Song · Dio
“Rainbow in the Dark” by Dio
From the album Holy Diver (1983)
“Rainbow in the Dark” by Dio appears on 61 radio countdowns from 20 stations between 1983 and 2026. It was first released in 1983 on the album Holy Diver. Its best result is #22 on the KISW Top 25 Rock Songs from 1983. In the combined RockLists rankings it is #506 classic rock song of all time.
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"Rainbow in the Dark" came from Holy Diver, the 1983 debut by Ronnie James Dio's band Dio, the album that went on to sell double platinum. Its hook isn't a guitar riff at all but a nagging keyboard figure that Jimmy Bain came up with on a Yamaha, and it hangs over the song like a warning light while Vivian Campbell's guitar tears around underneath and Vinny Appice pounds the drums. Dio produced it, wrote the words and plays keyboards too, and he sings with the full force of that huge, operatic voice.
A popular MTV video pushed it to number 14 on Billboard's Album Rock Tracks chart that October. It has kept turning up since, covered by Corey Taylor and rolling over the end credits of Marvel's Thor: Love and Thunder.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Classic Rock
Hard Rock & Metal
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | 22 | KISW Seattle-Tacoma, WA | KISW Top 25 Rock Songs from 1983 | 25 |
| 1997 | 95 | 97.1 The Eagle Dallas-Fort Worth, TX | KEGL The Eagle's Top 97 Songs of 1997 | 97 |
All-time and decade countdowns
Also listed as: Rainbow In The Dark.
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