WENDY DIO Says The New Lineup Of The Officially Sanctioned DIO Tribute Band Will Hit The Road In The Fall Of 2026

In a new interview with Argentinean rock journalist Lucas H. Gordon, who currently resides in California, Ronnie James Dio's widow and longtime manager Wendy Dio spoke about the status of the officially sanctioned Dio tribute band DIO DISCIPLES. She said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): " I'm excited about the new DIO lineup… So we're going to take DIO and the DIO band out again… I don't know if it's gonna be [called] DIO DISCIPLES or it's gonna be DIO AND THE DISCIPLES, or DIO... We don't know yet. The name is not there. But it will be Ronnie, and not in a hologram, not in A.I., but we're gonna do real Ronnie in Ronnie video. So we have Ronnie video, and he will sing with the band about four songs."

Asked who will be in the new DIO band, Wendy said: "The new lineup will be with Simon Wright [on drums], as usual, Bjorn Englen on bass, as usual, Scott Warren on keyboards, as usual, and the two vocalists will be Oni Logan, who used to be in LYNCH MOB, and Robin McAuley, who was in Michael Schenker's band. And on guitar will be Rowan Robertson, who used to play in the DIO band, with [the] 'Lock Up The Wolves' [album]. And we're very excited about it. Hopefully we'll do some dates in the fall in the U.S., and then next year we're hoping to tour the whole of Europe and South America."

Wendy also talked about various Dio-related projects that are currently in the works, including previously unreleased material that has yet to see the light of day. She said: "We have some more things. And plus I'm trying to put together... I wanted to put together a bunch of songs that Ronnie did with other people that a lot of people don't know. Like he did two songs with Kerry Livgren [from KANSAS], and he did a rendition of 'Dream On', and he did one of a Alice Cooper track. He did, of course, 'I Could Have Been A Dreamer'. He performed with the philharmonic orchestra and DEEP PURPLE. And then he did something with a bunch of different bands or different things, and he did that Christmas thing. I was thinking to put them all together, of things that maybe fans are not aware of or would like to hear them again. He did a track with GIRLSCHOOL. He did a track with a bunch of different people and different things, so I think it'd be interesting to [put them all out on one collection]... Plus I have a couple of unreleased tracks that I would like to put out. We have a show, a live show, that I'm working on right now that was done in the '80s, a DIO live show [that's] never been out before. I think it's from Seattle. It's from '83, I think. It's a live show that's never been out. But there's a lot of different things. There's a couple of love songs that Ronnie wrote for me and recorded that's never been out. He'd probably kill me if I put those out. [Laughs] He never wrote love songs, [but] he wrote a couple of love songs for me and recorded them. And I think they're pretty good… So, yeah, it's an exciting time, I think. I'm doing lots and lots of different things."

This year's "Rock For Ronnie" concert in the park benefiting the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up And Shout Cancer Fund will take place on Sunday, May 31, 2026, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the South Lawn adjacent to the Autry Museum of the American West in Griffith Park (opposite the Los Angeles Zoo) in Los Angeles, California. The lineup of music will feature fan favorite Lita Ford and her band, popular tribute band LED ZEPAGAIN, DIO DISCIPLES, southern rock band Jason Charles Miller, British hard rock band LEGS DIAMOND, the all-female AC/DC tribute band WHOLE LOTTA ROSIES and Los Angeles-based up and comers SAINTS OF SINNERS.

Billed as a "celebration of the music and legacy of the greatest singer in the world, Ronnie James Dio," DIO DISCIPLES have been playing Ronnie's music on tour in a bid to keep their old bandmate's memory alive.

Six years ago, Wright told The Metal Voice that the proposed DIO DISCIPLES debut album had been put "on hold" so that he and his bandmates could focus on the "Dio Returns" tour. At the time, Simon said that "about four or five demos" had been laid down of "different songs" that he and former DIO guitarist Craig Goldy had been working on.

Several years ago, Goldy revealed DIO DISCIPLES were planning to start work on a project of original material, and they debuted three of the new songs during their May 2016 appearance at the "Ride For Ronnie" motorcycle rally and concert in Encino.