the fire
  And keep everyone
  From Atom and Evil.
  • "Atom and Evil" on The Devil You Know (2009)

• Let me go! I've seen religion,
  But the light has left me blind.
  Take me back!
  I must have the Bible Black.
  • "Bible Black" on The Devil You Know (2009)

• Ronnie was one of the nicest people you could ever meet, we had some fantastic times together. Ronnie loved what he did, making music and performing on stage. He loved his fans so much. He was a kind man and would put himself out to help others. I can honestly say it's truly been an honor to play at his side for all these years. His music will live on forever.
  • Tony Iommi, as quoted in "Metal Community Pays Tribute To Ronnie James Dio", Billboard.com (May 17, 2010)

• I can't remember exactly when I heard Ronnie's voice, but I do know that the first time I did hear it, it was just like an electric shock, a bolt of lightning, because this voice had so much power and so much character and so much energy and so much of everything that makes a great singer. (...) If ever a man was a rock god, for me, it will always be Ronnie James Dio.
  • Rob Halford, as quoted in "JUDAS PRIEST's ROB HALFORD Picks RONNIE JAMES DIO As His 'Rock God': 'It's All About The Voice'", Blabbermouth.net (October 18, 2020)

• He's a great musician, and that's one of the things about him that people probably don't realize. Yes, obviously, he was one of the greatest singers of all time, but he knew music. He played trumpet, he was a bass player as well, he could play guitar, and he had a great musical mind and a great musical catalog inside of him. He had so much to draw on that musically he was very, very, very, very capable. And just great instincts. As a musician, there was never any question that he was able to stand on his own with anybody.
  • Jeff Pilson, as quoted in "Dokken Bassist Speaks on How Dio Treated Musicians in His Band, Explains What Many People Don't Realize About Ronnie", Ultimate Guitar (March 24, 2021)

• Ronnie was so enthusiastic, and he could play instruments which Ozzy couldn't play, so it was easy to communicate with him, and for him to communicate musically with us. That enthusiasm gives us all a kick up the bum.
  • Geezer Butler, as quoted in "BLACK SABBATH's Geezer Butler Talks DIO Era - 'I Was So Pissed Off Writing Lyrics Towards The End Of The OZZY Era'", Brave Words (March 29, 2021)

• Official website