Early Years, Education and Musical Training
Ronnie James Dio was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire to Italian parents. They lived in Portsmouth until the family moved to Cortland, New York early in his life.
Dio graduated from the Cortland City School in 1960, and was inducted to the Cortland City School Hall of Fame in 2004. He was also honored on November 15, 1988 by his hometown naming a street after him, Dio Way.
During a performance at the Darien Lake Performing Arts Center in Darien, NY (near Buffalo, NY) on September 19, 2007, Dio revealed that he had attended the University at Buffalo, majoring in pharmacy. He attended from 1960 to 1961 but did not graduate. He formed one of his early bands during his freshman year.
He was offered a scholarship to the Juilliard School of Music but did not pursue it due to his interest in rock music. Despite being known for his powerful singing voice, Dio claimed never to have taken any vocal training. He attributed his singing ability to the correct breathing techniques he learned when playing the French horn as a child. He initially played the trumpet and french horn and even recorded several singles with various rockabilly bands when he was a boy.
Read more about this topic: Ronnie James Dio
Famous quotes containing the words early, education, musical and/or training:
“Yet, haply, in some lull of life,
Some Truce of God which breaks its strife,
The worldling’s eyes shall gather dew,
Dreaming in throngful city ways
Of winter joys his boyhood knew;
And dear and early friends—the few”
—John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892)
“Individually, museums are fine institutions, dedicated to the high values of preservation, education and truth; collectively, their growth in numbers points to the imaginative death of this country.”
—Robert Hewison (b. 1943)
“Fifty million Frenchmen can’t be wrong.”
—Anonymous. Popular saying.
Dating from World War I—when it was used by U.S. soldiers—or before, the saying was associated with nightclub hostess Texas Quinan in the 1920s. It was the title of a song recorded by Sophie Tucker in 1927, and of a Cole Porter musical in 1929.
“It’s [motherhood] the biggest on-the-job- training program in existence today.”
—Erma Bombeck (20th century)