10 Things Only Old School Heavy Metal Fans Will Understand

There are so many legendary singers in Heavy Metal history, and everyone's entitled to his or her favorite. When it comes to pure singing chops, vocal power, and presence, though, it's hard to argue that anyone ever did it better than Ronnie James Dio.

Dio first entered professional music in 1957 as one of The Vegas Kings, a group that would change greatly over the ensuing years. The Doo Wop act had stints as Ronnie and the Redcaps and Ronnie Dio and the Prophets, but adopted a harder sound when they took the name The Electric Elves. By 1972, they had become hard rock act Elf, and Dio was soon recruited to front Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow. There, the legend came into his own, his voice bursting with power and his lyrics creating worlds filled with wizards and witches, sorcery and terror.

After leaving Rainbow, Dio got the best (or worst) job in metal - replacing Ozzy Osbourne as singer of Black Sabbath. Dio didn't try to copy the venerated Sabbath sound, instead bringing his own style to the band and leading them to two great albums (and a third years later, and a fourth under the band name Heaven and Hell). His time with Sabbath was tumultuous, but he boomed in the 80s with his own band, Dio, releasing metal classics such as Holy Diver, Rainbow in the Dark, and The Last in Line.

Dio passed away in 2010, but he is still beloved by his peers and fans.