The legendary band Dio entered the history of rock as one of the best representatives of the guitar community of the 1980s of the last century. The vocalist and founder of the band will forever remain an icon of style and a trendsetter in the image of a rocker in the hearts of millions of fans of the band's work around the world. There have been many ups and downs in the band's history. However, until now, connoisseurs of classic hard rock are happy to listen to his eternal hits.
Creation of the Dio Collective
Internal divisions within the Black Sabbath team in 1982 led to the breakup of the original lineup. Ronnie James Dio left the group, persuading drummer Vinnie Appisi to create a new band that meets the requirements of the musicians. To search for like-minded people, friends went to England.
Soon the guys were joined by bassist Jimmy Bain, with whom Ronnie worked as part of the Rainbow band. Jace I Li was chosen as the guitarist. However, the cunning and perspicacious Ozzy, after lengthy negotiations, lured the musician to join his group. As a result, the vacant seat was taken by a young and unknown to the general public, Vivian Campbell.
With difficulty, the assembled line-up began exhausting rehearsals, the result of which was the release of the band's debut album Holy Diver. The work immediately took a leading position in the popular charts. Thanks to this, the leader of the group received the title of "Best Vocalist of the Year". And the tracks from the album were recognized as real classics of rock.
The vacant position of the keyboard player, whose parts were recorded by Ronnie, was later taken by Claude Schnell, who was hidden from the audience behind a screen at concert performances. The next studio album, The Last in Line, was released on July 2, 1984. The band then went on tour across the states to support the sales of the album.
A year later, on August 15, 1985, Sacred Heart was released. Tracks for this album were written on the knee, during tours. This did not prevent several compositions from achieving serious success and becoming hits that “fans” listen to even after many years.
Difficulties and successes of the group Dio
In the team in 1986 there were disagreements because of the vision of the further development of the group. Vivian decided to leave the line-up and soon joined Witesnake. His place was taken by Craig Goldie, with whose participation the fourth studio album Dream Evel was recorded. Not agreeing on opinions and tastes with the leader of the team, Goldie left the group in 1988.
In 1989, Ronnie invited Rowen Robrtson, who had just turned 18, to join the team. Jimmy Bain and Claude Schnell left in response to this passage. The last of the "oldies" in December of the same year disconnected Vinnie Appisi. After a series of auditions, Teddy Cook, Jens Johansson and Simon Wright were accepted as the leader. With the new line-up, another album, Lock Up the Wolves, was recorded.
Leaving the founder's group
In the same year, Ronnie made the unexpected decision to return to his native Black Sabbath band. However, the return was short-lived. Together with the group, they released only one CD Dehumanizer. The next transition to his own project was accompanied by an old friend Vinnie Appisi.
The new line-up of the band included Scott Warren (keyboardist), Tracy G (guitarist) and Jeff Pilson (bassist). The sound of the group has changed a lot, becoming more meaningful and modern, which the critics and numerous "fans" of the group did not really like. Albums Strange Highways (1994) and Angry Machines (1996) were received very cool.
1999 in the history of the band was marked by the first visit to Russia, during which concerts were held in Moscow and St. Petersburg. They gathered a significant number of fans of the group's work.
The next studio work Magica appeared in 2000 and was marked by the return of Craig Goldy to the band. The band's sound returned to the legendary sound of the 1980s. This had a positive effect on the success of the work, which took a leading position in the world charts. However, the musicians could not get along together for a long time, and creative differences reappeared in the team.
The album Killing the Dragon was released in 2002 to positive reviews from heavy music fans. The composition of the team has changed over the years. The musicians either left the group or returned with new hopes to record another track or album. After recording Master of the Moon in 2004, the band embarked on a lengthy tour.
The decline of the popularity of the group Dio
In 2005, an album was released, recorded from the materials of the band's performances in 2002. According to the leader of the group, this is the easiest work he has ever created. After that, it was time to tour again, which took place in big cities around the world. There is another recording made on a late tour in London venues, Holy Diver Live, which was released on DVD in late 2006.
In the same year, Ronnie and several colleagues from the group became interested in the new project Heaven & Hell. As a result, the activities of the Dio group stopped. Musicians sometimes gather with the original line-up to remember the old days and give a few concerts. However, this can no longer be called a full-fledged life of the group. Each of the founders is passionate about other projects and experiments, developing personally interesting directions in rock music.
The final date of the breakup of the group was a sad event. Previously diagnosed stomach cancer in Ronnie led to a serious illness. He passed away on May 16, 2010. No one dared to take over the development of the legendary group. The group will forever remain in history as a bold experiment of a talented musician and vocalist, who was recognized as a legend of heavy music.
