Rolling Stone has published an excerpt from the forthcoming Ronnie James Dio autobiography, Rainbow in the Dark, in which he writes about taking over for Ozzy Osbourne in Black Sabbath.
It turns out his wife Wendy was friends with Sharon Osbourne (before her relationship with Ozzy), which is how he met the band.
With Ozzy out and bassist Geezer Butler dealing with family issues, guitarist Tony Iommi was toying with making a solo album, which is when he started working with Dio.
“At first the talk was of me working with Tony on his solo album. That notion was quickly dispelled as we came up with more and more amazing songs together… Tony and [drummer] Bill [Ward] took the next logical step and invited me to join Black Sabbath…
“I admit, at first, I shied away from the prospect… Unlike in years to come, when groups like Van Halen, Bad Company, Iron Maiden, and even Queen could bring in a new frontman with impunity, in the late’70s, the idea of a superstar group like Sabbath replacing their frontman was considered unthinkable. Led Zeppelin without Robert Plant, The Rolling Stones without Mick Jagger? Sacrilege.
“The fact that I was already well known to the rock audience as the singer of Rainbow was a double-edged sword, as I saw it. I could end up alienating both Sabbath and Rainbow fans… Tony told me he was sure I’d be able to pull it off. Well, vocally, for sure. Ozzy was a great frontman, but a great singer? Not so much. But Ozzy was Sabbath…”
He says what closed the deal was being made an “equal partner with equal say, musically and business-wise,” plus the fact that he had less than $800 in the bank.
Dio was the second of nine singers to fill in for Ozzy over the years, but without question the most successful.
He fronted Sabbath from 1979 to ’82, then again in 1991 and ’92, and finally when the band regrouped as Heaven and Hell from 2006 until his death in 2010.
Rainbow in the Dark: The Autobiography, which was completed by Wendy Dio and journalist Mick Wall, will be published on July 27th.
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