Former DIO band members Simon Wright, Rudy Sarzo, Scott Warren and Craig Goldy have teamed up with vocalists Toby Jepson and Tim “Ripper” Owens to form Dio Disciples. Wright, Sarzo, Goldy and Warren played in DIO for years and feel the times is right for them to retake the stage and allow the masses to continue to enjoy Ronnie James Dio’s music in a live setting.

The world of Metal will never totally get over the death of their elder statesmen. He leaves behind a legacy of music that includes many of Metal’s greatest moments including the songs “Man on the Silver Mountain,” “Long Live Rock n’ Roll,” “Heaven and Hell,” “Neon Nights,” “Children of the Sea,” “Rainbow in the Dark,” “The Last in Line” and “We Rock.” He also leaves behind a legacy of friendship, and mentorship, to all who played music with him.

In this interview, former AC/DC and DIO drummer Simon Wright explains how Dio Disciples came to be and what their goals are going forward. We also discuss, in-depth, his friendship with Ronnie, how he came to live in his house for over a decade, and what the man and the music meant to them.

Dio Disciples are hitting the road, keeping the music alive and reminding us what an icon Ronnie James Dio was, is and always will be.

Simon: My sentiments exactly, it is a sad thing but something tells us we are doing the right thing.

Simon: I don’t exactly remember when we came up with it; we always seemed to be thinking of it. As more time went by, we really thought we should sit down and discuss it and try to make it a viable thing. We just couldn’t let it go. Ronnie was such a big part of all of our lives. I was in his band for fourteen years. We felt this was the right time to do it; we really wanted to get moving on this thing.

Simon: I can’t remember who came up with it. It developed out of a couple of other names and then it came together. It works, doesn’t it? It brings everyone together as we are all Dio Disciples. Ronnie’s fans were that way too. Ronnie always wanted to bring everyone together to honor his music. This will give the fans the chance to hear his music, once again, in a big live setting.

Simon: [laughing] Everybody has an opinion, and it can either be a good one or a bad one. I’m trying to be very diplomatic about this. We are really doing this from the heart and if some of those naysayers would just give it a small chance then they might just like it. We’re doing this for all of the right reasons. We all knew Ronnie, we really knew him. He was my best friend for a long time; that is not to take anything away from anyone else in the band. I’m not saying I am the holy best friend. I know why I’m doing this and I know why the rest of the guys in the band are doing this. We’re all doing it because we loved Ronnie. He wrote some of the most groundbreaking, classic epics in heavy Metal. He was our leader and he was our boss. He was a cool boss at that. This is not brain surgery. We are doing this to honor him, so if you like the songs then come check it out; that’s all. If anyone out there does not think that this is a good idea then don’t go to the shows. It’s that simple.

Simon: I believe it would have been something that he would have approved of. He approved of the record company and all of the things Wendy is doing. Everything that Wendy and he talked about has all come to light. It is really a shame that he is not alive to see it. He wanted the record company and he worked it all out before he died. I wish we didn’t have to do this project. I wish we were not having this conversation. I wish we were talking about a new Dio record, like you said earlier.

Simon: I have not thought that far ahead, I must admit. I have been too wrapped up in the first step, which is the rehearsals and getting the songs right. It will probably hit me once we’re about to go on. The fans will be there and that is a whole different situation.

It can be boring as hell rehearsing but the thing that matters is getting these songs out in front of the fans. Toby [Jepson] is doing a great job, as is Ripper [Owens]. They are not trying to emulate Ronnie but rather are doing their best to honor him.

It, honestly, has not hit me yet; I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.

Simon: We’re trying to do that. We have to play “Heaven and Hell,” “Holy Diver,” “We Rock” and “Rainbow in the Dark.” We have always played the hits but we’re trying to bring in a couple of special things, at the moment. As we do more shows then we will hopefully bring in some other songs that were never done live or perhaps have not been done live in a long, long time. We feel that would make it very special. We will just have to see how this all progresses.

Simon: There has been a little bit of talk about that. There are some songs but we’re leaving that up to Wendy. Wendy is in charge of everything Ronnie. We’re not sure exactly when, and if, that will happen. There is a lot of stuff going on in this band. There could be some things we can do for Wendy and Ronnie’s cancer fund that will probably happen. It has been discussed but it is not something we are doing at this point.

Simon: What I heard, and what we were working on, was very, very cool. He was even working on it when he was sick.

Simon: There were some other reasons behind that…but yes, Ronnie is special. The first time I met Ronnie was in 1984. It was many years before I ever thought about joining his band. I was with AC/DC and we were playing one of those Monsters of Rock shows. It was like AC/DC, the Scorpions and Van Halen, what a great lineup. In 1984, they moved it out of Castle Donington for the first time and traveled it around to other places in Europe. I met Ronnie backstage at one of the shows. I was just wondering around backstage and he just walked up to me and introduced himself and said hello. I was like, “Wow, Ronnie James Dio just talked to me!”

He was a very smart guy who was very funny. He was just super intelligent. After I got to know him I joined the band. He had the biggest heart and the greatest memory in the world. He was the quickest thinking guy that I have ever met in my life. There was something very special about him, and then there was the voice.

He helped me out a lot over the years. I went through a messy divorce and I was going to leave the band and was totally in a bad place. Ronnie told me not to think about it and that I could stay in his house. He told me not to worry about it. I turned around and it is like 11 years later and I was still living in his house. We got along great. We would watch sports and hang out. It was great. I was completely heartbroken when he died. It was a complete nightmare. Apart from the death of my own father, it is the worst thing to ever happen in my life. Ronnie was like a father to me.

Simon: [laughter] Eleven years. I moved out a couple of times but I always ended up going back and hanging out there. We worked in the house a lot. If we weren’t building something then we were hanging out getting drunk. We also worked on music in the house. Craig [Goldy] would stay there a lot too. We would work on the demos for the albums in the house. We really worked well together in that environment. There was always something going on; the wheels were always in motion.

Simon: Ronnie was completely dedicated to his fans. We would stop in the weirdest places so he could talk to fans and shake hands. He had the greatest memory, as he would remember their name and how their brother was. The fans were number one for him. We would be on the road and we would be finished with the show but there was another three and a half hours of him meeting fans and signing autographs – even if it was pissing down rain. He was totally dedicated to his fans and to the music. He never gave up as that was his job and that is what he did. He instilled that in Craig and me and a lot of other people. He was a workhorse; he was a workaholic. He did things in a smart way, though. His craft was everything to him.

Simon: He loved the New York Giants. He actually loved all sports. My favorite team was the Manchester United and he knew more about them then I did. He would show me scores and stats and tell me what happened in the game. He had a great ability to retain information.

Simon: He loved basketball. I am only about as tall as he was. I might be a quarter of an inch taller. Nothing would have stopped him, that’s for sure.

Simon: He always thought that was an important part of being in his position. He thought it was very important to give back. He has his cancer charity but he was also involved in Children of the Night that raised money to help runaways. He also did Hear N’ Aid. He and Wendy both felt it was very important that since they were in the position to help people that they do it.

Simon: He was a riot; he was a funny guy. Ronnie would always come up with these one-liners. He had little sayings that were peculiar. He had a good wit and a wicked sense of humor. I really miss him.

Simon: It’s okay. When I first heard the news we were all in pieces. We were like, “What the hell are we going to do now?” I was just hanging at the house that day. It became like a job to Ronnie to get better. He would clap his hands and say, “Okay, we’ve got a job to do.” I was like, “I will help you the best I can.” He would say, “That’s great. Thank God for that, those are the words I wanted to hear.” When he died it was very, very, very rough.

Ronnie instilled in us a great work ethic. You have got to get on with things. You’ve got to start getting out of this big slump. We’ve got to rise out of this and start working again. That is what Ronnie was all about. He was all about working and the music and doing something productive. If Ronnie wasn’t making up a melody for a song then he was doing a crossword or he was watching sports. He never just sat and looked out of a window. He was always doing something and that was a great inspiration to me. When I would think about that, and how he was, then it would get me out of my slump and back into life. He wouldn’t want me to sit around and be upset about this for the rest of my life. He would have wanted me to get on with my life.

Simon: There are so many things…the dedication of being in a band. You can’t let little things slip when you play. You’ve got to play perfectly, which is impossible but you can try. That is the way Ronnie was. He was always striving to be the best. I think that is what drives us on.

Simon: We discussed it and we all had ideas. There were different vocalists that we thought about, I don’t want to mention names because I don’t want to detract from what we are talking about.

Tim [Ripper Owens] has always been a friend of Ronnie’s. Wendy manages Tim. Tim got thrown right in the deep end with Priest. I think he handled himself well but he was in an opportunity to ask Ronnie for advice back then. Ronnie would talk to him and help him.

Tim first met Ronnie in Cleveland when the band was playing with Motorhead. They found a connection. You can’t help but get along with Ronnie. Tim’s name was an obvious one to think of.

Simon: He still is Tim. When we sat down to do the band we decided that we didn’t want to get a Ronnie clone because that would just seem like we were just trying to be a cover band or a tribute band. We’re not a tribute band as we were members of his band for a long time. Tim brings to the songs what it needs; not just trying to sound like him. He has great power and range and it is sounds really, really great. He is not trying to emulate Ronnie. The other singer, Toby, is also sounding great. They really work well together.

Simon: We’re going to do the European thing first. We are taking in a lot of festivals like Download. Hopefully, in September, we will be doing a full-blown American tour. We will get around as much as we can. That is about all we’ve got at the moment.

Simon: Actually, no, that would be Scott Warren. He has been playing keyboards for Ronnie for a long, long time. I think he has been there fifteen years.

Simon: Ronnie is a big sports fan. When Italy won the World Cup, we were in a sports bar in an airport. Ronnie just started punching the air and laughing. He was having a great time. It is an image of Ronnie that I have always loved.

There are plenty of proud moments as well. We headlined the Wacken Open Air Festival in Germany. When we were done Wendy told us to stay on the stage. They came out and gave Ronnie a lifetime achievement award for his contribution to Metal. There were 40,000 Metal heads all screaming, “DIO…DIO...DIO.” That was amazing.

Simon: You’re right, looking on paper, it does look like that. I don’t want to take anything away from my years with AC/DC as they were wonderful. Looking back, I wish I ‘d been older as I was just a kid who was thrown into this rock n’ roll washing machine. A lot of it was unnerving and scary. The lads in the band were very good to me; they were good mates. It was great and I had some great times. They are still an incredible band but my days in DIO were fantastic days. I will never forget them; they were something special.