In the mid-1970s Dio's vocals caught the ear of Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, who was planning on leaving them due to creative differences over the band's new direction.
Blackmore invited Dio along with Gary Driscoll to record two songs in Tampa, Florida on December 12, 1974.
Blackmore stated in 1983, "I left Deep Purple because I'd met up with Ronnie Dio, and he was so easy to work with.
He was originally just going to do one track of a solo LP, but we ended up doing the whole LP in three weeks, which I was very excited about."
Being satisfied with the results, Blackmore decided to recruit more of Elf's musicians and form his own band, initially known as Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow.
They released the self-titled debut album Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow in early 1975.
After that, Dio recorded two more studio albums (Rising and Long Live Rock 'n' Roll),  the live album On Stage, and two archival live albums (Live in Munich 1977 and Live in Germany 1976) with Blackmore.
During his tenure with Rainbow, Dio and Blackmore were the only constant members.
Dio is credited on those albums for all lyrical authorship as well as collaboration with Blackmore on musical arrangement.
Dio and Blackmore split, with Blackmore taking the band in a more commercial direction, with Graham Bonnet on vocals and the album Down to Earth.
In the mid-1970s Dio's vocals caught the ear of Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, who was planning on leaving them due to creative differences over the band's new direction. Blackmore invited Dio along with Gary Driscoll to record two songs in Tampa, Florida on December 12, 1974. Blackmore stated in 1983, "I left Deep Purple because I'd met up with Ronnie Dio, and he was so easy to work with. He was originally just going to do one track of a solo LP, but we ended up doing the whole LP in three weeks, which I was very excited about." Being satisfied with the results, Blackmore decided to recruit more of Elf's musicians and form his own band, initially known as Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow. They released the self-titled debut album Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow in early 1975. After that, Dio recorded two more studio albums (Rising and Long Live Rock 'n' Roll),  the live album On Stage, and two archival live albums (Live in Munich 1977 and Live in Germany 1976) with Blackmore. During his tenure with Rainbow, Dio and Blackmore were the only constant members. Dio is credited on those albums for all lyrical authorship as well as collaboration with Blackmore on musical arrangement. Dio and Blackmore split, with Blackmore taking the band in a more commercial direction, with Graham Bonnet on vocals and the album Down to Earth.
Ronnie James Dio