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Rainbow in the Dark

The Autobiography

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Rainbow in the Dark

By: Ronnie James Dio, Mick Wall, Wendy Dio
Narrated by: Christopher Ragland
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About this listen

Ronnie James Dio was a heavy metal icon and frontman of three of the best-selling, most influential and famous rock bands in history: Rainbow, Black Sabbath and his own multi-million selling band, Dio.

Rainbow in the Dark is a rollercoaster ride through the extraordinary highs and lows of Dio's life, and takes us from his early days as a street gang leader and Doo-wop singer in '60s Vegas through to his breakout success with Rainbow and Black Sabbath in the '70s and the stadiums of US metal in the '80s - ending in Dio's dressing room at Madison Square Garden, in June 1986, at the peak of his worldwide fame with Dio.

Tragically Dio passed away from cancer in 2010, but had already begun writing a memoir before his death. Edited by the world-renowned music biographer Mick Wall, with the involvement of Dio's wife of over 35 years and personal manager Wendy Dio, Rainbow in the Dark honours and features Dio's never-before-seen original manuscript, while drawing on the extraordinary collection of print and audio interviews with the man himself to produce a vivid, raw and faithful portrait of one of the world's greatest ever rock legends.

©2021 Ronnie James Dio (P)2021 Hachette Audio UK Entertainment & Celebrities Music Celebrity

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A true legend and a fascinating story of highs and lows-I’d recommend this to any rock fan! RIP RJD.

Fascinating!

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Anybody who is lucky enough to have seen Dio live will know how good he and his band actually were. His background story is really interesting and Wendy Dio and Mick have done a good job of editing Dio’s notes and putting everything together. This is not a bog standard Biography, I think that real care has been into producing something that Dio would have been happy to put his name to. The only real improvement would be to write more about the latter years of his life.

A really good listen

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I never saw RJD perform live despite regarding him as the archetypal rock singer. Ironically I have seen live Rainbow, Black Sabbath and Last In Line (former members of Dio). I also regard the RJD albums of Rainbow and Black Sabbath as my favourites. Here we hear his take on his career. I'm sure those he parted ways with will have a different take on things, but I'm glad he wrote down his version and memoirs. Shame it ended in 1985 when his short life continued a bit longer, but all the main points of his career are covered.

I now know a little bit more

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Interesting life story of a Rock/Metal legend, building a legendary band from the ground up.

Great read.

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Bloody brilliant insight into the world of RJD, I miss seeing him in concert, the way he held the crowd in the palm of his hand. What a legend.

Like a rainbow in the dark

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RJD is one of rock's greatest singers, and he was by all accounts a thoroughly good bloke, although his earnestness for dungeons and dragons imagery could sometimes come across as pompous and even a little silly. This is an enjoyable account of his life story up to 1986. One forgets how long Dio was around, pounding the club circuit for many years before he got this first big break with Rainbow. It is noticeable though how much he harps on about money being the factor that drove Vivian Campbell out of Dio, and he is too repetitious on this point - verging into "Methinks he doth protest too much" territory. That is my one criticism. Otherwise, this is a must read for classic metal fans or those who enjoy rock bios.

Enjoyable Life Story of a Metal Great🤘

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As a Dio / Sabbath fan I enjoyed this insight into RJD's personal life.

I would have preferred a better narrator but it was still enjoyable.
Thought there might have been something later in the book about his death but who wants to read that really

Good read for any rock fan

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Ronnie is my favourite singer and the start of this book is great, however things seem rushed towards the end. The book is great in parts, but finishes abruptly and a lot is missing imo.

Good book but rushed

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I was very excited when I downloaded this book, Ronnie has always been my favourite singer and I was interested to learn more about him and his early life. I found the early chapters entertaining and as the story approached his time with Black Sabbath things seemed to get a little rushed. The biggest issue for me is that story just ends after the Sacred Heart tour, the book is unfinished in my opinion.

Disappointed

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If you want a book that presents (the admittedly wonderful) Ronnie James Dio as a awesome superhuman/demigod who lived a life of legendary proportions, then this is the book for you! Throughout the clichéd aphorisms and stilted descriptions, you won't find much of the real man. I've watched interviews with him in which Dio would talk as a human being filled with focus, love for his music and humility. That's not the Dio that is presented in this book. It's all just a bit too larger-than-life. Oh, and the narrator sounds like he should be reading out TV adverts. All just very disappointing.

Sunset Superman!

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