Metal Mayhem: Ronnie James Dio, Ten Best Performances

Hello everybody,

For today's post, I will examine the ten best performances by metal icon Ronnie James Dio.

Dio's career spanned five decades working with such acts as Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath/Heaven & Hell, and he had a successful solo career. He was known as having one of the most powerful voices in music history. In addition, he was equally famous for the introduction of "metal horns" into the metal culture while he was the vocalist for Black Sabbath. On a personal note, Ronnie James Dio was one of my favorite performers and I regret never having seen him in concert.

While Dio had a wonderful solo career, and his work with Rainbow was epic, it was his time with Black Sabbath . . . later Heaven & Hell that was momentous. Due to issues with drugs and alcohol, Black Sabbath fired their longtime vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. That said, the last few albums that Sabbath released with Ozzy were terrible. Technical Ecstasy and Never Say Die! were simply horrible and uninspiring. Late in 1979, Sabbath hired Ronnie James Dio to replace the legendary Ozzy Osbourne. When Ronnie James Dio took the over on vocals, he essentially helped reinvented the stagnant Sabbath. Despite the drastic different vocal style, the combination of Dio's powerful voice with the gritty heaviness of Sabbath created a perfect power quartet. Longtime drummer Bill Ward, who could not get over Ozzy not being in the band, quit the band, and was subsequently replaced by Vinny Appice.

This set the stage for Sabbath's second classic lineup: Ronnie James Dio, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Vinny Appice. This lineup would release four classic albums: Heaven and Hell (1980), Mob Rules (1981), Dehumanizer (1992), and, as Heaven & Hell, The Devil You Know (2009).

In addition to being a tremendous vocalist, Ronnie James Dio was a wonderful human being. With the success of Band Aid's Do They Know Its Christmas? and USA for Africa's We Are the World, and noticing the lack of participation of hard rock and metal stars, Dio co-wrote the song Stars for a one-time project called Hear' n Aid. Uniting many stars of metal, this project was able to raise over one million dollars to aid in famine relief in Africa.

The Last album release by Ronnie James Dio was The Devil You Know with Heaven & Hell, and was one of his best efforts of his long and prestigious career. On one of his last public appearances, Dio accepted the Best Metal Singer award at Revolver's Golden Gods Awards in 2010. At 67 years old, he was the oldest recipient to have won the award. The last song that he recorded was a wonderful rock anthem simply titled, Metal Will Never Die which was made available late in 2010.

Sadly, Ronnie James Dio passed away on May 16, 2010 as a result of complications of stomach cancer.

As a way to honor the great legacy of this metal icon, here are the top ten performances (in no particular order) by Ronnie James Dio.

10. Black Sabbath, Heaven and Hell