Ronnie James Dio: New film about metal icon from Central New York coming to TV

A new documentary film about Central New York music legend Ronnie James Dio is coming to TV next week.

The acclaimed rockumentary “Dio: Dreamers Never Die” will make its television premiere on Showtime Thursday, Dec. 1, at 8 p.m. ET. The 116-minute doc, which is rated TV-MA, will also be available to stream via the Showtime app.

“A career-spanning documentary following singer Ronnie James Dio’s journey from small town crooner to heavy metal hero. Condemned by religious groups and misunderstood by conservative parents, Dio emerges as a righteous messenger inspiring an entire generation of rockers to believe in themselves and chase their dreams,” the synopsis says.

The “definitive documentary film” promises to highlight Dio’s powerful voice and his gentle heart while exploring his rise from a ‘50s doo-wop singer to a metal icon in bands like Elf, Rainbow, Dio, and even replacing Ozzy Osbourne in Black Sabbath. It’s the first documentary authorized by his estate with never-before-seen footage and personal photos as well as interviews with people like Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, Glenn Hughes, Vinny Appice, Lita Ford, Rob Halford, Sebastian Bach, Eddie Trunk, Jack Black and Dio’s widow, Wendy Dio.

“People who have conviction, talent and heart like Ronnie James Dio are in short supply these days,” co-directors Don Argott and Demian Fenton said. “It is refreshing to share his inspiring story of believing in yourself and chasing your dreams. As life-long Dio fans, it is incredibly humbling to bring Ronnie’s journey to the screen and we can’t wait to share it with audiences.”

Ronnie James Dio, who was born Ronald James Padavona in New Hampshire and raised in Cortland, N.Y., started out as a trumpet player, receiving a standing ovation in sixth grade with a performance of “The Toy Trumpet” at the New York State Music Festival. He later adopted the name “Dio” while forming his first band at Cortland High School because it was short and sounded like an Italian Mafia boss — or a potential future rock star, according to his autobiography, “Rainbow in the Dark.”

He eventually became an international star, had a metal festival named after him (Hell and Heaven in Mexico), and was honored with a Dio monument in Bulgaria. He also famously popularized the “devil horns” in rock and roll and had songs have covered by Anthrax, Metallica, HammerFall and Halestorm; Black’s band Tenacious D won a Grammy for their 2014 version of “The Last in Line.”

But Dio also remained a hometown hero. In Cortland, there’s a street named after him (“Dio Way”) and the town holds “Dio Days” concerts in his honor. He was posthumously awarded a SAMMYs Lifetime Achievement Award from the Syracuse Area Music Hall of Fame in 2014.

Dio died in 2010 of stomach cancer at age 67.

The documentary, which had a limited release in theaters this fall, was produced by Wendy Dio. She unearthed a treasure trove of memorabilia that Ronnie kept over the years, including stage-worn costumes, music instruments, and personal treasures from his childhood like a Cortland youth sports patch, a membership card from the Cortland Musicians Association, a prize ribbon he won at the Cortland County Fair in fifth grade, and a 1982 plaque from Syracuse radio station 94 ROCK - WSYR-FM.

“He had so much stuff. It was just sitting in storage for years and years,” Wendy told syracuse.com | The Post-Standard last year. “I said, ‘We need to start going through this stuff’ and I thought it was better for fans (to buy them) than throwing it away. I still have loads more. I’m hoping to put them in a museum in West Hollywood.”