Considering her band's wide-ranging sound and penchant for eclectic cover songs, it should come as no surprise to fans how diverse Halestorm singer-guitarist Lzzy Hale's musical tastes are. The frontwoman has been shaped by all kinds of music over her lifetime and career — from Cinderella to Jeff Buckley. Count among that list the heavy-metal thunder of powerhouse vocalist Ronnie James Dio. When we talked to Hale about the 10 albums that have shaped her as a person and an artist, she included his seminal solo LP Holy Diver high among her picks. Below are her thoughts on its profound impact on her.
"I was listening to [this album] when I was about 11 or 12. I was introduced to it before I knew of Dio's relationship to Black Sabbath and all of that. I just remember his voice being so incredibly transcendent. And he wasn't afraid of strange subject matter — he never really aimed for the middle. It was always an extreme on one end of the other. I remember getting a lot of inspiration from that when I was first learning to write songs. And so I ended up writing a lot of odd songs when I was younger, about, you know, mystical timekeepers and time travelers and all this stuff. It's because I dug so deep into Dio. And this record is awesome because I can still go back now as an adult and learn new things from it every time I pop it on."
