Ronnie James Dio was 5'4”, the same height as Michael J. Fox, Pablo Picasso, and Glenn Danzig, according to reports. ¹⁾

Ronnie James Dio learned to play the trumpet as a child. ²⁾

He was also a bassist in the band The Vegas Kings. ³⁾

His name is Ronald Padavona. ⁴⁾

Because heavy metal had not yet been formed, Ronnie grew up listening to opera and was a fan of Mario Lanza.⁵⁾

Ronnie attended the University of Buffalo and majored in pharmacology. ⁶⁾

Dio is the Italian word for 'God,' although he got his stage name from Italian-American gangster Johnny Dio, whose real name was Giovanni Ignazio Dioguardi. ⁷⁾

Ronnie is well-known for his work with the band Elf, where he played bass and sang. ⁸⁾

Dan Padavona was adopted by Ronnie and his first wife, Loretta Berardi. In 2014, he published his first horror novel, Storberry. “It is an old-school, retro horror tale about a little Virginia community trying to survive a vampire infestation,” Dan explained to Blabbermouth. “It's a cross between Nosferatu and Night of the Living Dead”. ⁹⁾

Children Of The Sea was written during his first session with Black Sabbath in 1979, and it would debut on the Heaven And Hell album a year later. ¹⁰⁾

Ronnie described his South Park parody Hooked On Monkey Fonics as “amazing.” In the show, his band – characterized by Principal Victoria as a musical force of the 1970s and 1980s — performs Holy Diver at a school dance.¹¹⁾

Tenacious D said in the 2001 song Dio that the rock star was too old to rock at 59 years old. ¹²⁾

Ronnie James Dio was originally scheduled to give the voice of Doviculus in the metal computer game Brütal Legend, but he was subsequently replaced by Tim Curry from Rocky Horror Picture Show. ¹³⁾

Ronnie, a poetic maestro of all things swords and sorcery, was inspired to write while watching his beloved New York Giants on TV.¹⁴⁾

Glenn Hughes introduced the vocalist to Indian food, which he thoroughly enjoyed. ¹⁵⁾