With everyone from Lemmy to Zodiac Mindwarp penning their memoirs over the past few years, it was only a matter of time before somebody in the Black Sabbath camp hunkered down in front of the keyboard and plunked out their tale.
Surprisingly enough, it's not Ozzy or Tony Iommi. Vocalist Ronnie James Dio (also of Elf and Rainbow fame) has announced that he is well into writing his autobiography. However, unlike most books, Dio notes that his will not be the typical retelling of history through narrative. Instead, he recently described it to Classic Rock as "not (being) centred around myself so much as me telling my life story through the stories of those around me."
Of course, with Black Sabbath - er, Heaven And Hell - releasing a new album dubbed The Devil You Know this year via Roadrunner Records, Dio has admitted that the process is somewhat slow.
"Every time I feel I'm getting halfway there another halfway comes along but, yes, I'm writing it and it's certainly going to be very, very interesting for people interested in the bands I've been in and the people I've played with. You have to have a focal point and I guess that had to be me. It's an autobiography but within it I tell the stories that somehow explain a little bit what Ritchie [Blackmore]'s like or Tony [Iommi]'s like or Geezer [Butler]'s like. I don't analyse them but just in telling the tales I paint everyone in as good a light as possible."
As the tail-end of that quote subtlely intimates, Dio also ensures we understand that he's not into muckraking. Don't expect his as-yet untitled novel to be a tell-all affair.
"I've tried to live my life on a very straight path,' he says. 'I'm not Nikki Sixx or people who go over the edge. That's alluring to a lot of people but I'm sure being a little bit different is alluring to some other people too."
Seeing as he had some pretty enlightening comments in the documentary Metal: A Headbanger's Journey, we're sure it'll be interesting nonetheless.
Surprisingly enough, it's not Ozzy or Tony Iommi. Vocalist Ronnie James Dio (also of Elf and Rainbow fame) has announced that he is well into writing his autobiography. However, unlike most books, Dio notes that his will not be the typical retelling of history through narrative. Instead, he recently described it to Classic Rock as "not (being) centred around myself so much as me telling my life story through the stories of those around me."
Of course, with Black Sabbath - er, Heaven And Hell - releasing a new album dubbed The Devil You Know this year via Roadrunner Records, Dio has admitted that the process is somewhat slow.
"Every time I feel I'm getting halfway there another halfway comes along but, yes, I'm writing it and it's certainly going to be very, very interesting for people interested in the bands I've been in and the people I've played with. You have to have a focal point and I guess that had to be me. It's an autobiography but within it I tell the stories that somehow explain a little bit what Ritchie [Blackmore]'s like or Tony [Iommi]'s like or Geezer [Butler]'s like. I don't analyse them but just in telling the tales I paint everyone in as good a light as possible."
As the tail-end of that quote subtlely intimates, Dio also ensures we understand that he's not into muckraking. Don't expect his as-yet untitled novel to be a tell-all affair.
"I've tried to live my life on a very straight path,' he says. 'I'm not Nikki Sixx or people who go over the edge. That's alluring to a lot of people but I'm sure being a little bit different is alluring to some other people too."
Seeing as he had some pretty enlightening comments in the documentary Metal: A Headbanger's Journey, we're sure it'll be interesting nonetheless.
