Was Ronnie James Dio Fired From Rainbow?

His wife and manager says yes. Ronnie had tremendous songwriting ability and a great voice, so what prompted the firing? 

Wendy Dio, Ronnie's wife and manager says that Ronnie was canned because of the songs he wanted to write.

She is speaking out saying that Ritchie Blackmore thought that Dio's songs weren't "commercial" enough. Instead of writing songs about relationships and love, Ronnie wanted to write songs about people and their experiences, hopes and dreams and Blackmore didn't like that.

Wendy says that Ronnie was really into science fiction and novels about magic and mysticism and he drew his musical influences from classical artists like Bach and Beethoven and was a huge fan of the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Aerosmith.

She's speaking out now I'm sure because a Ronnie James Dio autobiography is on the way. Wendy says Ronnie was writing right up until the day he died and she is planning to complete the work.

Ronnie died last year following a battle with cancer. No word on an official release date or title.