LOS ANGELES, July 27 (UPI) -- Former Black Sabbath singer Ronnie James Dio has forced Dios, a California psychedelic rock band, to change its name, XFM reported Tuesday.
Dios' members have renamed their band Dios Malos, which means "bad god," a change made because of the cease and desist order instigated by Dio, who thought the similarity between his name and the other band might confuse fans, XFM said.
"It's pretty retarded. It seemed like a joke at first," said J.P. Cabellaro, Dios' bassist.
Cabellaro said the band members never considered Black Sabbath or Dio when they came up with the band's name.
"When we named our band we were thinking of God. (Dios) is 'God' in Spanish. That's what it means to hundreds of millions of people all over the world. It didn't really seem like there was going to be any point of confusion. We're up against rainbows and magic," Cabellaro said.
A new album by Dios, or Dios Malos, was released this week.
