Dio has rocked for a long, long time
Now it's time to pass the torch
He has songs of wildebeests and danger
He has soared on the wings of a demon
--Tenacious D, Dio

Born Ronald Padavona, on July 10, 1940 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
Not long after Ronnie's birth, his family moved to Cortland, NY. His first band was The Vegas Kings, in which Ronnie played bass, trumpet, and sang on a few songs. The band went through several name changes. The Vegas Kings to Ronnie & The Rumblers and finally to Ronnie and the Red Caps. In 1958 Ronnie and the Red Caps released a single called Conquest, with Lover being the B Side. After the first single, they released another 7 inch called An Angel is Missing, with What'd I Say as the B Side.

In 1961 Ronnie and the Red Caps went through another name change and became Ronnie Dio and the Prophets. As Ronnie Dio and the Prophets they produced ten singles and one full length album entitled Dio at Domino's. The band ended in 1967 when Ronnie and Nick Pantas (the Prophet's guitarist) left to form The Electric Elves.

The Electric Elves didn't last to long, as they shortened the name to just The Elves. The Elves recorded on single, but didn't last long. In 1970 the entire band was involved in a car wreck that killed Nick Pantas. Some of the remaining members went on to form Elf. Elf played in various clubs and bars until they were spotted by Roger Glover and Ian Paice of Deep Purple, who offered to produce an album for them. The album was simply called Elf, and from that went on to open for Deep Purple on two tours, both in 1972.

Following the tour, Elf signed a recording contract with MGM Records. It was called Carlolina Country Ball and released in 1973 and once again the band left to tour with Deep Purple. After returning from the tour Ronnie recorded Black Sheep of the Family with then Deep Purple guitar player Ritchie Blackmore. The song was not included on Elf's next album Trying to Burn the Sun, but a slightly different version was released on Rainbow's first album. An interesting not about Trying to Burn the Sun: it was the first album to credit Ronnie as Ronnie James Dio. Unfortunately, the band broke up before the album was even released.

As soon as Elf split up Ronnie, four members of Elf, and Ritchie Blackmore moved to California to form Rainbow. They recorded an album which was released in 1975. The album was called Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow in the hope it would increase sales, but eventually everyone was embarrased about the name and it was shortened to just Rainbow. Rainbow released one more album called Rising in 1976. However, Rainbow went through numerous line-up changes before Ritchie Blackmore decided to fire everyone in the band, including Ronnie. After Rainbow, Ronnie considered a solo career, but soon decided not to when he was asked by Tony Iommi to join Black Sabbath.

Ronnie visited Tony Iommi's home and wrote Children of the Sea in one night. He was immediatly given the position of lead vocals. They went on to record Heaven and Hell which was released in 1980. Ronnie continued on with Black Sabbath recording Mob Rules, and Live Evil. Ronnie left Black Sabbath in 1982, but later returned for a one-album reunion in 1991 to record Dehumanizer. Ronnie said it would be a one album reunion, and it was. He immediatly left band as soon as his contract ran out.

After he left Black Sabbath in 1982 Ronnie moved back to England with Vinny Appice to form Dio, a project they had been thinking about for a long time. After recruiting Vivian Campbell to play guitar and Jimmy Bain to play bass and keyboards, they recorded a demo which included Holy Diver and Don't Talk to Strangers. The album was soon finished and released in 1982 and titled Holy Diver.

Ronnie James Dio continues to record, tour, and sing for Dio. He has also worked on numerous side projects, many of them charity albums to help raise money for various causes.