The tributes continue to pour in for the late Ronnie James Dio, an icon in the heavy metal world who passed away yesterday at the age of 67 due to complications from stomach cancer. Every luminary from the hard rock and metal community has come forward to pay their respects, including Slash, Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich, Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan, Slayer guitarist Kerry King, Anthrax mastermind Scott Ian and members of Slipknot, Coheed & Cambria, Megadeth, Kiss, Mötley Crüe and Dream Theater.
Many of the artists talked about the fact that Dio's influence was far and wide, and that owed to both his longevity as a performer and his versatility as a musician. He spent time in a number of different bands, each of which brought something new to the table. Born Ronald James Padavona (he chose the name "Dio" to mimic famous gangster Johnny Dio, and because "Dio" translates to "God" in Italian), he began his musical career in rockabilly bands. His most successful eventually evolved into Elf, a group that explored early hard rock and metal sounds. Upon hearing Dio's unique voice, Deep Purple guitarist Richie Blackmore recruited him for Rainbow, a sort of heavy music all-star team that put out four killer albums before disbanding because of the dreaded "creative differences."
But that allowed Dio to join Black Sabbath. With the knowledge that Ozzy Osbourne had left the band to fly solo, Dio slid in there and produced two classic albums with the band (1980's Heaven and Hell and 1981's Mob Rules). (He later came back in 1992 to record the mostly forgettable Dehumanizer.) However, his solo career as the central member of Dio was star-studded and consistently excellent for the remainder of his life. His 1983 album Holy Diver remains a definitive entry in metal history, but many of the Dio albums — especially 1987's Dream Evil and 1996's Angry Machines — contain great swaths of excellence.
Though the actual history has been repeatedly debated, Dio will be remembered as the guy who popularized the "metal horns" sign flashed at every heavy show since 1978. He borrowed it from his grandmother, who used it to give the "evil eye" to would-be transgressors. If nothing else, he will be immortalized with this image.
