“The Pavarotti of heavy vocalists”, according to Jack Black
Classical music and metal are beautiful contradictions. One is considered among the most sophisticated forms of music that anyone can conceive, and yet the other is the kind of ominous genre that leaves many casual fans running scared whenever they hear it. There are ways that the genres can intersect when they want to, though, and Jack Black considered Ronnie James Dio to be on the same level as an opera singer.
For many outside the metal world, the comparison might seem exaggerated. Yet few vocalists in any genre possessed the combination of power, control and theatrical presence that Dio brought to every performance.
Granted, there wasn’t a high bar for singers in hard rock at the time. Compared to vocalists who refined their instruments like Paul McCartney or even Robert Plant, their MO when getting heavy was just to scream to high heaven and try to hit some of the most raucous notes that they could without any real precision.
It’s not like Ozzy Osbourne was any different when working with Black Sabbath. At the end of the day, ‘The Prince of Darkness’ was just a blues singer who happened to have spooky backing tracks behind him, so his declarations of asking God for help and a handful of bluesy inflexions on ‘Hole In The Sky’ weren’t all that out of place.
Ozzy’s appeal was always rooted in character and atmosphere rather than vocal perfection. His distinctive delivery became inseparable from Black Sabbath’s identity, even if it differed greatly from more technically refined singers.
On the other hand, listening to Dio’s start in Richie Blackmore’s Rainbow was a much different animal. Ian Gillan did have his bluesy screeches a la Janis Joplin while Blackmore was with Deep Purple, but Dio marked the moment all the blues went out the window. Where every other artist wanted to aim for Robert Plant, Dio could stand alongside the greatest operatic tenors of his day, almost shocking everyone knowing that such a humungous voice came out of such a tiny man.
That kind of intensity only got heavier when he joined Sabbath. Iommi was already looking to switch up his style from the traditional metal formula, so hearing Dio sing haunting ballads like ‘Children of the Sea’ and get downright demonic on ‘Neon Knights’ is still some of the finest moments of Sabbath’s later career.
While the metal pioneers always held a special place in Black’s heart, Dio was beyond any other singer he could have imagined, saying, “Dio was the master. He was the Pavarotti of heavy metal vocalists. [He had] soaring melodies and a lion’s roar to match. He was also one of the coolest guys I’ve ever had the honour of meeting. No one could touch his brilliance…on or off the stage.”
With a voice that strong, it was practically a no-brainer to get Dio to cameo in Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny. Any tale of the alleged ‘best band in the world’ would need some inspiration, and hearing Dio sing to young Jables about travelling to Hollywood and unleashing his inner demons through song is the kind of rock and roll success story that’s ripped straight out of a comic book.
It’s not like Dio wasn’t afraid to tell those mythical stories, either, since ‘Stargazer’ sounds like the beginnings of an epic Dungeons and Dragons game. Metal was always about going over the top, but as far as Dio was concerned, that meant putting his voice through its paces until it became one of the strongest instruments in music history.
Decades after his peak, Dio remains one of metal’s most respected figures because of that unique combination of technique, charisma and vision. Few singers have left such a lasting mark on the genre.
