Wendy Dio, the widow and longtime manager of Ronnie James Dio, has shared her thoughts on the emotional finale of Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath, the evolution of the music industry for women, and the immense challenges facing new artists today.
Speaking on the KLOS radio show “Whiplash” with host Full Metal Jackie, Dio was asked about the “Back To The Beginning” tribute concert in Birmingham, which marked the final performance for Ozzy Osbourne before his passing.
“I think it was amazing, and I’m so glad to see that Ozzy got to play the last time before he passed away,” Wendy said. “And that’s something that I think was very important to him and very important to the Sabbath guys.”
Dio, who is best friends with Geezer Butler’s wife and manager, Gloria Butler, noted the importance of the event for the band members. “Gloria Butler is my best friend and I we talk about all that, and she’s so glad that Geezer and Tony did that because it was the closing ofBlack Sabbath lineup at that time,” she explained. “And, of course, we can’t have Ronnie or Ozzy anymore playing with Black Sabbath.”
During the interview, Wendy also reflected on her 40-year career, recalling the male-dominated landscape she and Sharon Osbourne entered as managers.
“It’s definitely changed for the better over time,” Dio stated. “At the time when I was managing Ronnie, it was definitely a man’s world. There were no other [women] managers except Sharon and I, and we were the only two innovators of being women managers.”
She championed the rise of female managers in the years since. “And I think women managers make a great job,” she added. “There’s so many women managers now. They can multitask a lot of times when men can’t, and I think they do an excellent, excellent job for managing bands, and I’m so glad to see all these women come out and manage bands.”
When asked about the difficulties for new bands in the modern era, Wendy Dio offered a stark warning, stating that passion and hard work are prerequisites for a much harder environment than the one she navigated.
“I think it’s harder now because there’s less record labels,” Wendy explained. “Record labels don’t seem to put the money into helping a band anymore. They just throw ’em against the wall, and if they stick, they stick.”
She argued that even with the advent of the internet, the path is more difficult. “Even though you’ve got the Internet and you’ve got a lot of things that we didn’t have at that time, I still think it’s harder for these bands. There’s more bands than there was before, and there’s less record labels.”
Wendy concluded with a piece of defiant advice for any artist trying to break through: “I think you just have to stick to your guns and go for it. And don’t change, and always think of what you want to do and not get pushed around and told by other people to change because if you have a vision, you should follow your vision.”
