The longtime Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell first achieved fame as a member of Dio, band formed by Ronnie James Dio after he decided to leave Black Sabbath. The guitar player was part of their first three studio albums: “Holy Diver” (1983), “The Last in Line” (1984) and “Sacred Heart” (1985).
But in 1986 he was fired, according to him, after he started questioning the singer about when the band would begin receiving shares of the record sales, concert revenues, and so on. Vivian said that was something the musician had promised them when he formed the group, that after the third record they would start receiving a share of those profits. In an interview with “dopeYEAH talk” (Transcribed by Ultimate Guitar), he recalled that once Dio said he was his Randy Rhoads and explained that Dio told press that he had quit the group.
Vivian Campbell recalls that Dio said he was his Randy Rhoads
“Ronnie was a very complicated person. You know, people always ask, ‘What was Ronnie like?’ You can’t really encapsulate what a human being is like in a couple of sentences, but there were times when Ronnie and I really got along great. And there were, unfortunately, many times when we were just butting heads. But I knew that he was very proud of me.”
“We were just both standing out on the deck, wind in the hair, watching the water. And he said to me, ‘You know, I met Ozzy Osbourne a few weeks ago. I was talking to Ozzy, and I said you were my Randy Rhodes.’ … And I remembered thinking, ‘Wow…’ I just felt, at that moment, ‘Okay, I can work with this guy.’ I felt like I belonged there… But then, the next day, I’m still thinking, ‘Oh my God, I’m gonna be in a band with Ronnie Dio.”
Vivian said he was actually fired from Dio
“I was fired from the band, and Ronnie, for whatever reason, went on in the press in the years after that, and made that a strong point. Like, Viv left the band, is what he always said. And I remember reading this stuff. This is before the internet and social media; you needed a publicist to have a public forum, and I couldn’t afford a publicist. But, I remember reading this and thinking, ‘Why did he say that I left the band? I never left the band. I was fired.'”
“I mean, I never wanted to leave that band. I really give 100% to that… So, the whole thing was very, very painful to me, and so I just shut it out. I wanted nothing to do with it. I was also at a point in my career where, musically, I felt like I was opening up doors to other aspects of my creative side,” Vivian Campbell said.
Vivian Campbell was the groups guitarist from 1982 to 1986, appearing on the classic albums “Holy Diver” (1983), “The Last In Line” (1984) and “Sacred Heart” (1985). After being fired from the band recorded with other groups like Whitesnake, Riverdogs and Shadow King before joining Def Leppard in 1992.
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