With the combination of Ritchie Blackmore and Ronnie James Dio the British Heavy Metal band Rainbow helped perpetuate the Metal genre in the 1970’s. Their blend of medieval imagery with a classical composition generated them a solid fan base. Though their later efforts were substantially weaker, their 70’s work was considered some of the better Metal of the 70’s. Having said that, if Blackmore can’t get in with Deep Purple, what realistic chance does Rainbow have?

This one is a little tricky. As the owner of the ultimate Heavy Metal vocal chords Ronnie James Dio has an overall career that could be considered Hall of Fame worthy. However, to the best of our knowledge, The Hall does not work this way. His 80’s band Dio, may have been his high water mark where his screeching vocals found a place as some of the most pure Heavy Metal of the decade. Ronnie James Dio is again the wildcard in the situation and although the overall performance of Dio may not be enough to get in the Hall they may feel that he personally warrants induction.