In 1958, the band again changed their name from Ronnie & The Rumblers to Ronnie and the Redcaps.
The group's lineup consisted of Dio on bass guitar, Billy DeWolfe on lead vocals, Nick Pantas on guitar, Tom Rogers on drums, and Jack Musci on saxophone. Career Early career ĭio's musical CAREER began in 1957 when several Cortland, New York musicians formed the band, The Vegas Kings. Rather, he attributed his singing ability to the use of correct breathing techniques LEARNED while playing trumpet. ĭespite being known for his powerful singing voice, Dio claimed never to have taken any vocal TRAINING. He only attended from 1960 to 1961, and played trumpet in the university's concert band, and did not graduate. Instead, after graduation, he attended the University at Buffalo, majoring in Pharmacology. Though he claimed in a later interview to have been offered a scholarship to the prestigious Juilliard School of Music, he did not pursue it due to his CONTINUING interest in rock-n-roll music. Though Dio began his rock-n-roll career on trumpet, he quickly added bass guitar to his skillset once he assumed singing duties for the group.ĭio graduated from Cortland High School in 1960. It was also during high school that Dio formed his first rock-n-roll group, the Vegas Kings (the name would soon change to Ronnie and the Rumblers, and then Ronnie and the Red Caps). During high school, Dio played in the school band and was one of the youngest members SELECTED to play in the school's official Dance Band. His first and only formal musical training began at age 5 LEARNING to play the trumpet. Dio listened to a great deal of opera while growing up, and was influenced vocally by American tenor Mario Lanza. The family resided in Portsmouth for only a short time before Dio's parents RETURNED to Cortland. Ronnie James Dio was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to Italian American parents who had moved to Portsmouth from Cortland, New York, where they had grown up. 1 Early years, education and musical trainingĮarly years, education and musical training.