Born Ronald James Padavona in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Having been brought up with Catholic beliefs in an Italian family in Cortland, New York. Ronnie began developing his musical interest at age five when his father encouraged him to learn to play a musical instrument. Choosing the trumpet, Ronnie practiced several hours per day every chance he got. His main interests included sports, music and reading romantic fantasy literature. At this young age he was fascinated and inspired most by opera singers. Hearing their extremely powerful voices made Ronnie want to sing with great power to make others stand up and take notice. Oddly enough the first venue that he would get the chance to display his vocal abilities would be his family church while singing in the choir. 1957 would be the beginning of Ronnie's musical career, playing in a school band that he and some friends started. The band was called The Vegas Kings , Ronnie played trumpet, bass guitar and contributed some vocals. Later changing their name to Ronnie & The Rumblers and then eventually to Ronnie & The Red Caps in 1958. The band played every gig possible from dance halls to parties,it didnt matter just as long as they could play together. Their first single Lover/Conquest was released on the Reb record label,about 50 copies were made. Releasing one more single under this name Aa Angel Is Missing/What'd I Say Ronnie felt it was time for a change. Around this period Ronnie changed his last name from Padavona to Dio, the band would now be called Ronnie & The Prophets , this name would stick around for several years. 1967 brought seven singles and one live album entitled Dio At Dominoes , having been recorded at Dominoes Restaurant in 1963. Ronnie left the band behind in 1967 and along with Nick Pantas went on to form The Electric Elves , which recorded one single then shortened their name down to Elves because of their small stature. Ronnie on vocals and bass guitar went on to release two singles with his cousin Dave Feinstein under the name Elves. And once again cut their name down even more to Elf in 1972. Leaving behind his past sounds Elf was a blues rock band, a complete change from his earlier recordings. While playing in a bar the bands sound caught the attention of Deep Purple bassist Roger Glover and drummer Ian Paice . Glover liked what he heard and offered to produce the band and gave them an opening slot to support Purple for two tours from 1972-1974. Elf went on to record three albums and were signed to the Purple Records label in the UK. Roger Glover also asked Ronnie to appear on his 1975 solo project The Butterfly Ball & Grasshoppers Feast , a childs animation that gave Ronnie his first gold record for the single Love Is All . Playing the part of Froggy gave him the opportunity to record three songs for the album. While being on the road with "The Deep Cool Guys", which is what Ronnie called his idols, he became acquainted with Deep Purple guitar wizard Ritchie Blackmore . Ritchie was starting to feel dissatisfied with the direction that the band was going and wanted to start his own band. Ronnie and Ritchie found they shared several of the same interests including their love for classical composers such as Beethoven and Bach. They also both had a deep fascination with magic and fantasy storylines. Elf were about to release their third album when Ritchie asked Ronnie to be a part of his next endeavor which was going to be a solo effort. Ronnie agreed only if he could include his current band, minus his guitar player of course. These were not only the guys he loved playing with but they were also his friends. Ritchie accepted and 1975 brought about the relese of Ritchie Blackmores Rainbow . Ronnie was now using his full name Ronnie James Dio on the album,an idea brought up by Blackmore. The first hit from the album was Man On The Silver Mountain . The band was going in a different musical direction and felt that the sound they was wanting would only come about if the band personnel was changed. It was a hard thing for Ronnie to do but it was best for the band to say farewell to old friends and move on. The next album would exceed all expectations. 1976 was the year of Rainbow's landmark album Rising . The band was now to be known only as Rainbow , featuring a new soon to be classic lineup. With the addition of drummer Cozy Powell, bass player Jimmy Bain and Tony Carey on keyboards,this was the sound that the two musical masterminds had been looking for. A great all around album that would not have been possible without each band members contribution,all equally deserving credit for his own part. Delving into fantasy the listener could almost envision the events that were unfolding in each song.
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