Musci left the band in 1960 and a new guitarist, Dick Botoff, joined the lineup. In 1958, the band again changed its name to Ronnie and the Redcaps. The band changed its name to Ronnie and the Rumblers. The group's lineup consisted of Dio on bass guitar, Billy DeWolfe on lead vocals, Nick Pantas on guitar, Tom Rogers on drums and Jack Musci on saxophone. Career Early career ĭio's musical career began in 1957, when he and several Cortland, New York, musicians formed the band The Vegas Kings. He instead attributed his singing ability to the use of breathing techniques he learned while playing trumpet. ĭespite being known for his powerful singing voice, Padavona claimed to have never received any vocal training. In a 2000 interview, he stated that he majored in history and minored in English. Then he enrolled at Cortland State College but dropped out as well. There, he played trumpet in the university's concert band however, he only attended the university from 1960 to 1961 and did not graduate. He instead attended the University at Buffalo to major in pharmacology. He was allegedly offered a scholarship to the prestigious Juilliard School of Music but did not take up the offer due to his interest in rock music. Padavona graduated from Cortland High School in 1960. Though Padavona began his rock 'n' roll career on trumpet, he added singing to his skill set and also assumed bass guitar duties for the groups. It was also during high school that Padavona formed his first rock 'n' roll group, The Vegas Kings, which would later be named Ronnie and the Rumblers and then Ronnie and the Red Caps. Padavona participated in his high school's band program and was one of the youngest members selected to play in the school's official dance band. His first formal musical training began at age 5, learning to play the trumpet. Padavona listened to a great deal of opera while growing up and was influenced vocally by American tenor Mario Lanza. Army during World War II, and they resided there for only a short time before returning to Cortland. His family moved to Portsmouth from Cortland as part of his father's service in the U.S. Ronnie James 'Dio' Padavona was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to Italian-American parents Patrick and Anna from Cortland, New York. He was also named the 'Best Metal Singer' at the Revolver Golden Gods Awards in 2010 and ranked as the genre's best vocalist in 2013 by music journalist Sacha Jenkins. He was awarded the 'Metal Guru Award' by Classic Rock Magazine in 2006. Dio had a powerful, versatile vocal range and was capable of singing both hard rock and lighter ballads. According to a version provided by the singer himself, the act derives directly from the classic Italian apotropaic gesture, which his grandmother often displayed. He is known for popularizing the ' devil horns' hand gesture in metal culture and his medieval-themed song lyrics. In November 2009, Dio was diagnosed with stomach cancer and died of the disease six months later.ĭio is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential heavy metal vocalists of all time. In 2006, he founded the band Heaven & Hell with ex-bandmate Tony Iommi.

In 1982, he left to form the band Dio, which itself had two albums certified platinum by the RIAA. In 1979, Dio replaced Ozzy Osbourne as Black Sabbath's lead singer and appeared on three studio albums with the band, all three of which were met with success: Heaven & Hell (1980), Mob Rules (1981) and Dehumanizer (1992). Dio quickly emerged as one of heavy rock's pre-eminent vocalists. In 1975, Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore founded the band Rainbow and hired Dio to be the lead singer during his tenure, the band released three studio albums. In 1967, he formed the rock band Elf, which became a regular opening act for Deep Purple. Dio's music career began in 1957 as part of the Vegas Kings (later Ronnie and the Rumblers). The family returned to Cortland when Dio was very young, and he lived there until graduating from high school in 1960. Though his parents were from Cortland, New York, Dio was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where his family resided for his father's service in the U.S. He fronted and founded numerous bands throughout his career, including Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Dio and Heaven & Hell. Ronald James Padavona (J– May 16, 2010), known professionally as Ronnie James Dio, was an American heavy metal singer.

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