Wendy Dio reveals Ronnie James Dio originally wrote ‘Holy Diver’ for Black Sabbath

The 1983 song “Holy Diver” is one of heavy metal singer Ronnie James Dio’s biggest hits. But the singer’s widow Wendy Dio reveals in a recent interview with Full Metal Jackie that the song was not originally written for Dio’s solo career.

According to Wendy Dio, both “Holy Diver” and “Don’t Talk To Strangers” were originally conceived for Black Sabbath.

“Ronnie always did what he wanted to do. He never listened to what the record label wanted or anyone else. He always stuck to his guns in making the album. He hoped it would be successful. None of us realized how successful it was going to be. We really had been toying around with things and he had written ‘Holy Diver’ and ‘Don’t Talk to Strangers’ during the time he was in Black Sabbath, so they were supposed to be Sabbath songs.

“When he left Sabbath, we had a solo deal for him and he just put those songs [on the album] and got the band together, wrote more songs and it came out. Everyone was blown away about the reception that we got and how great the album was and how it’s stood [the test] of time. It’ll be 40 years next year.”