Dio’s ‘Holy Diver’ was originally written for Black Sabbath, musician’s widow says

Ronnie James Dio’s ‘Holy Diver’ was originally written for Black Sabbath, his widow has revealed.

In a new interview with Loudwire, Ronnie’s widow, Wendy, said Ronnie had written ‘Holy Diver’ and ‘Don’t Talk To Strangers’ during his time with Black Sabbath, intending the songs be performed with them.

After he parted ways with Sabbath, the songs became part of the Dio band’s releases.

Speaking about how the track ‘Holy Diver’ was an “enormous gamble” in his career, Wendy explained: “Ronnie always did what he wanted to do. He never listened to what the record label wanted or anyone else. He always stuck to his guns in making the album. He hoped it would be successful. None of us realised how successful it was going to be.

“We really had been toying around with things and he had written ‘Holy Diver’ and ‘Don’t Talk to Strangers; during the time he was in Black Sabbath, so they were supposed to be Sabbath songs.

“When he left Sabbath, we had a solo deal for him and he just put those songs [on the album] and got the band together, wrote more songs and it came out. Everyone was blown away about the reception that we got and how great the album was and how it’s stood [the test] of time. It’ll be 40 years next year.”

Recently, it was revealed that Ronnie’s estate gave the Stranger Things team the Dio patch worn by new character Eddie Munson in the show.

Munson, played by Joseph Quinn, is the leader of The Hellfire Club and a “metalhead”, as the actor told NME recently.

The one outfit viewers see Munson in during the new series of Stranger Things includes a denim jacket with a Dio patch covering its back. In an interview on the Netflix website, costume designer Amy Parris has now revealed that the patch came directly from the metal icon’s estate.

“I love Eddie. I think Eddie feels so real,” Parris said. “And he’s wearing one thing because he’s in that outfit the whole time, so I really focused and zeroed in on making sure everything in that outfit was authentic.

“He’s a fan of wizard metal, he’s a fan of Dio. He’s a fan of Metallica. Actually, Dio was a popular band in the ‘80s, and we reached out to the estate [of the late Ronnie James Dio to source a band shirt]. His wife is in charge of his estate and offered to send us vintage T-shirts, which was such a dream.”

In other news, a documentary on the life of Ronnie is set for release this year, nearly two years after it was first announced.