Though rarely held in the same light as many of the other metal titans of the eighties, Ronnie James Dio's self titled solo band is one of the most influential metals bands, especially to the genre of Power Metal. Known for his massive voice, by far one of the greatest in metal, which inexplicably came from one of the tiniest men to take up music. For quite some time, Dio was also a major arena draw with unforgettable stage presence and antics.
Dio himself was taken from relative obscurity when ex Deep Purple guitar god Ritchie Blackmore formed the band Rainbow with him. After three classic albums, Dio chose to part ways with Ritchie due to both of the mens' massive egos. Rainbow would later degenerate into a pop band before Blackmore would reconcile with his DP bandmates.
The singer moved from big to bigger, however when he chose to fill the shoes recently vacated by the iconic Ozzy Osbourn as frontman of Black Sabbath. With Sabbath he would release two albums, Heaven and Hell (regarded as one of the bands all time best) and Mob Rules (a strong effort b...more
