Trivia / Ronnie James Dio

• Black Sheep Hit: "Rainbow in the Dark" is one of his most well-known solo songs, but after recording it, Dio thought that it sounded too "pop", and would have destroyed the tape, if the other band members had not talked him out of it. He later warmed a bit up to the song, eventually using it as one of his signature songs.
• Creative Differences:
  • His animosity towards Ritchie Blackmore was legendary due to their highly adversarial relationship while Dio was in Rainbow.
  • It also probably wasn't a good idea to get him started on Vivian Campbell.
• Creator Backlash: When some of the songs from his earlier years resurfaced in the internet, Dio claimed he would've been happier if they had stayed hidden.
• Referenced by...: Ronnie's Stage Name would serve to be the namesake for the first name of the overall Big Bad from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Dio Brando, with the name of his band inspiring his rename from Stardust Crusaders onward, DIO.
• What Could Have Been:
  • He wasn't working on one, but two sequels for the Magica album before he died. Also, a second Heaven & Hell album was planned.
  • In the wake of Dio's death, Tobias Sammet revealed that the two of them had been discussing the possibility of Dio guesting in Avantasia.
  • He was originally cast to play Doviculus in Brütal Legend, but the role later went to Tim Curry. Rumors speculated that the reason for Dio's departure from the project was because of behind the scenes fighting with Ozzy Osbourne (who did lend his voice to the game), but Tim Schafer set the story straight by saying that, as Doviculus changed over the course of development, Curry simply fit the role better than Dio (citing Curry's role in the film Legend (1985) as a good example of why). Still feels like a Negated Moment of Awesome to not have Dio involved in the project though, considering that lending his voice to a game that celebrates everything heavy metal would have been a fitting send off.

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