Rudy Sarzo talks about what it was like to tour with Dio

The Cuban bassist Rudy Sarzo has an incredible resume, having been a member of many incredible bands such as Quiet Riot, Ozzy Osbourne, Whitesnake, Dio, Blue Öyster Cult, Geoff Tate and The Guess Who.

In an interview with Matt Pinfield (Transcribed by Ultimate Guitar), the musician explained the difference between playing with Ozzy Osbourne and Ronnie James Dio.

Rudy Sarzo talks about what it was like to tour with Dio

“By the time that I started playing with Ronnie in 2004, I had been doing (tours) for about 20, 23 years. I started out with Ozzy in ’81, so that’s like, 23 years. And I thought, ‘Okay, I’ve experienced everything.’ And, no.”

“Once I started playing with Ronnie, (was) a whole different level of musical integrity and kindness and originality. Ronnie always sounded like Ronnie. It was like, I was playing with an American original in the band.”

He continued:

“The last time I played with him was November 16, 2009, and the next day he had to go to emergency, and then they suggested they should see an oncologist. But we were rehearsing for a couple of weeks, because we were about to go to England and Scandinavia to do the yearly Dio tour for the fans. A Christmas tour. And I gotta tell you, he sang so wonderful.”

“And what happened was, at that time he was playing with Heaven and Hell. So the band Dio stopped doing Black Sabbath songs. So then we went deeper into the Rainbow catalog. We were rehearsing songs that he hadn’t sang since he left Rainbow,” Rudy Sarzo said.

The bassist returned to Quiet Riot in 2021 and since then is the only classic member of the band’s line-up these days.