Previously unreleased Ronnie James Dio material is set to launch next year, his widow Wendy Dio has confirmed.
Rhino Records issued the A Decade Of Dio box set earlier this year, which contained his first six albums from 1983 until 1993. Wendy, who was also Dio’s longtime manager, says there are “precious” tapes in the archives still to be issued – though she’d have to cut through some red tape to release her late husband’s work with Rainbow.
She tells Eric Blair: “I have four albums that I own after that box set, and we have some precious things in the archives, which we’re going to put out and add on there, and I think Rhino will put it out next year.”
When asked whether there is unreleased video of the singer, Wendy replies: “Oh yeah. I’m talking all the way back. I’ve actually got stuff from Rainbow we’re not allowed to put out, but we’ve got stuff. We videoed almost every show.”
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Further release details will be given in due course.
Dio Disciples guitarist Craig Goldy recently said they’re making new music that their late singer “would be proud of” – and revealed their demos have already received Wendy’s seal of approval.
He said: “Some of the music that we’ve written for this project, the first words out of Wendy Dio‘s mouth were, ‘Wow, Ronnie would be really proud,’ so I think we’re on the right track.”
Meanwhile, former Dio guitarist Vivian Campbell recently slammed Wendy’s abilities as a band manager – saying she wasn’t “musical” enough to understand that the band were a “creative unit” and that each member was not “replaceable.”