WENDY DIO Reflects On RONNIE JAMES DIO's Cancer Diagnosis And Eventual Passing: 'We Never, Ever Thought He Was Gonna Die'

Wendy Dio, widow and longtime manager of Ronnie James Dio, is the latest guest on Billy Corgan's podcast, "The Magnificent Others". In this powerful and emotional conversation, Wendy joins Billy to share the brilliance of her late husband, Ronnie James Dio — from their first meeting at the Rainbow Bar & Grill in West Hollywood, California to the creation of Ritchie Blackmore's RAINBOW, replacing Ozzy Osbourne in BLACK SABBATH, and Ronnie's breakthrough with his own band, DIO. Wendy reveals how Ronnie stayed true to his vision, refusing to chase hits, and how his humility, brilliance, and devotion to fans made him a legend. She and Billy discuss the origins of the devil horns, the making of the classic DIO songs "Holy Diver" and "Rainbow In The Dark" and the enduring legacy Wendy continues through the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up And Shout Cancer Fund.

Ronnie lost his life to stomach cancer, also called gastric cancer, in 2010. The disease often does not cause symptoms until its later stages. Usually, by the time stomach cancer is diagnosed, the prognosis is poor.

Reflecting on how the singer was first diagnosed, Wendy told Billy (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "About five years before he passed away, [Ronnie] was complaining of indigestion. I took him to a very famous Beverly Hills doctor who gave him heart tests and all kinds of stuff and just said, 'Oh, don't worry. It's gas, just gas.' … And he always had indigestion. He would eat [over-the-counter chewable antacid] Tums all the time. He had indigestion, indigestion. But you see, with things like stomach cancer, gastric cancers and pancreatic cancer, there's not really any signs until it's too late.

"So we found out that he was not feeling good," Wendy continued. "He finished a tour with [BLACK] SABBATH [offshoot HEAVEN & HELL]. That was my happiest memory that I have now, is that he went back with SABBATH and did that HEAVEN & HELL tour, the last thing. And everybody loved each other. Everybody was back to loving each other, having fun, really enjoying themselves, everybody pushing each other to the limit, because they were all such good musicians. And they created 'Bible Black' — all those songs are really good songs and [they had] a great time and [they] had a really fun time. [They were] gonna go out and do another album."

Wendy added: "They stopped [touring] then because Vinny [Appice, HEAVEN & HELL drummer] had something wrong with his hand or something, had to do something — I don't know, whatever. They took a break. And Ronnie wasn't feeling good at all. And that last tour he wasn't feeling good at all. And so I took him to my just local doctor, actually. He did a blood test and he called me back and he said, 'Wendy, it's not good news. I think we need to do an ultrasound and a colonoscopy.' We did all that. Ronnie didn't know. And [the doctor] said, 'He's got stage four cancer.' And I said, 'Don't tell him. Don't tell him.' So I spent the whole weekend trying to find out the best oncologist I could find at what hospital, and they said MD Anderson [Cancer Center in Houston, Texas], but I couldn't get him into MD Anderson. I was trying everything. And then somebody said, 'Go to the Mayo Clinic.' So we flew to Minneapolis, went to the Mayo Clinic, and the guy, a horrible doctor, he said, 'Well, you're gonna die. So, just go back and put your life together. You've probably got six months.' So we went and stayed in the hotel. We cried all night long; I remember that. And then I got a text from MD Anderson that we could get in there with T.J. Martell [Foundation, the music industry's largest foundation for leukemia, cancer, and AIDS research], [through founder] Tony Martell, who we'd done some, stuff for him before and given him money and stuff. So we flew from Minneapolis to Houston to see this doctor, this doctor Johnny, and he said, 'Look, I'll do the best. There's some trials out there that we can try. I can't promise you anything, but nobody can tell you except God when you're gonna die.' He said, 'That [other] doctor should be struck.' Anyway, he started doing the treatment. We used to go every two weeks. We'd go fly to Houston for six hours. He would do chemo. And you know what?! There was a kid there, 19 [years old], [who] was there, and Ronnie spent more time caring about him than caring about himself. And we used to skip down the halls, going, 'We're gonna kill the dragon.' We called it 'killing the dragon'. And we never, ever, either one [of us], thought that Ronnie was gonna die, because he did very well. He did very well. Three weeks before he passed away, he was getting an award from [Revolver Golden Gods in Los Angeles]."

Wendy also talked about her decision to start the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up And Shout Cancer Fund, which was established after Ronnie's death as a privately funded 501(c)(3) charity organization dedicated to cancer prevention, research and education. The Dio Cancer Fund has raised nearly $3 million to date through its various annual events and direct support from the vast community of Dio fans worldwide. It is their mission to help eradicate this disease through education and via Wendy's mantra: early detection saves lives.

"I just feel sometimes they don't wanna find a cure because they make too much money with things [various treatments]," Wendy explained to Billy. "Because I know for a fact that at one point Ronnie lost his eyesight of his eye because it had metastasized up there and his hand was [shaking]. And I took him to an optician, a specialist, and he said, 'Well, there's nothing we can do about it,' he said, 'but there's another specialist. Let me see in a couple of weeks.' I said, 'Okay.' So we went to Houston again, and they tried a new drug called Avastin. I'll never forget the name of that. We got off the plane and Ronnie said, 'I think I can see better in my eye. My hand stopped shaking.' And we went to the optician, and he said, 'I can't understand this. Your sight's back. I cannot understand this.' And then the next time we went there, the Avastin was taken off the market. But, anyway, we did that last award thing, and three weeks later [Ronnie] passed away. He wasn't feeling that good. He was feeling really in a lot of pain. We went to the hospital, and Gloria [Butler, wife and manager of SABBATH bassist Terry 'Geezer' Butler] and Terry were with me. And he passed away."

Wendy added: "Everybody was saying [they] wanted to give money for cancer [research]. And IRON MAIDEN sent me $10,000 and said, 'Where do you want it to go?' And I said, 'Well, a lot of big organizations, they have so much administration costs. I would really like it to go right where it should go.' And so we formed the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up And Shout Cancer Fund. And 14 of [Ronnie's] good friends are on the board… and we've raised almost three million dollars for research. And we support T.J. Martell. We support a lot of other cancer things. And we've actually been supporting Dr. [David] Wong from UCLA with a cancer test from a swab. Because men, a lot of times, don't get checked out 'cause they don't want a finger up the butt. This would be a swab in the mouth, and it could [provide] early detection if you've got stomach cancer or pancreatic cancer. Those are the two killers. And they just named one of the labs at UCLA after Ronnie."

Dio replaced Osbourne in BLACK SABBATH in 1980, recording the "Heaven And Hell" and "Mob Rules" albums, plus "Live Evil", before leaving in 1982. He rejoined the group 10 years later for an album called "Dehumanizer", and again teamed with the group under the HEAVEN & HELL banner. HEAVEN & HELL released an album called "The Devil You Know" in 2009.

Ronnie passed away of stomach cancer on May 16, 2010 at the age of 67.

Dio was renowned throughout the world as one of the greatest and most influential vocalists in heavy metal history. The singer was diagnosed with cancer in late 2009. He underwent chemotherapy and made what is now his final public appearance in April 2010 at the Revolver Golden Gods Awards in Los Angeles.

Ronnie's autobiography, titled "Rainbow In The Dark: The Autobiography", was released in July 2021 via Permuted Press. It was written with longtime friend of 30 years and esteemed music writer Mick Wall, who took up the mantle after Ronnie's passing.

"Dio: Dreamers Never Die", the first-ever, career-spanning documentary on the life and times of Ronnie James Dio, was released in September 2023 worldwide by Mercury Studios.

The "Bowl For Ronnie" celebrity bowling party, the annual event benefiting the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up And Shout Cancer Fund, will take place on Thursday, November 13, 2025 at PINZ Bowling Kitchen + Bar in Studio City, California. The event will once again be hosted by television and radio personality Eddie Trunk, who is heard on SiriusXM's 103 Faction Talk channel. "Bowl For Ronnie" will feature a celebrity bowling tournament and a raffle drawing for prizes and memorabilia. Last year's bowling event sold out well in advance and brought in more than $70,000 for the charity.