Among the heavy metal artists he adores and who have inspired him, one that means a great deal to Dave Grohl of the Seattle, Washington rock band Foo Fighters is the late singer Ronnie James Dio.
Dio was an extraordinary talent that captivated fans across all walks of life thanks to his one-of-a-kind voice. He is considered one of the greatest heavy metal singers of all time. The late frontman is most famously remembered for his time fronting Black Sabbath and his own band, Dio.
After Dio’s death in 2010, the annual charity event Bowl For Ronnie was established in his name. During a run-in with Grohl at the 2019 edition, The Blairing Out With Eric Blair Show took the opportunity to interview the Foo Fighters frontman about a variety of different rock-related topics, as well as talk about Dio.
When asked what sort of impact Dio’s music has had on his own songwriting, Grohl opens up about how much he adores the Dio album Holy Diver. Among the various albums he worked on, Holy Diver is one of Ronnie James Dio’s most iconic works.
While talking about the record, Grohl speaks to how captivating of an experience it is, and also shares that he considers Holy Diver to be “one of the best fucking albums of all time.”
Speaking about Dio’s Holy Diver, Grohl shares the following (as transcribed by Blabbermouth):
“Well, ‘Holy Diver’ is one of the best fucking albums of all time. When I listen to records, I don’t just listen to the vocals; I don’t just listen to the drums — I listen to it as a whole. But an album like that, that’s kind of the perfect record. Vinny Appice’s playing on that fucking album is insane. As a drummer, I listen to that record and it’s, like, I don’t know if it’s composition or if that shit was just coming off the top of his head, but as a drummer, that album is incredibly inspiring and influential. The simplicity of something like that.
“That’s one of the things I’ve always loved about Dio’s music — it’s not overly complicated or orchestrated; it’s a sum of a few very simple parts, and it’s powerful. And I fucking grew up with that shit. I remember being 13 or 14 years old and seeing ‘Stand Up And Shout’ live on ‘Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert’ on Friday night. And it makes you want to become a musician. You see something like that and it’s so moving and inspiring that you’re, like, ‘Oh my God! That’s what I wanna do for the rest of my life.’ It did that to me.”