Ronnie James Dio - Dream Turned Nightmare - He Almost Quit!

Описание: Ronnie James Dio calls June 20, 1986 the high point of his entire career… and in this episode, Robert John Hadfield explains why that same night at Madison Square Garden also became one of Dio’s most frustrating, dangerous, and surreal moments onstage.

Using a wild Circus Magazine (Sept 1986) account plus a follow-up newspaper article from July 23, 1986, Robert walks through the infamous Sacred Heart-era show where fans allegedly smuggled fireworks into MSG, detonated cherry bombs, ripped up seat cushions, and turned the Garden into something Dio compared to a war zone. Dio’s post-show comments are jaw-dropping—especially his line about quitting if he has to be afraid of the people he sings for.

From there, the episode widens out into the bigger Sacred Heart story: Robert shares his honest take on the album (and where it sits compared to Holy Diver and The Last in Line), the cool side-quest of “Hungry for Heaven” landing on the Vision Quest soundtrack, and the insane scale of the Sacred Heart tour production—castles, knights, lasers, and the famous dragon (nicknamed “Dean”). And of course, it all ties into the band’s internal turmoil: Vivian Campbell’s exit, Craig Goldy stepping in, and the contradictory ways Dio described what really happened.

What do you remember about the Sacred Heart era? Was it “more of the same”… or underrated? And where do you land on Vivian vs. Craig in the Dio timeline?

Timestamps

0:00 – “If I have to be afraid… I’ll quit”
0:16 – The magazine trail: Hit Parader → Circus
0:58 – Sacred Heart vs Holy Diver/Last in Line
2:40 – “Hungry for Heaven” + Vision Quest soundtrack
4:40 – Why MSG was Dio’s career high point
5:38 – Thanks to Digitech (sponsor)
5:54 – MSG chaos: fireworks, damage, panic onstage
7:31 – Dio unloads after the show
9:13 – Robert finds a follow-up newspaper article
10:00 – PMRC, labels, and “concerts getting worse”
12:24 – The damage estimate + why the tour ran forever
13:34 – The Sacred Heart dragon “Dean” trivia
15:08 – Dio’s fantasy movie idea (Hobbit meets Star Wars?)
15:42 – Band strain + Vivian fired / not fired contradictions
17:06 – Money, contracts, Wendy, and the breaking point
20:04 – Dio goes scorched-earth on Vivian (no filter)
21:13 – Giving Dio his due: Rainbow → Sabbath → Dio
23:23 – Wrap-up + your comments on Sacred Heart/Vivian/Craig
24:08 – Digitech shout-out + sign-off

Hashtags

#RonnieJamesDio #Dio #SacredHeart #VivianCampbell #CraigGoldy #HeavyMetalHistory #MadisonSquareGarden #80sMetal #CircusMagazine #HitParader #VisionQuest #Digitech