Dio's 1983 classic Holy Diver has been certified Double Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) , meaning the album has sold 2 million copies. The RIAA awards one sale to an album when an album sells one copy, had 10 individual tracks sold from the album, or had 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid or subscription streams.
Holy Diver was Ronnie James Dio's debut album after leaving Black Sabbath. The band at the time consisted of Dio's Black Sabbath bandmate Vinny Appice on drums, ex-Rainbow bassist Jimmy Bain, and future Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell. Holy Diver originally went Platinum in 1989 and contains arguably two of the greatest heavy metal songs ever written – "Rainbow In The Dark" and "Holy Diver."
While we're here, let's also collectively recognize that "Caught In The Middle" should have been an absolute radio banger back in the day. What a song.
In related Dio news/remembering how kickass the man was, Dio: Dreamers Never Die, the long-awaited Ronnie James Dio documentary, received its first-ever public screening at the SXSW Film Festival. In a previous interview with Ronnie's widow and longtime manager Wendy Dio, Dio: Dreamers Never Die features personalities like Rob Halford and Jack Black.
"I saw the first cut of it. It was very emotional. It's very different from [Dio's autobiography]. 'Cause the book finishes in 1986, with Ronnie playing Madison Square Garden. But the documentary goes all the way through his life till the end. And it was very emotional. I was watching it with my publicist and a person from BMG, who are funding the documentary. And we all cried. It was very emotional. But it's really interesting and really good.
"Rob Halford is great in it, talking about stories. Lita Ford [and] Jack Black [are also in it]. Eddie Trunk and Mick Wall [author of Dio's autobiography] both kind of narrated it and everything. I'm very pleased with it. I don't know exactly when it's gonna come out [this] year, but it'll be out [this] year."
Record label BMG also authorized Dio: Dreamers Never Die, with BMG acting as the financier and executive producer of the film. Dio: Dreamers Never Die "will be the definitive Ronnie James Dio documentary, incorporating never-before-seen archival footage and photos from his personal archives. The film will offer intimate scenes with his closest peers, friends and family as they bring us inside the life of one of rock and roll's true heroes."
