Dio

Formed after Ronnie James Dio’s departure from Black Sabbath, Dio’s first self-titled outfit featured the considerable talents of fellow Sabbath absconder Vinny Appice on drums, alongside ex-Rainbow bassist Jimmy Bain and guitarist Vivian Campbell.

The first result of this union was the explosive debut, Holy Diver, an album so strong that it would overshadow all the releases that followed. The Last In Line and Sacred Heart weren’t exactly massive leaps away from this winning formula, though the former was a notably more streamlined effort which leant more towards the then-burgeoning speed metal movement.

Sacred Heart featured a greater use of keyboards and more ambitious songwriting.

Sadly, due to disagreements between guitarist and singer, Sacred Heart was also the last recording to feature Vivian Campbell, who later became a fixture in Def Leppard.

Ronnie Dio was born Ronald James Padavona in 1942. He passed away on 16 May 2010 of metastasised stomach cancer.

Bassist Jimmy Bain died on 24 January 2016 while in his cabin on Def Leppard‘s “Hysteria on the High Seas” cruise. He was due to perform on the cruise the following day. The performance did not go ahead. The cause of death was determined to be lung cancer. Bain had not been diagnosed with cancer and was aware only that he had pneumonia.

Ronnie James Dio
Vocals
Vivian Campbell
Guitar
Jimmy Bain
Bass
Vinny Appice
Drums
Claude Schnell
Keyboards
Craig Goldie
Guitar
Rowan Robertson
Guitar
Jens Johansson
Keyboards
Teddy Cook
Bass
Simon Wright
Drums