The legendary Ronnie James Dio hated one of his most famous songs. The shocking revelation is surprisingly common: multiple artists would probably have left a Metallica disliked "Escape" so much they never wanted to perform it live. Thus, Ronnie wasn't alone in how he felt.

Ronnie James Dio fronted many bands throughout his career, including Elf, Rainbow and Heaven & Hell. He is most widely ed for his time as the vocalist for Black Sabbath, and the band that bore his namesake, Dio. While the lineup changed over the years, Ronnie James Dio remained the consistent member of Dio and led the band to an incredible 10 studio albums. One of those albums was Holy Diver, and with hits like "Don't Talk to Strangers," "Stand Up and Shout," "Holy Diver," and "Rainbow in the Dark," the album became Dio's biggest success.

"Rainbow In The Dark" Became A Signature Dio Song

Dio Recorded An Instant Classic

Making an impression is key to a band's success, and that's precisely what Dio did in 1983 with their debut studio album, Holy Diver. Despite featuring what many considered controversial cover art by Randy Barrett, the songs on this record established Dio as one of the top heavy-metal bands. In under two years, the album was already certified gold, and in less than five years, it had achieved platinum certification status. To date, the album has sold over 2 million copies in the United States and has been certified double platinum by RIAA.

RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) s record labels and s musicians' and creators' rights. They recognize achievements through their Gold and Platinum programs.

"Rainbow in the Dark" became a signature Dio song. Guitarist Vivian Campbell told Louder Sound that the music for the song actually came from his teenage years, stating, "All the music in 'Rainbow in the Dark' was from a Sweet Savage song that I wrote when I was sixteen." A jam session turned into something magical with a reverse beat from drummer Vinny Appice, some keyboard flavoring from Jimmy Bain, and a melody from Ronnie. Campbell noted that the song was written in an impressive 10 minutes.

The numbers prove that "Rainbow in the Dark" is a beloved song. On Spotify alone, the track has over 200,000,000 streams. On YouTube, it has also accumulated millions of views on various versions. However, for as beloved as the song is, it was not always loved by Dio's leader, Ronnie James Dio himself. In fact, if Ronnie had gotten his way, the song might have been omitted from the album entirely, and Dio fans would have missed out on an absolute classic.

Ronnie James Dio Hated "Rainbow In The Dark"

The Heaviness Wasn't Heavy Enough

Part of what led to the formation of the band Dio was Ronnie's departure from his previous group, Rainbow. This was no easy decision as Rainbow was coming off their extremely successful Rising record, which had broken into the Top 50 of the "Billboard Pop Albums" chart. The problem was, Ronnie had enough of singing pop-rock songs, and wanted to remain consistent with a heavier sound. This is where "Rainbow in the Dark" nearly met its demise because, as Ronnie told VH1, the song sounded "poppy."

I liked the riff, but I thought that the song just became a little bit poppy. That was my problem with it.

A major reason Ronnie felt the way he did was that he had just come off of two albums with Black Sabbath. Those weren't just any old albums either; the Heaven and Hell album, which was released in April 1980, helped sustain the career of Black Sabbath following the departure of Ozzy Osbourne. The 1981 Mob Rules album also succeeded, landing on the charts and ultimately becoming certified gold. Therefore, there was no way he wanted Dio's debut album to be anything less than heavy-metal perfection.

Since the other songs on the album felt a lot heavier, "Rainbow in the Dark" found itself out of context compared to everything else. Even though Ronnie vowed to destroy the tape, that ultimately never happened. Dio fans who love the Holy Diver album for what it is have a group of people to thank for it, and even Ronnie found himself being grateful that things were kept exactly as recorded.

How Dio Was Convinced Not To Destroy "Rainbow In The Dark"

Holy Diver Stays As Intended

If erasing recordings in the 1980s had been as simple as it is today, "Rainbow in the Dark" could have been destroyed forever. Ronnie stated in an interview with VH1 that he tried to physically cut the song out, but the Dio who helped create the song talked him out of it.

“These were the days were we were using tapes and not digital things. So instead of pressing ‘delete’ I would have taken a razor blade. I was about to do that and the rest of the guys in the band and including a couple of people that wrote the song (said) ‘No, don’t! It’s a great song! Don’t!'—so they talked me out of doing that.”

Ultimately Dio didn't fight this and decided the song could stay. Thus, the nine-track album, which runs for nearly 42 minutes and features a cover fans have discussed for decades, was born. Ronnie itted the song became a hit, and he was indeed grateful for listening to those who convinced him to keep it.

"Rainbow in the Dark" became synonymous with Dio, and it was a song they played at every show. To this day, it continues to help uphold the legacy of the band and Ronnie James Dio. It is still as beloved now as it was then, and Holy Diver just wouldn't feel the same without it. Perhaps in some ways, the fact that the song stands out on the album is what makes it special.