In a recent interview, Wendy Dio opened up about the nod to Dio in Stranger Things and how the moment came to be.
In case you missed it, Netflix’s Stranger Things opened to worldwide applause and internet conversations – one of which was how the show came chockfull of references to some classic bands. One such moment was the nod to Dio, where Eddie Munson (played by Joseph Quinn) is seen wearing a denim jacket with a Dio patch on the back.
Reportedly, said jacket was donated to the show for use by the Ronnie James Dio Estate. In an interview, James’ widow Wendy Dio opened up about how the moment came to be.
Apparently, the show had approached Dio about using the jacket way before – precisely, before the pandemic brought everything to a halt.
“What happened was, originally, this was before the pandemic hit. So this was like two, two-and-a-half years ago. They contacted me because I had to sign the license, because you can’t just use a Dio product without a license,” Wendy told Loudwire Nights in an interview.
In response, she said, the estate sent the creators vintage pieces from Ronnie James Dio’s collection. This also included the patch Munson’s character sports.
Interestingly, due to radio silence on Netflix’s end, Wendy didn’t know the creators had actually incorporated the piece into the show until the latest season actually came out.
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“They were very happy and they were very thankful, and they sent me a bunch of Stranger Things stuff, so it was really wonderful. I was so happy because then I didn’t see or hear about anything, and I thought, ‘Oh, I guess they didn’t use it.’ And then suddenly now, after the pandemic, I saw it and I was like, ‘Oh my god this is so wonderful, I’m so happy about it.'” she said, before adding that her husband would have loved the nod.
“Ronnie would’ve been so… he would’ve loved that.” she said.
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Check out Ronnie James Dio Estate’s nod to Stranger Things:
