Vivian Campbell's disappointing portrayal of Ronnie James Dio

I was just reading an interview that The Metal Voica conducted with former Dio & current Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell (also Def Leppard guitarist currently) & this what he had to say about legendary Dio/Rainbow/Black Sabbath/Heaven & Hell frontman Ronnie James Dio:

"We were writing the music but we got no royalties. We got none of the merchandise or the t-shirts or those ticket sales for the venue’s or anything. It was very painful for me for many years. I was in my early twenties and it wasn’t about the money to me but it’s about the principle. I’m very very big on principle. When somebody makes me a promise I expect them to keep it because I keep my word it’s that’s just the way I was brought up. When I tell somebody I’m going to do something I meet my commitments. Ronnie had made us a promise of payment and we worked for very little money; less than our road crew and the band was very successful. Back then people bought records and we were selling a lot of records and we were all very involved in the creative process. It was really a collaborative process. We were kind of squeezed. Wendy Dio never really saw it as a band. She never really saw the value in the band and that’s something that really really upset me. 

After I was fired I think Ronnie knew better. He understood the real magic that the original band had and the chemistry we had and how we created together. I think Ronnie was really fearful of her and he never stood up. Like I said it was never about money. I just wanted what Ronnie promised. It was a contract that was between the four of us and and he just wasn’t man enough to follow through on it and and I called him on it and I got fired as a result. It was very painful for me for many years. We never got royalty checks. That was the whole issue. We worked for minimum wages even though we were writing the music. We got no royalties. We got none of the merchandise or the t-shirts or those ticket sales for the venue’s or anything. We got a flat salary that was less than the road crew.  Ronnie had promised by the third album 'Sacred Heart' there would be an equity situation so that was the principal that got me fired. You know, they offered us a few hundred dollars more per week and then I got sent a contract by Wendy and it said failure to sign and return this contract by this date will constitute you’re no longer being in the band. I tried to call Ronnie. I was in Ireland at the time. It was a break between legs of the' Sacred Heart' tour which finished North America. I’d gone back to visit my family my parents and I got this contract in a FedEx envelope and I was shocked I opened it. I tried to call Ronnie and he wouldn’t answer the phone. Next thing you know Craig Goldie is the guitarist. It was a seamless transition. Obviously it was well-executed and planned, you know, but I wouldn’t change any of that. I would change maybe how I reacted to it in later years. 

Ronnie and I both made the mistake of airing our grievances in public which is never a good idea but you know, it is what it is, and it was only after Ronnie passed away that I was really able to kind of look at the entire situation in a very different light. For years I didn’t want anything to do with with the legacy of Dio. Later on I really wanted to reconnect with that fire.”

This isn't really a surprise as we've discovered dozens of these sort of stories throughout the "Metal Academy" series thus far. But is very disappointing & it does tend to tarnish the rose-coloured glasses through which we all view Ronnie a little bit, doesn't it?

It is disappointing, but as you say, not at all surprising. There are a lot of similarities between the Ozzy and Dio stories, with dominating women making decisions for them with no consideration beyond money. Both Ozzy Osbourne and Dio released two great "band albums" before the problems came to a head.