DIO: 'Donington UK: Live 1983 & 1987' Artwork Unveiled

The first official release from Niji Entertainment Group, the label formed by the late Ronnie James Dio and his wife/manager Wendy Dio, will be the double-disc set "Dio At Donington UK: Live 1983 & 1987". The first disc was recorded at the first-ever U.K. performance by Dio's solo group, while on tour supporting their classic debut, "Holy Diver". And the setlist does a superb job reflecting DIO's debut (featuring such classics as "Rainbow in the Dark", "Stand Up And Shout", etc.),as well as classics from both RAINBOW and BLACK SABBATH ("Man on the Silver Mountain", "Heaven and Hell", etc.) — resulting in a thoroughretrospective of Dio's career, from RAINBOW to BLACK SABBATH to solo hits.

The second disc of "Dio At Donington UK: Live 1983 & 1987" features guitarist Craig Goldy's debut — recorded in 1987, in support of the "Dream Evil" album, and contains highlights from Dio's career.

The first disc represents "a new, young band coming out of the box," Wendy tells RollingStone.com, "and then the [second disc] is a more seasoned band."

The set will be released as a deluxe digipak including a booklet filled with rare photographs and liner notes, and original replica all-access laminates from both shows.

Ronnie was the executive producer on the Donington project, and was very much looking forward to the release.

"Dio At Donington UK: Live 1983 & 1987" track listing:

CD 1: 1983

01. Stand Up And Shout
02. Straight Through The Heart
03. Children Of The Sea
04. Rainbow In The Dark
05. Holy Diver
06. Drum Solo
07. Stargazer
08. Guitar Solo
09. Heaven And Hell
10. Man On The Silver Mountain
11. Starstruck
12. Man On The Silver Mountain (Reprise)

CD 2: 1987

01. Dream Evil
02. Neon Knights
03. Naked In The Rain
04. Rock And Roll Children
05. Long Live Rock 'n' Roll
06. The Last In Line
07. Children Of The Sea
08. Holy Diver
09. Heaven And Hell
10. Man On The Silver Mountain
11. All The Fools Sailed Away
12. The Last In Line (Reprise)
13. Rainbow In The Dark

Check out the cover artwork below.

The Niji Entertainment Group is a full-service record label, and will be releasing rare and unreleased recordings from Dio and other artists.

November 23 will see two additional releases from the Niji Entertainment Group — a deluxe limited edition picture disc of Dio's classic solo debut, "Holy Diver", and "Bitten By The Beast" from David "Rock" Feinstein.

"Rock" is Ronnie's cousin, and was a member of ELF, and the leader of the legendary New York band THE RODS. "Bitten By The Beast" features the single "Metal Will Never Die", with lead vocals by Ronnie James Dio. This single will be heavily worked to active rock and metal radio this fall.

In 2011, the Niji Entertainment Group has many other Dio-related projects planned, including an extensive vinyl box set (an idea that Ronnie himself came up with),"For The Record: The Complete Dio Vinyl Collection", which will feature 16 LPs in a deluxe carrying case, with "all-access tour laminates" from every tour. All of the LPs will be on 180-gram colored vinyl. Also, being released for the first time on DVD will be "Super Rock Japan 1985" (which was only ever released in Japan on VHS). Another forthcoming DVD release will be a collection of every Dio MTV promotional video, plus live concert footage including bonus features, including interviews with Ronnie, his band, and crew. A Dio bootleg box set is on the horizon as well, featuring never-before-released sound board recordings and audience recordings. Other releases from the Niji Entertainment Group in 2011 will include all four RAINBOW Dio-era LPs in their original gatefold sleeves on 180-gram colored vinyl, and all three ELF LPs will be issued on 180-gram colored vinyl. 2011 will also see deluxe reissues from Tim "Ripper" Owens, a fantastic new CD from Oni Logan (LYNCH MOB vocalist),and Rowan Robertson (DIO guitarist),as well as live ELF.

Between Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, the Dio social media followers now numbers over one million.

The Niji Entertainment Group is in the process of starting the official Dio webstore, which will give fans worldwide opportunity to purchase t-shirts, limited edition items, and CDs/DVDs that fans have been requesting.

While Ronnie was alive, he always wanted to have his own action figure/statue. And now, this has become a reality — KnuckleBonz has created the Ronnie James Dio Rock Iconz statue, which will be available in late fall 2010. These statues are only produced in limited edition runs of 3,000, which make them highly collectible and sought-after from fans.

A portion from the sales of the Dio statue will go to the Stand Up And Shout Cancer Fund, in honor of Ronnie James Dio. Pre-orders are available by visiting www.knucklebonz.com.