Dio (band)

Dio
Dio (2005)
General information
Genre (s)	Heavy metal
founding	1982
resolution	2010
Website	ronniejamesdio.com
Founding members
Vocals , keyboard	Ronnie James Dio († 2010)
Drums	Vinny Appice (until 1989, 1993-2001)
guitar	Vivian Campbell (until 1986)
bass	Jimmy Bain (until 1989, 1998–2004, † 2016)
Last occupation
singing	Ronnie James Dio
guitar	Craig Goldy (1986–1989, 1998–2001, 2004–2005, from 2006)
Drums	Simon Wright (1989–1991, from 2001)
Keyboard	Scott Warren (from 1993)
bass	Rudy Sarzo (Tour 2004, from 2005)
former members
Keyboard	Claude Schnell (1984–1989)
guitar	Rowan Robertson (1989-1991)
bass	Teddy Cook (1989-1991)
Keyboard	Jens Johansson (1989-1991)
bass	Jeff Pilson (1993-1997, 2004-2005)
guitar	Tracy G (1993-1998)
bass	Larry Dennison (1997-1998)
guitar	Doug Aldrich (2001-2004, 2005-2006)
Tour and session members
bass	Chuck Garric (Tour 2000-2001)

Dio was an American heavy metal - band whose only permanent member of the rock singer Ronnie James Dio was. He formed the band with drummer Vinny Appice in October 1982 after they both left their band Black Sabbath . The band was complemented by Irish guitarist Vivian Campbell (Sweet Savage) and bassist Jimmy Bain ( Rainbow , Wild Horses).

Band history

In May 1983 they released their debut album Holy Diver , which was awarded gold on September 12, 1984 and platinum on March 21, 1989. On this album, Ronnie James Dio still played the keyboard himself, but since the band didn't want him to have to always stand behind the keyboard during concerts, they took on Claude Schnell as their permanent keyboarder in 1984.

As a quintet they released their second album The Last in Line on July 2, 1984 , which reached platinum status (over a million albums sold) before Holy Diver . A year later, on August 15, 1985, the third album Sacred Heart (Gold) was released. During the tour for this album, some live recordings were made, which were then released on Intermission in 1986 .

In 1986 Vivian Campbell was fired while on tour. He was first guitarist with Whitesnake and later with Def Leppard . He was replaced by Craig Goldy , who took part in the recordings for the fourth studio album Dream Evil (1987), before he left the band again in 1988 for the same reasons as his predecessor. The band fell apart, and in June 1989 Bain and Schnell also had to leave. In December 1989, Appice finally left. For the next album Lock Up the Wolves , Ronnie James Dio put together a new line-up. In addition to 18-year-old Rowan Robertson, Teddy Cook, Jens Johansson and Simon Wright also took part in the recordings. After that, Ronnie James Dio shut down the band for a reunion with Black Sabbath for a few months.

After only one album on Black Sabbath ( Dehumanizer ) , Ronnie James Dio reactivated his band. From the former occupation only Vinny Appice returned. For the remaining positions guitarist Tracy G , keyboardist Scott Warren and bassist Jeff Pilson were hired. The albums of the next few years -  Strange Highways (1993), Angry Machines (1996) and Inferno - Last in Live  - were controversial among fans because of their new sound. Many did not like the departure from the sound of the 1980s. Even Ronnie James Dio admitted in interviews that he was not satisfied with these albums, especially Angry Machines . For the next album he got Craig Goldy back, and Jimmy Bain also rejoined the band. Magica became more successful again and reached number 13 on the Billboard Independent Charts , which is why the concept album is also referred to as a comeback album.

During the following tours with Deep Purple through Europe and Yngwie Malmsteen and Doro through the USA, tensions arose again between the members. Goldy left the band in January 2002 and was replaced by Doug Aldrich, whom Bain met while recording a tribute album for Metallica . He recorded the ninth album Killing the Dragon with Dio and also accompanied the band on a tour with Scorpions and Deep Purple. He then moved to Whitesnake in April 2003, and Goldy came back. Shortly afterwards, Bain left the band for it.

In 2004 Dio released the tenth studio album Master of the Moon with Jeff Pilson on bass . Since Pilson had priority obligations, he was replaced by Rudy Sarzo after the recordings. In 2005 the live album Evil or Divine - Live was released in New York City , which was released on DVD in 2003. On the autumn tour 2005 Dio played two different sets, a normally mixed and one that consisted only of the songs from the debut album Holy Diver . A performance in London with the second set was recorded and released in April 2006 as a double CD Holy Diver Live .

On May 16, 2010 Ronnie James Dio died of complications from stomach cancer. This was the reason for the breakup of the band. A year later, however, the band formed again with singer Tim "Ripper" Owens and has since performed under the name Dio Disciples . In addition, the cast of the album The Last in Line (1984) was under the name Last In Line until the death of Jimmy Bain in January 2016 .

timeline

Discography

→ Main article : Dio (band) / discography

Studio albums

year	Title music label	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, music label , placements, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1983	Holy Diver Warner Bros. Records	DE52 (3 weeks) DE	-	-	UK13 silver (15 weeks)UK	US61 platinum (35 weeks)US	First published: May 25, 1983 Sales: + 1,060,000
1984	The Last in Line Vertigo Records	DE23 (12 weeks) DE	-	-	UK4th silver (14 weeks)UK	US23 platinum (35 weeks)US	First published: July 13, 1984 Sales: + 1,060,000
1985	Sacred Heart Vertigo Records	DE12 (11 weeks) DE	AT13 (4 weeks) AT	CH14 (3 weeks) CH	UK4 (6 weeks) UK	US29 gold (29 weeks)US	First published: August 15, 1985 Sales: + 500,000
1987	Dream Evil Vertigo Records	DE12 (11 weeks) DE	AT15 (8 weeks) AT	CH13 (5 weeks) CH	UK8 (5 weeks) UK	US43 (11 weeks) US	First published: July 21, 1987
1990	Lock Up the Wolves Vertigo Records	DE16 (15 weeks) DE	-	CH25 (4 weeks) CH	UK28 (3 weeks) UK	US61 (13 weeks) US	First published: May 15, 1990
1993	Strange Highways Vertigo Records	DE79 (5 weeks) DE	-	-	-	US142 (2 weeks) US	First published: October 25, 1993
1996	Angry Machines SPV / Steamhammer	DE44 1 (1 week) DE	-	-	-	-	First published: October 15, 1996
2000	Magica Spitfire Records	DE32 (4 weeks) DE	-	CH73 2 (1 week) CH	-	-	First published: March 21, 2000
2002	Killing the Dragon Spitfire Records	DE30 (5 weeks) DE	AT70 (2 weeks) AT	-	-	US199 (1 week) US	First published: May 21, 2002
2004	Master of the Moon Sanctuary Records	DE43 (2 weeks) DE	-	-	-	-	First published: September 7, 2004

¹ Angry Machines only reached the charts in Germany in 2020.

² Magica did not reach the charts in Switzerland until 2020.

Web links

• Official website
• Dio at Allmusic (English)
• Dio at Discogs (English)
• Dio on MusicBrainz (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The last saint in: ROCKS - The magazine for Classic Rock , issue 05/2018, page 27