Ronnie James Dio Nearly Joined Sweet, Says Andy Scott

Ronnie James Dio came close to joining Sweet in 1979, the band's leader, Andy Scott, said.

The British glam rockers were considering a replacement for the departed singer Brian Connolly at the time, but Dio failed to secure a unanimous vote in his favor. If he had, he may never have joined Black Sabbath later that same year. Meanwhile, Sweet decided to continue as a trio.

“Ronnie James Dio was up for the gig, to replace Brian, because he and I got on really well,” Scott told Rock History Music in a new interview. “I said [to the band], ‘Look, this is not a decision that I’m gonna make or two of us are gonna make. It’s the three of us or nothing.’” He felt that a majority vote would introduce an uncomfortable feeling into the band's proceedings.

You can watch the interview below.

In the end, co-founding bassist Steve Priest “didn’t want to do it,” Scott recalled. “He said, ‘I think we can go it just as a three-piece.’ And I don’t think he was … wrong. Adding a [new member] might have changed the dynamic again.” He compared the situation to Van Halen moving on without David Lee Roth in 1985. “Sammy [Hagar] … was a good mate of mine at the time, [but] it was never quite the same as it was with David Lee Roth, was it? … You can’t put your finger on it. You change the dynamic.”

In his 2021 posthumous memoir, Rainbow in the Dark: The Autobiography, Dio said he “shied away” from joining Sabbath at first. “I was … unsure how on earth I was supposed to replace Ozzy Osbourne,” he explained. “Unlike in years to come, when groups like Van Halen, Bad Company, Iron Maiden and even Queen could bring in a new frontman with impunity, in the late ‘70s, the idea of a superstar group like Sabbath replacing their frontman was considered unthinkable. Led Zeppelin without Robert Plant, the Rolling Stones without Mick Jagger? Sacrilege.”