Dio is a heavy metal band formed by big-voiced Ronnie James Dio, in 1982, after his stint with Black Sabbath. The original line-up was Dio with Vinny Appice (drums), Vivian Campbell (guitar), and Jimmy Bain (bass). Claude Schnell was brought in after the first album so that Dio could be released from keyboard duties to concentrate on vocals.
Their first three records were released in yearly succession, starting with 1983's Holy Diver and followed by The Last in Line and Sacred Heart. The first two achieved platinum sales, making those albums their most successful to date.
Future releases were dogged by line-up changes, and after Lock up the Wolves in 1990 the band split for a while, during which Dio and Appice indulged a brief reunion with Black Sabbath. The return of Dio and Appice marked a change to a more commercial, modern sound and albums of this period (Strange Highways (1994), Angry Machines (1996)) are considered to be his best, or his worst, amongst fans.
Magica (2000) was a return to the Dio of old and reached No.13 on the Billboard Independent charts. Dio marched on, with a steady progression of band members and albums until, in 2007, it was announced that Black Sabbath would reunite again, which may delay any further Dio albums until the end of that tour.
Sadly Ronnie James Dio -- the man who had popularized the devil's horn salute -- passed away on May 16 2010, at the age of 67. For some of his fans, this marked the end of an era, and they felt that his contribution to the world of rock would be missed, but never forgotten.
