Editing Ronnie James Dio (section)

== Early life ==
Ronnie James "Dio" Padavona was born in [[Portsmouth, New Hampshire]],<ref name=":1">{{cite web |date=July 15, 2010 |title=City of Cortland Proclamation |url=https://www.cortland.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/95 |access-date=June 6, 2022 |website=Cortland.org |quote=Ronnie James Dio was born Ronald James Padavona on July 10, 1942 in Portsmouth, NH and resided in Cortland, New York from early childhood until his graduation from Cortland City School in 1960.}}</ref> to Italian-American parents<ref name="Ronnie James Dio obituary"/> Patrick and Anna from [[Cortland, New York]]. His family moved to Portsmouth from Cortland as part of his father's service in the U.S. Army during World War II,<ref name="G obit"/> and they resided there for only a short time before returning to Cortland. Padavona listened to a great deal of opera while growing up and was influenced vocally by American [[tenor]] [[Mario Lanza]].<ref name="usatoday_chat">{{cite news |date=June 17, 2002 |title=Talk Today – Ronnie James Dio |url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/community/chat/2002-06-17-dio.htm |newspaper=[[USA Today]] |access-date=June 26, 2013}}</ref> His first formal musical training began at age 5, learning to play the trumpet.<ref name="usatoday_chat" /> It was during high school that Padavona formed his first rock 'n' roll group, The Vegas Kings,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Herbert |first=Geoff |date=July 26, 2021 |title=Ronnie James Dio autobiography chronicles his life from Cortland trumpeter to international rock star |url=https://www.syracuse.com/celebrity-news/2021/07/ronnie-james-dio-autobiography-chronicles-his-life-from-cortland-trumpeter-to-international-rock-star.html |access-date=December 15, 2022 |website=syracuse |language=en}}</ref> which would later be named Ronnie and the Rumblers and then Ronnie and the Red Caps. Though Padavona began his rock 'n' roll career on trumpet, he added singing to his skill set and also assumed bass guitar duties for the groups.{{citation needed|date=October 2018}}

Padavona graduated from Cortland High School in 1960.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0" /> He was allegedly offered a scholarship to the prestigious [[Juilliard School]] of Music but did not take up the offer due to his interest in rock music.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://rivendell.fortunecity.com/dark/600/diography.htm |title=fortunecity.com |publisher=Rivendell.fortunecity.com |access-date=November 13, 2010|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101202045843/http://rivendell.fortunecity.com/dark/600/diography.htm |archive-date=December 2, 2010 }}</ref> He instead attended the [[University at Buffalo, The State University of New York|University at Buffalo]] to major in [[pharmacology]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ronniejamesdiosite.com/NewsInterviews/Interviews/Extremeinterview.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081205024132/http://ronniejamesdiosite.com/NewsInterviews/Interviews/Extremeinterview.html |url-status=usurped |archive-date=December 5, 2008 |title=Ronnie James Dio interview |publisher=Ronniejamesdiosite.com |access-date=November 13, 2010}}</ref> There, he played trumpet in the university's concert band; however, he only attended the university from 1960 to 1961 and did not graduate.<ref name="G obit"/> Then he enrolled at [[State University of New York College at Cortland|Cortland State College]] but dropped out as well.<ref>{{cite news |last=McCleary |first=Michael |date=June 30, 2019 |title=Dio legacy lives on through annual celebration |url=https://cortlandstandard.net/2019/06/30/dio-legacy-lives-on-through-annual-celebration |work=Cortland Standard |access-date=May 23, 2020}}</ref> In a 2000 interview, he stated that he majored in history and minored in [[English studies|English]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://michaelpatrickwelch.org/2014/03/26/raw-qa-with-ronnie-james-dio-st-petersburg-times-2000 |title=Raw Q&A with Ronnie James Dio (St. Petersburg Times. 2000) |last=Welch |first=Michael Patrick |date=March 26, 2014 |website=michaelpatrickwelch.org |access-date=May 23, 2020}}</ref>

Despite being known for his powerful singing voice, Padavona claimed to have never received any vocal training.<ref name="HM_97_65">{{cite journal |last=Van Pelt |first=Doug |date=May–June 1997 |title=What Dio Sez |journal=[[HM (magazine)|HM Magazine]] |issue=65 |url=http://www.hmmagazine.com/archives/Dio.htm |access-date=April 30, 2007 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20001212165000/http://www.hmmagazine.com/archives/Dio.htm |archive-date= December 12, 2000 |issn=1066-6923}}</ref> He instead attributed his singing ability to the use of breathing techniques he learned while playing trumpet.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.revolvermag.com/news/top-5-most-outrageous-facts-about-ronnie-james-dio.html |title=Top 5 Most Outrageous Facts About Ronnie James Dio &#124; Revolvermag |access-date=May 15, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170517011303/http://www.revolvermag.com/news/top-5-most-outrageous-facts-about-ronnie-james-dio.html |archive-date=May 17, 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref>