Ronnie James Dio
Birth Name: Ronald James Padavona
Date of Birth: July 10, 1942
Place of Birth: Portsmouth, New Hampshire, U.S.
Date of Death: May 16, 2010
Place of Death: Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Ethnicity:
*75% Italian
*25% English
Ronnie James Dio was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He performed with, amongst others, Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Heaven & Hell, and his own band, Dio. His other musical projects include the collective fundraiser Hear ‘n Aid. He was widely hailed the most powerful singer in heavy metal, renowned for his voice and for popularizing the “devil horns” hand gesture in metal culture.
Ronnie was the son of Anna E. (Gulini) and Pasquale “Patrick”/”Pat” A./M. Padavona. He was married to manager Wendy Gaxiola, until his death. He has a son, novelist Dan Padavona, with his former wife, Loretta Berardi.
Ronnie died of stomach cancer. One of the last songs he recorded was titled Metal Will Never Die.
Ronnie’s paternal grandparents were Antonio Padavona and Erminia/Ernine. Antonio and Erminia were Italian.
Ronnie’s maternal grandfather was named Paul M. Gulini. Paul was Italian.
Ronnie’s maternal grandmother was Rena O. Burdick (the daughter of Nathaniel Clifton “Thannie” Burdick and Pearl L. Champion). Rena was born in New York, and had English ancestry. Nathaniel was the son of Clark G. Burdick and Eliza A. “Ella” Pierce.
Sources: Ronnie’s father on the 1920 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Genealogy of Ronnie Jame Dio (focusing on his mother’s side) – https://www.wikitree.com
Ronnie’s mother on the 1940 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Genealogy of Ronnie’s maternal grandmother, Rena O. (Burdick) Gulini (focusing on her father’s side) – http://www.findagrave.com
Photo by Prphotos
https://www.wikitree.com/genealogy/Padavona-Family-Tree-1
Dio means “God” in italian. Not a case!
Italian!
LOL.
He is!
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Rest in peace, Man was a legend, everyone here always hails Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin & Bruce Springsteen the great Italian-Amercan voices. They tend to forget about Dio though. The man with the voice of JESUS! his vocals were unmatched!