Ronnie James Dio, the pocket-sized volcano whose voice could turn a pub into a cathedral, and whose phrasing hit like a boxer's jab. I watched him climb from Ronnie Dio and the Prophets (1961-1967) and the hard-touring Elf (1967-1975) into Rainbow (1975-1979), where he helped bottle that mix of medieval melody and street-fight hard rock. He rebooted Black Sabbath in two spells-1979-1982 and 1991-1992-then ran his own ship with Dio (1982-1991; 1993-2010), delivering anthems like "Holy Diver" without ever sounding cute. Late in the game he returned with the Sabbath lineup as Heaven & Hell (2006-2010), still singing on stage like the lights might go out mid-chorus.