The season finale of the acclaimed and top-charting music podcast Backstaged: The Devil In Metal, hosted by bestselling author and music journalist, Jon Wiederhorn, is a 70-minute-long extravaganza that explores the spectacular life and tragic death of metal legend Ronnie James Dio.

The episode addresses Dio’s early years and career with insightful and informative new interviews with Dio’s widow Wendy Dio. Additional details about Ronnie’s sometimes turbulent years with Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Dio and Heaven and Hell come from Black Sabbath founders Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler along with Dio’s longtime drummer Vinny Appice. Alice Cooper and members of Anthrax, Twisted Sister and Slayer provide additional commentary.

Previous episodes of Backstaged: The Devil In Metal address alternatively shocking, outrageous, hysterical and heartbreaking stories about metal culture, lifestyle and history, and include shows about the birth of the genre, the occult, heroin abuse, partying, groupies, horror and road pranks, as well as two-part episodes of metal icons Black Sabbath and Judas Priest.

Here’s some listener feedback about the podcast:

Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian - "Sounds great!!! Real pro. Killer VO!!!"

Ex-Overkill drummer and filmmaker Rat Skates - "FANTASTIC! Thoroughly enjoyable! Jon has a gift for relating subject matter to an audience (who may not even be into “metal”)."

Metalhead4ever75 - "Love love love love it!!! Jon does a phenomenal job with these! He takes you on a journey that shows the life and times of so many of the greats! If you're a fan of metal, checking out this podcast is a must!!"

Backstaged: The Devil In Metal is a production of Diversion Podcasts with iHeartRadio. All episodes can be found on the iHeartRadio App, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you find your favorite podcasts.