A new documentary about rock legend Ronnie James Dio is on the way

BMG have announced that a documentary on Ronnie James Dio is in production.

• Read More: Ronnie James Dio, 1942-2010

Announcing the news yesterday (February 18), the company said that the new documentary will be made with the full authorisation of his estate. Dio died in 2010 following a battle with stomach cancer.

Directed by Don Argott and Damian Fenton, the upcoming documentary will include “never-before-seen archival footage and photos from his personal archives,” according to Billboard. It will also feature “scenes with his closest peers, friends and family.”

Dio’s career spanned a 50-year period from the 1950’s to the early 2000s. Dio served as the frontman for a number of groups including Black Sabbath – when he replaced frontman Ozzy Osborne in 1979 – Elf, Rainbow, Dio and Heaven and Hell.

In a statement, Dio’s widow Wendy said: “I am very excited to be working with BMG on Ronnie’s long-awaited documentary. Ronnie loved his fans and I hope they will enjoy this trip through Ronnie’s life.”

The film will also finish Dio’s incomplete autobiography, which he was writing at the time of his death.

Alongside the documentary, BMG will also release his studio albums from 1996-2004: ‘Angry Machines’, ‘Killing The Dragon’ and ‘Master of the Moon.’ The reissues will also include rarities and unreleased tracks.

A cover album of Dio’s music – ‘This Is Your Life’ – was released in 2014 and featured four songs by Metallica. Their megamix of ‘Stargazer’, ‘Tarot Woman,’ ‘Kill the King,’ and ‘A Light in the Black’ were all by Dio’s band Rainbow.

Speaking about his love for Dio’s music and its influence on Metallica, drummer Lars Ulrich said at the time: “[Dio’s] music is so much a part of what’s in Metallica’s DNA, the harder, edgier, blues-based hard rock from the ’70s. It was fairly effortless to put this together, because it’s something that we were all reared on.”

The compilation also features tracks by Motörhead, Tenacious D and Anthrax plus one-off supergroups featuring members of Judas Priest, Slipknot and Dio’s former band. Proceeds from the record went to the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout cancer fund.

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