Ronnie James Dio

Ronald James Padovana (10 July 1942 - 16 May 2010) joined/formed his first band in 1957 called The Vegas Kings, which was later changed to Ronnie & The Rumblers, and ultimately Ronnie & The Red Caps, this band called it quits in 1961. Next Dio formed Ronnie Dio and the Prophets in the autumn of 1961, the band lasted until 1967. After this Dio formed The Electric Elves (1967-1969), The Elves (1969-1970), and finally the more well known Elf (1970-1975). From this Dio sang for Rainbow (1975-1978). After his work in Rainbow he went on to sing for Black Sabbath from (1979-1982), he later appeared in Black Sabbath again in late 1991-1992. After his split from Black Sabbath for the first time he went on to start his solo career known as Dio which started in 1983. Ronnie James Dio is generally credited as the originator of the famous "mano cornuta" (or "devil horns") symbol in the metal world. According to him, his grandmother used to make the symbol as a sigil to ward off evil. Dio started using the gesture onstage in the early days of his career. In 2003, Ronnie accidentally cut off his thumb in a bizarre gardening accident. It has since been sewn back on and is now fully functional again. Roger Glover, the bass player of Deep Purple, had, as a solo artist, a world wide hit in 1974, "Love is All". It had, for those days, a very special videoclip, with a frog. It was Ronnie James Dio who did the vocals for that song.