Talk:Ronnie James Dio

born

Ronnie James Dio was born in 1925!!!And not 1949...

That's open for some debate, as the article mentions. Ronnie's year of birth is likely known only to Ronnie. Even 1925 seems a bit late given his early work with the Vegas Kings.

What? Do you mean that he's 82 years old? Yes, very funny ... I've seen him live with Heaven & Hell supporting Metallica this year, and he didn't seem THAT old. :-D why couldn't he still have been a teenager when he joined the Vegas Kings? In fact, I'd be surprised if he hadn't been playing in his first band before fifteen or sixteen. Christoph.W 13:49, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

I have no idea when he was actually born, but on the interview portion of the Sacred Heart DVD he definitely looks aged. However, I remember an early-1982 Circus magazine story on Black Sabbath when both he and Vinnie Appice were members that said he was 33.--MarshallStack 04:11, 24 October 2005 (UTC)

Its not possible-im from cortland and they have his picture of him graduating in 1960- so you obviously have 2 be wrong. 1949 would be a bit late also but not 1925

If he was 18 at graduation 1942 would logically be his birth year. Could you provide a link to this graduation photo?--MarshallStack 05:20, 28 October 2005 (UTC)

It occurs to me that these stories could all be true. Dio could have dropped out of school to form bands in the '50s (The Vegas Kings are always described as a '50s era band), gone back to school, graduated in 1960, gotten that pharmacy degree, and then jumped back into music in the mid-to-late '60s with the bands that eventually became Elf. That would also explain the dark period in his career following the Vegas Kings. --Llewdor 19:34, 14 December 2005 (UTC)

The April 7, 1978 Connecticut record for his marriage to Wendy V Gaxiola lists his age as 35. Questors 00:21, 31 December 2005 (UTC)

I think that settles it, then. That's an actual official document that pins his birth year at 1942 (which also agrees with his 1960 graduation photo). --Llewdor 22:59, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

Now I've heard that Ronnie was born in 1935 or 1936. He's definitely about 70 years old now, but as far as I know he was a lot older than the guys in Black Sabbath when he joined as the vocalist. He began his career in the 1950s so you can't rule out 30's birth date. If he was born in 1942, that's ok conjecture, but how the fuck he came to have a singing carer in the 50s?

1925 is ridiculous. Going on tour at the age of 81 seems unlikely. I am going to change the year on the main page to 1942. I have found a source that says he started singing as early as 1958 so he would be 16. [1] --supereddy 17:21, 29 March 2007 (GMT)

I live in Japan and was listening to a weekly rock radio program one night a few years back and the dj or guest of that show was a famous Japanese rock journalist called Koh Sakai. They were discusing Ronnie's age, and Koh who is a big Ronnie fan and friend, said that he once saw Ronnie's passport and saw the year 1942 as his year of birth. I don't remember if he secretly looked at his passport or Ronnie let him look at it, but he said for sure it was 1942. I would say a passport is usually 100% accurate. Don't know if he should have shared that over the air but he did. So I would say 1942 is his year of birth NO DOUBT ABOUT IT.

On all music guide it says 1949 so i personally think thats correct but who knows?Zakkman (talk) 05:49, 16 March 2008 (UTC)

It looks like he is in his 40's in the 1980's videos called "Last In Line" and "Holy Diver" —Preceding unsigned comment added by 121.97.179.84 (talk) 22:02, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

In an interview in Metal Hammer magazine (Nov 2004) Dio states that he was born in 1942, which makes perfect sense with his known musical career. I don't know why people are bothering to repeat rumors and guesses. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.230.114.253 (talk) 19:08, 2 April 2009 (UTC)

Juilliard/Pharmacy education?

I have read in various sources that RJD is a graduate of Juilliard and he received much of his trumpet and vocal training there. I also remember a 1983 interview in Hit Parader magazine around the release of "Holy Diver" that said he earned a pharmacy degree.--MarshallStack 05:20, 28 October 2005 (UTC)

On both points, I've found many sources online placing Ronnie's birth year anywhere from 1937 to 1949. The sources listing a later year tend to say Ronnie dropped out of school to join bands, with the earlier sources typically listing significant formal education (including a pharmacy degree). I really should track down those sources. --Llewdor 00:53, 18 November 2005 (UTC)

Ronnie's family

I replaced my earlier addendum about Ronnie's adopted son, Dan(ny) Padavona (check out the many Dio fan pages on the Net for information about this) but put it under a separate section along with his current wife/manager, Wendy.

I heard somewhere that Dio is related to Gen Padova (porn actress) somehow.. Correct?

Corrected a couple of mistypings: his (and his son's) name is "Padovano" and not "Padavona" 151.50.127.2 18:23, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

Actually, it is Padavona : [2], [3], [4], etc. IronChris | (talk) 18:57, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

I changed the location where Ronnie's son works as a Meteorologist from Buffalo, NY to Binghamton, NY. Some Googling revealed multiple newspaper articles that quote him and repeatedly mention that he works for the National Weather Service in Binghamton, NY. Zeppelined 19:41, 15 December 2006 (UTC)

Five octave range? bahahahahahhaha

Oh my gosh, I can't believe this article actually says DIO has a FIVE OCTAVE RANGE! LMFAO! Was that a typo? I hope so! He was never a high range vocalist. Power is his strong point. Seriously, his range is more like three octaves at the very most... I don't even think it's possible for a male vocalist to have a five octave range even in falsetto... Except for maybe Adam Lopez in whistle register. Malmsteen Maiden 07:05, 15 December 2005 (UTC)

By what standard does one measure a vocalist's range, unless that one is a voice teacher? Just because RJD does not often use his upper range (with some exceptions on Rainbow's live albums and Black Sabbath's "Live Evil") doesn't mean he doesn't have it. Incidentally, I have heard similar claims made of the ranges of Ian Gillan (Deep Purple/Gillan/Black Sabbath), Geoff Tate (Queensryche), Eric Adams (Manowar), and Pat Benatar, though she is, of course, female (and operatically-trained). Similar assessments could be made of former Zebra vocalist Randy Jackson and Mercyful Fate/King Diamond vocalist King Diamond (though both of those mostly used extreme falsetto).--MarshallStack 05:23, 19 December 2005 (UTC)

If he doesn't record his range to the maximum potential how are we supposed to know he has it? Unless there are recordings to support this outrageous claim that he has five octaves, it should not be on the article. I've never, ever heard of Dio having a five octave range, so if he does have a five octave range, awesome. Oh, and my sort of friend who has been studying singing for the past eight years and has gone on multiple tours told me that Dio has around three octaves. And I have another friend who can do really high falsetto stuff (I swear, this kid is like the next Halford or Dickinson) and is a really competitive singer and also studies singing, and he said Dio having a five octave range is BS. Malmsteen Maiden 15:10, 19 December 2005 (UTC)

I've heard female singers described as having a five-octave range (Whitney Houston's mother springs to mind), but it is quite rare. And while I can imagine it's true of some male singers (particularly of those with an extreme low or high register, like Johnny Cash or Rob Halford, respectively), it has to be extremely uncommon. That said, Ronnie can hit some really high notes. This can be heard in songs like Die Young or Happy. The real question is, can he sing anything terribly low? --Llewdor 20:12, 20 December 2005 (UTC)

And now I get to answer my own question. I've recently come into possession of some very old Dio recordings, and in I Left My Heart in San Francisco recorded by Ronnie & the Prophets, Ronnie struggles to reach some of the lower notes. Ronnie appears to be a solid Tenor, with perhaps a bit of extra range at the top end. --Llewdor 17:08, 21 December 2005 (UTC)

"I Left My Heart In San Francisco" as sung by a very young (how young is anyone's guess) RJD...wow. I have an ancient cassette of Elf's "Trying To Burn The Sun" and that sounded off-the-wall (kind of like southern boogie) to me. Then again, I was introduced to the guy with Black Sabbath's "Heaven And Hell".--MarshallStack 22:27, 24 December 2005 (UTC)

Well, if Dio has a five octave range, then Tate, Dickinson, Halford, and probably Allen must have six plus octaves. Sounds like crazy talk, to me. Malmsteen Maiden 01:07, 22 December 2005 (UTC)

I don't see the point in bitching about it...the guy's a great singer and that's all there is to it as far as I'm concerned. Also, Dio is one of the only vocalists I've ever seen live who can sound as good or better than he does on record - about the only other ones I've seen live who can do that are Geoff Tate and Rob Halford. Later Sabbath vocalist Tony Martin sounded good live, but he also had a cold that night and apologised for it. Ian Gillan sounded horrible when I saw him with Deep Purple in '87. Dio can sing. Good enough for me.--MarshallStack 22:24, 24 December 2005 (UTC)

I'm just pointing out the bogus information in an article that's supposed to be factual. Dio is one of my favorite singers, too. Malmsteen Maiden 03:24, 25 December 2005 (UTC)

You're free to delete it if you don't think it's factual. I didn't put it in as I'm not a singer and my only concept of octaves is along the guitar neck or a keyboard instrument.--MarshallStack 07:08, 27 December 2005 (UTC)

I removed the claim since it is obviously BS. 5½ octaves would span everything from sepulchar sub-contra notes to earsplittingly high shrieks. Even mighty Ivan Rebroff "only" has a range of 4½ octaves. SirWoland 19:20, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

Someone's put it back...--MarshallStack 06:06, 23 February 2006 (UTC)

I do have the highest note I've ever heard Ronnie sing and I'll tell you it's most likely higher than anything Halford, Dickinson or Tate hit. If Interested in hearing it I'll send it too you. Give me your email if you'd like to hear it. --RandyRhoadsRonnieDio

The idea of Ronnie having a high octave range is almost out of the question. I've listened to a lot of his work (Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Dio) and must say that he strikes me as being one of the greatest metal singers WITHOUT a wide range. His vocals are actually that powerful, that it sounds like he has a large range, but in reality, he actually doesn't. I can never recall hearing him hit anything higher than a A5 (that being falsetto, the highest full voice note being an E5), or anything lower than a D3. Even the notes in "Die Young" only go up to a Bb4, it just sounds higher because of the way he sings it. There are also some relatively high notes at the end of "Catch the Rainbow", but they're hummed in falsetto, so it really doesn't count for that much. If I'm seriously missing something and he actually goes way higher than that or something, someone please tell me, because to me, there's no way in hell Ronnie could possibly have a 5 octave range.

If you want to hear someone with a (nearly) 5 octave range, listen to David Lee Roth. I know that sounds surprising, but he seriously has a range from G1-Eb6. I even have the proof to back it up. Listen to this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44hMCwGjeEk

And for the record, the highest note Halford ever hit was a B5. The highest note Tate ever hit was an A5. Dickinson can only go up to F#5 in full voice, but can go up to B5 in falsetto. I've heard Ronnie hit an A5 in falsetto, but that's it, nothing beyond an E5 in full voice. I can't help but highly doubt that Ronnie's highest note was higher than any of those.

--Rock Soldier (talk) 01:45, 12 January 2009 (UTC)

RJD most certainly is not a five octive vocalist. So that should be put completely to rest. A five octive vocal range is extremely rare if not a total myth. He would need to be able to sing the entire Bass range well into Soprano. True Bass vocalists are very rare and Dio certainly does not have that type of low end. My guess from listening to him is he is three octives which is a very well trained vocalist.

Graham Bonnet edit

I changed the information about Graham Bonnet to note that he is British/Australian. He was born in Lincolnshire, UK but has spent much of his professional career in Australia.

WHISTLE REGISTER?!

Why would anyone who has listened to Dio's singing think he belongs in the category of "whistle register" singers?! Very rarely does he go for the higher end of the vocal spectrum, at least not with his recorded work (including live recordings) in Elf, Rainbow, Sabbath and his solo material. I would call "whistle register" vocalists like King Diamond, early Geddy Lee (his voice has dropped quite a bit over the years), Rik Emmett, Geoff Tate, in some cases Ian Gillan ("Child In Time" especially), Freddie Mercury (sometimes), Steve Perry, Rob Halford, Doro Pesch, and probably the ultimate (in my opinion), Randy Jackson from '80s band Zebra (his voice was so high and falsetto I found it grating and unlistenable). I find it very hard to categorise RJD in with these.--MarshallStack 06:06, 23 February 2006 (UTC)

Geoff Tate at this Song

http://www.youtube.com/player.swf?video_id=CoINxEWhYKI&l=279

Estimatewise he has 3.5 Octaves displayed here.

Thumb amputation

Dio did manage to cut off his thumb as there was speculation as if it was true or not. Here is the article http://www.roadrun.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=15570

Can you find a more credible source? A site like that could just as easily be an April Fool's joke. But if you can find a "real" article about it, I'd support the Wikipedia addition. --Elonka 03:29, 2 April 2006 (UTC)

If you look at the date the article was posted it is clearly not an April Fool's joke. The date reads as September 30 2003 so therefor it would highly unlikley that this would have been a joke.

Kerry Livgren

I have added Dio's guest vocals on former Kansas guitarist/keyboardist Kerry Livgren's 1980 solo album, Seeds Of Change. I believe he did this between his stints with Rainbow and Sabbath. He sang on two songs, "Mask Of The Great Deceiver" and "To Live For The King". I've heard them and they're good, kind of like a cross between Rainbow and Kansas, but not as heavy as Sabbath. Not sure if he wrote the lyrics, though they certainly use some of his trademark imagery. As many know, Livgren is a Christian and the lyrics on the album reflect this. RJD has claimed he didn't know it was a "Christian" album and he was just doing it as a favour to Livgren, who had seen him perform with Rainbow and said "someday I'm going to work with that singer!" This is unlikely, though, and could be just another attempt by RJD to keep people guessing about his beliefs...just as with his age!

It was controversial, though, given that Livgren now performs exclusively Christian-orientated music and some Christians perceive RJD to be "satanic".

I remember reading in "Hit Parader" around the time of Holy Diver that, after leaving Sabbath, RJD had again considered working with Livgren.--MarshallStack 03:31, 13 April 2006 (UTC)

Merge

I agree that Wendy Dio's article should be merged into Ronnie James Dio. The publicly-available information about her does not appear to meet the guidelines of Wikipedia:Notability (people), in order to support an independent article about her. Unless other biographies or accomplishments can be documented, the articles should be merged. --Elonka 06:10, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

I agree. IronChris | (talk) 22:06, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

I heard somewhere that this guy is like 4'0 feet

is that true? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 66.154.192.129 (talk • contribs) .

Ronnie James Dio is between 5'3" and 5'5"--MarshallStack 05:57, 26 May 2006 (UTC)

I can vouch for him not being abnormally short or a dwarf, I've met him personally. He's just a little taller than my mother, who is 5'3".TurtleofXanth 01:59, 3 April 2007 (UTC)

Divorce

I deleted the sentence about Ronnie and Wendy no longer married. I have not been able to find any information about this anywhere, in print or on the Internet.--MarshallStack 17:44, 1 September 2006 (UTC)

Adding a pic?

I really want to add this picture somewhere, either to the DIO band page or to RJD's page here. I think it's truly a great picture - taken by me from the October 2004 show here in Atlanta, GA at the Masquerade. They basically performed the Sacred Heart DVD; really great show. The picture was taken while they played "Sign of the Southern Cross" which is a Black Sabbath song, I suppose, but the pic shows the "devil horns" which are pretty famous. So anyway, here it is. Beermotor 16:16, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

Dio Rocks

Vandalism

The page needs to be restored with the correct or close as possible correct dates in the last couple of paragraphs.TurtleofXanth 01:48, 3 April 2007 (UTC) I'm going to go ahead and restore it.TurtleofXanth 01:50, 3 April 2007 (UTC)

AGE CONTROVERSY

This controversy is a joke. My uncle went to Cortland High School with him. Class of 1960. They were born in 1942. End of story. John celona 13:54, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

That's absolutely correct. He graduated with my cousin in 1960.

Yeah, well, I went to high school with Ronnie, class of 1967. We were born in 1949. End of story. 76.178.95.219 22:39, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

 67?  I graduated with him in in 63.  Gees he was a funny bloke at school.  Abit short though.

Is the age controversy really all that important? It's currently the longest section of Dio's article... seems a little silly to have the most detail on that for such an accomplished singer. I say remove the whole "controversy" thing entirely. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.146.216.193 (talk) 22:07, 8 February 2008 (UTC)

Band timeline

Is the band timeline really necessary if more or less the same information is listed in the infobox?

--Rock Soldier 21:31, 1 November 2007 (UTC)

The infobox contains a summary of the most prominent acts he has been involved in, whereas the band timeline section is more complete. – B.hotep ^u/_t• 21:59, 1 November 2007 (UTC)

If that's the way it is, shouldn't the years be removed from the infobox to save a bit of room?

--Rock Soldier 20:51, 5 November 2007 (UTC)

I would say you have a very good point there, sir. – B.hotep ^u/_t• 20:53, 5 November 2007 (UTC)

Deep Purple

I remember someone telling me years ago that Ronnie James Dio had been a member of Deep Purple, but from what I've read, it sounds like he only guested with the band live, rather than had been an official member. Maybe I'd misunderstood what that person had told me, or maybe that person was mistaken. Anyone here an expert on Deep Purple, who could straighten this out? Maybe something about this could be mentioned in the article? Gringo300 (talk) 17:50, 22 November 2008 (UTC)

Nope, Dio was never a member of Deep Purple. With Elf, he opened for DP at live shows for a while. When Ritchie Blackmore left DP in 1975, he brought Elf into the studio as a session band to record Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow. For the following album, Rising, Blackmore fired everybody except Dio and recruited the first Rainbow lineup. --Cubs Fan ^(Talk) 22:16, 22 November 2008 (UTC)

From what I've heard, the Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow album featured everybody from the final Elf line-up EXCEPT guitarist Steve Edwards. So basically, Ritchie Blackmore replaced Steve Edwards in Elf, and changed the band's name from Elf to Rainbow. The first Elf album (the only one I have, so far) has guitarist David Feinstein instead of Steve Edwards. Gringo300 (talk) 21:39, 24 November 2008 (UTC)

Karate

I removed this sentence: By the time Ronnie got to college age - it was clear he was tip top at Karate. He was short, but that seemed to be no impediment.

Not sure if it is graffiti or not, it certainly appears to be. DFS (talk) 05:16, 8 March 2009 (UTC)