Ronnie James Dio

Ronnie James Dio (Ronald James Padavona b. July 10, 1942(Ronnie says 1949)) was born in Portsmouth, NH in a family of Italian heritage. The family moved to Cortland, New York early on in Ronnies life. Dio is a Heavy Metal vocalist who has performed with Black Sabbath, Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, and his own band Dio. Other musical projects include the collective fundraiser Hear 'n Aid and his band immediately before Rainbow, Elf. He is renowned for his consistently powerful voice and for popularizing the 'horns' hand gesture in heavy metal culture (formed by closing the thumb over the middle and ring fingers, while having the index and little-finger extended). Ronnie said that his grandmother used to make the hand gesture to ward off the evil eye.

Discography

With Elf

• Elf (1972)
• Carolina County Ball (1974)
• Trying To Burn The Sun (1975}

With Rainbow

• Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow (1975)
• Rising (1976)
• On Stage (1977)
• Long Live Rock 'N' Roll (1978)
• Live In Germany 76' (1990)

With Black Sabbath

• Heaven and Hell (1980)
• The Mob Rules (1981)
• Live Evil (1982)
• Dehumanizer (1992)

With Dio

• Holy Diver (1983)
• The Last in Line (1984)
• Sacred Heart (1985)
• Intermission (1986)
• Dream Evil (1987)
• Lock up the Wolves (1990)
• ' (1992)
• Strange Highways (1994)
• Angry Machines (1996)
• ' (1998)
• Magica (2000)
• Killing the Dragon (2002)
• Evil or Divine (DVD) (2003)
• Master of the Moon (2004)
• Evil Or Divine - Live in NYC (2005)