One of the best rock singers.
Ronnie James Dio
Early life:
Ronald James "Dio" Padavona was born in
Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to Italian-American parents from
Cortland, New York. His family moved to Portsmouth from Cortland as part of his father's service in the U.S. Army during World War II,
[9] and they resided there for only a short time before returning to Cortland. Padavona listened to a great deal of opera while growing up, and was influenced vocally by American
tenor Mario Lanza.
[10] His first formal musical training began at age 5, learning to play the trumpet.
[10] Padavona participated in his high school's band program and was one of the youngest members selected to play in the school's official dance band.[
citation needed] It was also during high school that Padavona formed his first rock-n-roll group, The Vegas Kings, which would later be named Ronnie and the Rumblers and then Ronnie and the Red Caps. Though Padavona began his rock-n-roll career on trumpet, he added singing to his skill set and also assumed bass guitar duties for the groups.[
citation needed]
Padavona graduated from Cortland High School in 1960. He was allegedly offered a scholarship to the prestigious
Juilliard School of Music but did not take up the offer due to his interest in rock music.
[11] He instead attended the
University at Buffalo to major in
pharmacology.
[12] There he played trumpet in the university's concert band; however, he only attended the university from 1960 to 1961 and did not graduate.
[9] Then he enrolled at
Cortland State College but dropped out as well.
[13] In a 2000 interview, he stated that he majored in history and minored in
English.
[14]
Despite being known for his powerful singing voice, Padavona claimed to have never received any vocal training.
[15] He instead attributed his singing ability to the use of breathing techniques he learned while playing trumpet.
[16]
