Thomas "Craig" Goldy is an American musician, best known as the guitarist of bands Dio and Giuffria.
Early musical life
Goldy was born in San Diego, California. Before Dio, he played in the bands Vengeance, Rough Cutt, and Giuffria. He replaced Jake E. Lee in Rough Cutt and was himself replaced by Amir Derakh. While with Rough Cutt, Goldy played on demos produced by Ronnie James Dio.
Giuffria
Shortly after leaving Rough Cutt, Goldy would join Giuffria, the eponymous band of former Angel keyboardist, Gregg Giuffria. Performing on Giuffria's self-titled debut album, released in 1984, Goldy is heard on the band's biggest hit, "Call to the Heart," which hit #15 on the Billboard charts in early 1985.
Dio
Goldy performed on the Dio album Dream Evil, but this first stint with the band was short lived and he left due to unknown reasons. In 2000, Goldy returned to Dio and helped record Magica, but shortly thereafter left again due to family commitments. Doug Aldrich replaced him for the album, Killing the Dragon. However, Goldy was back in the Dio fold for what turned out to be the band's final studio album, Master of the Moon, in 2004. Goldy temporarily left the group for the third time in 2005, after suffering a hand injury on tour through Russia. He was again replaced by Doug Aldrich for the duration of the tour.
Other projects
Goldy was featured in Hear 'n Aid - Stars project while still in Giuffria, alongside other players such as Adrian Smith and Dave Murray of Iron Maiden, Yngwie Malmsteen, Brad Gillis and others. Goldy was the original guitarist of a supergroup consisting of himself, singer Rob Rock, bassist Rudy Sarzo, and drummer Tommy Aldridge. But before the recording of Project Driver, he left the group to join Dio and was subsequently replaced by Tony MacAlpine. After exiting Dio, Goldy formed his own band, Craig Goldy's Ritual, and signed a deal with Grand Slamm Records for the release of Hidden In Plain Sight in 1991. The album featured lead vocals by Goldy's former Guiffria bandmate David Glen Eisley and future Queensrÿche guitarist Mike Stone. Goldy co-wrote the song "Lady Luck" with David Lee Roth on the latter's 1991 albumA Little Ain't Enough. In 1993, Goldy released his first solo album, Insufficient Therapy, on Shrapnel Records, with Jeff Pilson co-writing and contributing lead vocals on 4 songs. A follow-up, the all-instrumental Better Late Than Never, was released in 1995. During that time, Goldy and Pilson also collaborated in a progressive heavy rock project named 13th Floor although no album was ever released. In February 2008 Goldy accompanied Welsh heavy metal pioneers Budgie on their first tour of Australia and subsequently continued playing with the group as 'guest guitarist'. Budgie's live activities came to an abrupt end when vocalist/bassist Burke Shelley was hospitalized on November 9, 2010 in Wejherowo, Poland with an aortic aneurism. Shelley can no longer sing and play at the same time. In 2011, Goldy became a member of Dio Disciples along with former Dio band members Scott Warren, Rudy Sarzo and Simon Wright, and former Judas Priest vocalist Tim "Ripper" Owens. Goldy and Warren are currently the only members left of the original Dio Disciples line-up. In 2014, Goldy announced a new collaboration with former Quiet Riot vocalist Mark Huff and the release of 2 songs, "Hole In My Heart" and "Dark Rainbow", in tribute to his former mentor Ronnie James Dio. The duo has since been joined by Brazilian born bassist Dario Seixas, MSG guitarist/keyboardist Wayne Findlay, and former Cry Wolf drummer Chris Moore. In October 2014, Goldy was announced as part of the 2015 XG Extreme Guitar Tour line-up alongside Uli Jon Roth and Vinnie Moore. Goldy is set to perform with his all-star band Black Knights Rising featuring drummer Vinny Appice, vocalist Mark Boals, keyboardist Allesandro Bertoni, and bassist Elliott Rubinson. In January 2016, Goldy released a new collaboration called Resurrection Kings with drummer Vinny Appice, bassist Sean McNabb and vocalist Chas West. The recording was released January 26, 2016 on Frontiers Records. On 17 September 2018, Goldy's latest project, Dream Child, will release their debut album entitled Until Death Do We Meet Again, on Frontiers Records. The line-up consists of Craig Goldy on guitar, Wayne Findlay on guitars & keys, Rudy Sarzo on bass guitar, Simon Wright on drums & Diego Valdez on vocals.
Guitars
His main guitar was a B.C. Rich Warlock, however, he now uses an ESP M-II through ENGL Powerball amplifiers. He has modified the guitar by switching the EMG pickups with Seymour Duncan pickups. He also played a Yamaha Pacifica 1221M on Insufficient Therapy solo album and the 2001 tour with Dio
Goldy expressed his feelings regarding the passing of Dio : "Ronnie James Dio is and was more than a legendary musician, friend and fellow band member, he was my family. He is the reason anyone really even knows who I am at all and why I exist. He rescued me from sleeping in a car on the streets of San Diego and Los Angeles and brought me into his world where dreams come true, kindness to strangers and fans, warmth, humility and integrity are paramount and where creativity could be without boundaries that could change people's lives forever. I know he changed mine. Not just through his music and the voice that turned his unique abilities into a legend, but who he was as a person and how he treated me and everyone he came in contact with directly and indirectly."
