Dio were formed in 1982, so named after their mastermind Ronnie James Dio, who had just ended his Black Sabbath experience. Dio were to become a landmark in Heavy Metal history, and one of the biggest and respected influence among both heavy bands and fans. Some rock reviewers in the eighties and nineties praised the band as the real essence of pure Heavy Metal, and you could not think of this genre, without associating it with Dio and few others. All Dio band members were at the time and still are recognized among the best musicians in the Heavy Metal scene. Dio went on recording and playing live and kept on re-uniting, paralleling all its members side projects, for more than 20 years, and surely they would have done it through next years from time to time, but Ronnie James Dio, the founder and inspirer died in May 2010 leaving in shock the whole rock scene. Some of their albums are widely considered milestones of Heavy metal.