I will admit to being a huge Ronnie James Dio fan, one of those fans who stand by the fact that
he is one of the most important figures in heavy metal. For those who don’t
know, after years of hanging around the music business with several
incarnations of his first band, which would end with the title Elf, Ronnie was asked to join none other than Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie
Blackmore in his first post-Deep
Purple band called Rainbow (or
as the first album read, “Ritchie
Blackmore’s Rainbow”). The band was essentially the Elf line-up just with Ritchie on guitar instead of guitarist David Feinstein. After various line-up
changes (which continued after Ronnie left), Ronnie continued his climb to the
heavy metal top by joining none other than Black
Sabbath after the departure of original lead vocalist, some guy named Ozzy Osbourne. It was now that Ronnie
gained the attention required to be a credible name in heavy metal. Having
already started a popular transition while in Rainbow with his lyrics of wizards and sorcery, he brought this
lyric style in to Sabbath’s sound, as well as the “devil horns” hand gesture
which became the heavy metal symbol from that moment on.
