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Dio
Dio
DIO
"I use the analogy of the wolf, and it's probably not very fair
to the wolf, because the wolf is a wonderful animal that
unfortunately has been weeded out. It's a great animal that
loves its family. I didn't mean to take something so wonderful
and stick this horrible tag on it.
"We've all been brought up with things like, 'the Big Bad Wolf'
or 'the wolf is at the door' or 'the wolf always looks lean and
is ready to eat you.' But it's better than 'Lock Up the Weasels'
or 'Woodchucks.' It works ... I just would like to apologize to
the poor wolves. I feel for them. ... I thought it was a fair
analogy only because of the way we perceive the wolf. Because of
all those terrible things, it makes it easier for the wolf to
jump in and prey on someone."
"I know most of them personally," Dio says of the torn and
tattered kids. "Every Christmas, I go to their party here. I'm
their honored guest every year. They're just wonderful kids who
have been badly, badly abused. Most of them come from
dysfunctional families.
In the early '70s, Dio formed the band Elf and they wound up
opening for one of his favorites, Deep Purple. He became friends
with Deep Purple's guitarist, Ritchie Blackmore, and they later
created Rainbow in '75. Dio left three years later and replaced
Ozzy Osbourne as the lead singer of another heavy metal giant, Black
Sabbath. He stayed for three albums, including the gold-selling "Heaven
and Hell" in 1980, before striking out on his own. Known as Dio, the
group has had one platinum ("The Last in Line") and two gold albums,
"Holy Diver" and "Sacred Heart."
Dio's lineup has had several changes over the years, but he's
particularly excited about his current crew, which includes an
18-year-old British guitar whiz named Rowan Robertson and former
AC/DC drummer Simon Wright. Keyboardist Jens Johansson, who
worked with Yngwie Malmsteen, and bassist Teddy Cook round out
the group.
The band just finished a European tour with Metallica and begins
its U.S. trek on Aug. 1 in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. They'll also play
Sept. 1 in Mannheim, West Germany, at the Super Rock Festival,
formerly known as the Monsters of Rock.
Though he's firmly fixed in the rock world and the Southern
California lifestyle, Dio says he has never lost touch with his
small-town roots.