Ronald James Padavona, known professionally as Ronnie James Dio, was an American heavy metal singer. He fronted numerous bands 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. The family returned to Cortland when Dio was very young, and he lived there until graduating from high school in 1960. Dio's music career began in 1957 as part of the Vegas Kings. In 1967, he formed the rock band Elf, in which he sang and played bass. In 1975, Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore founded the band Rainbow and hired Dio to be the lead singer; during his tenure, 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, all three of which met with success: Heaven & Hell, Mob Rules and Dehumanizer. In 1982, he left to form the band Dio, which itself had two albums certified platinum by the RIAA.