Dio, A Voice For Eternity

Ronnie James Dio died recently on May 16th, 2010, of a stomach cancer, and with him one of the most emblematic voices of heavy metal died too. His real name was Ronald James Padabona, and was born on 10th of June, 1942, in Postmouth (New Hampshire, USA). His origins were Italian. Although he always had a great interest for baseball, his father felt that his son had great musical ability. So when he was 5 years old they gave him a trumpet as present. Dio was an excellent trumpeter, and he even played with Cortland High Jazz Band. Due to his skills as trumpeter he got a grant for going to Julliard music academy. But with the raise of Rock, Dio abandoned Jazz. In this moment he felt more inclined to play the guitar, bass or the keyboards. In 1957 he founded his first own band, and adopted the name of Dio, that came from a gangsters book. At the end of the '60s, his old band was renamed as "The Elves", and soon it was changed to "Elf". In 1971 Ian Paice and Roger Glover (Deep Purple) saw a performance by Elf, and offered to produce an album for Dio's band. They made a tour with Deep Purple. And Richie Blackmore recorded an album with them. Blackmore left Deep Purple and Rainbow was born, the mythical and legendary rock band. The voice of Dio became one of the most representative of rock. During the end of the '70s and beginning of the '80s, Ozzy Ousburne's health became worse due to his addiction to alcohol, and other substances, that brought him to a hard rehabilitation treatment. The substitute of Ozzy in Black Sabbath was Dio. The charisma of Ronnie James gave origin to Dio (the band). Dio left legendary albums in the history of rock. The figure of Dio, his voice, his evolution in the world of metal, will last forever in History. I must say that I saw Dio in a concert, and he left a profound impression on me. He was a men of a very short stature, and when he started to sing (oh my Gosh!)... he had one of the most powerful voices that I've heard. I felt impressed not only for his voice. Dio looked like a fantasy being, an elf, someone emerged from the depth of a forest, of extraordinary politeness, and with a special way of moving. Today he is not with us, but as all the big artists his talent will remain with us forever. -Emma Alvarez- © 2008 by Emma Alvarez. Link to this post without copying the text. Some Related Posts: If you liked this post, subscribe to Emma Alvarez Site or give yourself a gift Stumble it! Add me to your del.icio.us network