Recently, Wendy Dio, the late Ronnie James Dio’s wife, recalled how she first met her husband at a Ritchie Blackmore party and why she first didn’t think Dio was her “type.” While speaking with Rockin’ 101, the manager described how she and her husband met in the middle of the 1970s, saying: We first met at the Rainbow Bar & Grill in Hollywood, where Ronnie had just finished filming ‘Blackmore’s Rainbow. The recording just ended. They hadn’t yet done a tour. I was subsequently invited to a gathering at Ritchie Blackmore’s home. Ronnie and I crossed paths there. He frequently followed me, but I assumed he was too small for me.
Wendy acknowledged that the rocker was “a bit short” for her, but she also spoke of how fast they became friends: We talked nonstop until around five in the morning, at which point we all proceeded to Denny’s for breakfast before driving to Malibu to see the dawn. I believe his intellect made me fall in love. We dated for a few weeks, and I assumed that our relationship was over as he left to go on tour.
That didn’t seem to be the ‘end of it,’ though: ‘I can’t quit my job,’ I responded when he urged me to leave my job and come. It turned out to be the rest of my life when I said, “I can come for a couple of weeks.” Watch the conversation below.
