• Home
• Bands
• D
• Dio

Dio

Ronald James Padavona (July 10, 1942 – May 16, 2010), known professionally as Ronnie James Dio, was an American heavy metal singer. He fronted and founded numerous bands throughout his career, including Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Dio and Heaven & Hell. Dio is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential heavy metal vocalists of all time. He is known for popularizing the "devil horns" hand gesture in metal culture and his fantastical, mystical and medieval-themed song lyrics. Dio had a powerful, versatile vocal range and was capable of singing both hard rock and lighter ballads. Dio's career spanned more than 50 years. During this period and particularly in the 21st century, he received a number of distinctions and awards. Some of his most highly regarded output includes albums such as Rising from Rainbow, Heaven & Hell from Black Sabbath and Holy Diver from his band Dio. A Definitive documentary movie on the life of the iconic metal singer entitled DIO: Dreamers Never Die was released in 2022.

Dio band discography includes Holy Diver (1983), The Last in Line (1984), Sacred Heart (1985), Dream Evil (1987), Lock up the Wolves (1990), Strange Highways (1993), Angry Machines (1996), Magica (2000), Killing the Dragon (2002), Master of the Moon (2004).

Shop our range of official Dio band merchandise including Dio shirts and LP vinyl records.