At long last, Ronnie James Dio's life and career will unfold across the pages of the autobiography he began working on prior to his death in 2020 and finished by the venerable author Mick Wall. Now, Rainbow in the Dark officially has a release date of July 27 through published Permuted Press.

Dio's lifelong career in music is among the more unique tales in rock and metal. His earliest recordings showcase him as a capable doo-wop singer, before he moved on to a heavier style of music when starting up the hard rock group Elf with his cousin, Dave Feinstein, later of The Rods.

From there, he was tapped as the frontman for Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore's new project, Rainbow. After three now landmark albums and an acrimonious split, the singer was recruited by another legendary British group, Black Sabbath, as they sought a replacement for Ozzy Osbourne.

With two albums in as many years under their belts, another contentious split took place and Ronnie then formed the Dio band who went on to release 10 studio albums amid a myriad of lineup changes. He also reunited with his Sabbath bandmates after their initial fallout — once for the Dehumanizer album and again under the Heaven and Hell moniker for the record The Devil You Know.

A press release states, "The book describes Ronnie James Dio’s life in great detail, everything from his fallout with Ritchie Blackmore, the drugs that derailed the resurrection of Black Sabbath, the personality clashes that frayed each of his three bands, and the huge bet he and Wendy placed together to launch the most successful endeavor of his career...his own band, Dio."

Pre-orders are available now through Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Ronnie James Dio, Rainbow in the Dark Autobiography

Permuted Press
Permuted Press
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Ronnie James Dio Albums Ranked (1975 - 2009)

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