"Too bad it ended like this", says Vivian Campbell on relationship with Dio

Guitarist Vivian Campbell spoke in an interview with the "Music Mania" podcast about his complicated relationship with the late vocalist Ronnie James Dio , who played with the band Dio during the 1980s - after that, they both traded barbs by the press. Currently, Campbell leads Last In Line, a group that was formed as a kind of homage to Ronnie.

During the chat, Vivian Campbell agreed that Last In Line gave her the opportunity to "make amends" with Ronnie James Dio . "If Ronnie were alive, I would never do it. If there was a version of Dio playing around, I would never join Last In Line," he said, initially .

For the guitarist, the death of Ronnie gave him the chance to reevaluate the situation. "It's a shame things have ended that way with Ronnie." Knowing Ronnie the way I knew it, I'm sure if we met on the right occasion, without other people among us, we would have had a beer and remedied the situation. We both make the mistake of criticizing each other in the press, which is never a good idea, but you're sucked into those things," he said.

Vivian pointed out that her relationship with Ronnie has always been "complicated, even in the best of times." "One thing that has bothered me over the years is that everyone thinks I left Dio , that I turned my back." I really turned my back, but only after I got fired.I gave a lot to that band on the first records and to Ronnie. what I wanted was to get at least more than the roadies team," he said with a laugh.

Campbell explained that being fired in the middle of a tour left him upset for many years. "Only after Ronnie died, after many years, and maybe because of my cancer diagnosis, I reassessed many things in my life." I was able to come back and realize that despite my disappointment, it was still my heritage. and Jimmy Bain, Vinny Appice and Ronnie," he said." It's my heritage, like Jimmy Bain, Vinny Appice and Ronnie."

The rift between Ronnie James Dio and Vivian stamped headlines in the press for decades. The heyday was in 2007, when Ronnie said in a video that Vivian was a "jerk" and a "piece of hell". Campbell, for his part, said that Dio was "one of the most disgusting people in the music industry." In 2011, after the singer's death, Wendy Dio said in an interview with "Roadie Crew" magazine that she was responsible for the guitarist's resignation. "Ronnie did not fire him, I did." He wanted as much money as Ronnie, he thought he was as important as Ronnie and that was wrong, but I do not want to get into it, it's past waters, it does not matter," he said at the time