Friday 7/10/2020 4pm ET: Feature Artist – Ronnie James Dio

Ronald James Padavona (July 10, 1942 – May 16, 2010), known professionally as Ronnie James Dio or simply Dio, was an American heavy metal singer-songwriter and composer, and was also known for popularizing the sign of the horns in heavy metal. He fronted or founded numerous groups throughout his career, including Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Dio, and Heaven & Hell.

Though his parents were from Cortland, New York, Dio was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where his family resided for his father’s service in the U.S. Army during World War II; they soon returned to Cortland. Dio’s music career began there in 1957 as part of the Vegas Kings (later Ronnie and the Rumblers). In 1967, he formed the rock band Elf, which became a regular opening act for Deep Purple. In 1975, Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore founded the band Rainbow and hired Dio to be his lead singer where the band released three studio albums. Dio quickly emerged as one of heavy rock’s pre-eminent vocalists. In 1979, Dio replaced Ozzy Osbourne as Black Sabbath’s lead singer and appeared on three studio albums with the band which met with success: Heaven & Hell (1980), Mob Rules (1981) and Dehumanizer (1992). In 1982, he left the band to form the band Dio, with two albums certified platinum by RIAA. In 2006, he founded the band Heaven & Hell with ex-bandmate Tony Iommi. Dio was diagnosed with stomach cancer in 2009, from which he died the following year.

Dio is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential heavy metal artists of all time. He is known for popularizing the “Metal Horns” hand gesture in metal culture and his medieval-themed song lyrics. According to a version provided by the singer himself, the act derives directly from the classic Italian apotropaic gesture, which his grandmother usually did. Dio had a powerful, versatile vocal range and was capable of singing both hard rock and lighter ballads. He was awarded the “Metal Guru Award” by Classic Rock Magazine in 2006. He was also named the “Best Metal singer” at the Revolver Golden Gods Awards in 2010 and ranked as the genre’s best vocalist in 2013 by music journalist Sacha Jenkins.

In 2009, Dio was diagnosed with stomach cancer and underwent treatment at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas.

On May 4, 2010, Heaven & Hell announced they were canceling all summer dates as a result of Dio’s health condition. His last live performance was with Heaven & Hell on August 29, 2009, in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Dio died of the illness on May 16, 2010.

Artist Countdown: Black Sabbath Top 25 6p ET @BlackSabbath

Black Sabbath are an English rock band, formed in Birmingham in 1968, by guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler, singer Ozzy Osbourne, and drummer Bill Ward. The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. Originally formed in 1968 as a heavy blues rock band named Earth, the band began incorporating occult themes with horror-inspired lyrics and tuned-down guitars. Despite an association with occult and horror themes, Black Sabbath also composed songs dealing with social instability, political corruption, the dangers of drug abuse and apocalyptic prophecies of the horrors of war.

Osbourne’s heavy drug use led to his dismissal from the band in 1979. He was replaced by former Rainbow vocalist Ronnie James Dio. After a few albums with Dio’s vocals and songwriting collaborations, Black Sabbath endured a revolving line-up in the 1980s and 1990s that included vocalists Ian Gillan, Glenn Hughes, Ray Gillen and Tony Martin, as well as multiple members of Deep Purple and Rainbow. In 1992, Iommi and Butler rejoined Dio and drummer Vinny Appice to record Dehumanizer. The original line-up reunited with Osbourne in 1997 and released a live album Reunion. Black Sabbath’s 19th studio album, 13, which features three of the original members, was released in June 2013.

Black Sabbath are cited as pioneers of heavy metal. The band helped define the genre with releases such as Black Sabbath (1970), Paranoid (1970) and Master of Reality (1971). They were ranked by MTV as the “Greatest Metal Band” of all time, and placed second in VH1’s “100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock” list. Rolling Stone magazine ranked them number 85 in their “100 Greatest Artists of All Time”. They have sold over 70 million records worldwide. Black Sabbath were inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006. They have also won two Grammy Awards for Best Metal Performance. – Wikipedia

1	Paranoid
2	God Is Dead?
3	Turn Up the Night
4	Psycho Man
5	Selling My Soul
6	Never Say Die!
7	Neon Knights
8	A Hard Road
9	TV Crimes
10	The Devil Cried
11	End of the Beginning
12	Die Young
13	The Mob Rules
14	Voodoo
15	Iron Man
16	Headless Cross
17	Feels Good to Me
18	Devil and Daughter
19	After Forever
20	Tomorrow’s Dream
21	Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
22	Am I Going Insane (Radio)
23	Trashed
24	No Stranger to Love
25	The Hand That Rocks the Cradle

 

Feature Year: 2010 6pm ET

Feature Year: 2010

January 13 – Teddy Pendergrass, American R&B and soul singer (b. 1950) Died
February 6 – John Dankworth, British jazz musician and composer (b. 1927) Died
February 17 – Kathryn Grayson, American singer (b. 1922) Died
March 28 – Herb Ellis, American jazz guitarist (b. 1921) Died
April 8 – Malcolm McLaren, British musician and manager (b. 1946) Died
April 14 – Peter Steele, American musician (b. 1962) Died
April 19 – Guru, American rapper (b. 1966) Died
May 9 – Lena Horne, American singer and actress (b. 1917) Died
May 16 – Ronnie James Dio, American musician (b. 1942) Died
May 24 – Paul Gray, American musician (b. 1972) Died
September 22 – Eddie Fisher, American entertainer and singer (b. 1928) Died
October 10 – Solomon Burke, American soul musician (b. 1940) Died
October 22 – The International Space Station surpasses the record for the longest continuous human occupation of space, having been continuously inhabited since November 2, 2000 (3641 days).
October 25 – An earthquake and consequent tsunami off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia, kills over 400 people and leaves hundreds missing.
October 25 – Gregory Issacs, Jamaican musician (b. 1951) Died
November 28 – WikiLeaks releases a collection of more than 250,000 American diplomatic cables, including 100,000 marked “secret” or “confidential”
December 17 – Captain Beefheart, American musician (b. 1941) Died
December 26 – Teena Marie, American singer-songwriter (b. 1956) Died