DOUG ALDRICH HAS AN UNRELEASED AND UNHEARD RONNIE JAMES DIO SONG
4th September 2017



ronnie james dio

The Dead Daisies guitarist Doug Aldrichs says he has a previously unreleased Ronnie James Dio demo recording. The track in question was written during the sessions for Dio's 'Magica II', the sequel to 2000s 'Magica' that was left unfinished when Ronnie passed away in 2010.

A 'Magica II' track titled 'Electra' made it on to 2012s 'The Very Best Of Dio Vol 2', but Doug says more material may surface from the sessions.

The former Dio guitarist told Roppongi Rocks:

"I have a demo of Ronnie, an unreleased song nobody's ever heard. I offered it to Wendy [Dio, Ronnie's widow and manager] and, I don't know, maybe she forgot about it, but I said 'I have this song. It's really haunting'.

"It was during [the] time he wrote 'Electra'. I just played on it. We were kind of bouncing around some of his ideas and working on some of them. Before we did 'Electra', he had this other one that he said, 'Can you put a solo on this?' and he gave me the track. I had put a solo on it and then, when I brought it to his house, he goes, 'No, no, no. I've got this new idea called 'Electra''.

"We didn't even listen to it. I don't even think he ever heard the solo because we were so focused on trying to get one song done to promote the tour that we were gonna do. I was still a member of Whitesnake, but I said to him, 'If you work it out with David [Coverdale], I would love to go out on the road with you'.

"Because he had asked me to go. He worked it out and then he got sick. But there is this one track that is haunting, because the lyrics are... and he doubled his voice, it's just really trippy.

"At some point, it will have to come out. I got it. I got the mix. I actually have the recording session, which has got Ronnie playing bass, Ronnie playing rhythm guitar and vocals. And then a drum machine. One day."

Former Dio bass player Jeff Pilson said last month that Ronnie "would have approved" of his controversial hologram, which is due to go on tour in November.

Created by Eyellusion, the hologram made its debut at last year's Wacken Open Air festival as Dio Disciples closed out the event.



Eyellusion recently announced the first batch of dates for 'Dio Returns: The World Tour', featuring the hologram singing to songs played by some of Ronnie's former bandmates.

Pilson was interviewed by Music Mania podcast and was asked for his opinion on the hologram:

"I haven't actually seen it in person, but I've seen some pretty interesting pictures and I saw a video for a moment, and it actually looked really cool to me. I thought they did a great job on it.

Again, I haven't seen it in person, but from what I've seen, it looks pretty amazing."

The former Dokken and current Foreigner bass player, who who was a member of Dio from 1993 to 1997 and again from 2004 to 2005 continued:

"Ronnie loved technology, and I think, deep down, he would have loved the thought that that could have happened. And knowing him, 'cause he was quite an imaginative guy, he probably did imagine that something like that could happen. And honestly, I think Ronnie would have approved."

Pilson was backed up by former Dio drummer Simon Wright, who will be appearing as part of the tour.

Initial tour dates now announced are:

November 30th: The Circus – Helsinki, Finland
December 3th: Fryshuset – Stockholm, Sweden
December 4th: Rockefeller Music Hall – Oslo, Norway
December 6th: Progresja – Warsaw, Poland
December 13th: Bikini – Barcelona, Spain
December 15th: Escenario Santander – Santander, Spain
December 17th: Arelene Romane – Bucharest, Romania
December 20th: Trix – Antwerp, Belgium
December 21st: 013 – Tilburg, Netherlands

The 'Dio Returns' tour will also make stops throughout Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Paraguay, United Kingdom, Venezuela and other countries, with dates to be announced. The tour is expected to come to the United States in spring 2018 and play festivals globally during the summer.

The Ronnie James Dio hologram will perform for the majority of the show, treating fans to an alternating setlist that will feature songs such as 'Rainbow In The Dark', 'We Rock', 'Neon Nights', 'King Of Rock & Roll', 'Man On The Silver Mountain', 'Heaven & Hell', 'Holy Diver' and many more.

The tour will feature Dio's actual live vocals with the Dio Band playing live. The band features Craig Goldy on guitar, Simon Wright on drums, Scott Warren on keyboards and Bjorn Englen on bass. Tim 'Ripper' Owens will also perform with singer Oni Logan also joining on select dates.

ronnie james dio