Ronnie James Dio Remembered

Sunday morning I saw the sad news on Facebook that my favorite heavy metal singer, Ronnie James Dio, had lost his fight with stomach cancer and passed away at the age of 67. Last fall he was diagnosed with the disease and immediately began treatment in Houston. He first noticed pains in his stomach during rehearsals for a European tour for his own band, Dio. His current band Heaven & Hell were on a break while guitarist Tony Iommi and drummer Vinny Appice had wrist and shoulder surgeries respectively. Since Heaven & Hell were on a break, Ronnie wanted to tour with his own band while his other bandmates got much-need paint and body work done. But due to what became a diagnosis of stomach cancer, Ronnie canceled his own tour to concentrate on killing cancer. As early as March of this year, prognosis for a full recovery for Ronnie was good, good enough to start booking European tour dates this summer. Most if not all of his fans [including me] thought he would slay this dragon, but it was not to be. I’ve had two very good friends kick cancer’s ass in the past three years and I thought Ronnie would too. I learned from Tony Iommi a couple of weeks ago [on May 4th, again via a Facebook post] that Heaven & Hell had to cancel their 2010 European tour because of Ronnie’s health. This told me “uh oh, something’s not right here” and on Sunday morning the worst outcome imaginable for Ronnie and his family came to pass. He passed peacefully at a Houston hospital. I’ve seen many posts on websites related to Black Sabbath, Rainbow, Dio and Heaven & Hell with the usual “he will be missed.” Screw that – I miss him now. When I got the news, it was raining outside and the first thing that came to mind was “the sky is crying.”

How did I come to know the singer who was Ronnie James Dio? The first time I ever heard him was in an animated movie from the early 1980s called “Heavy Metal.” Black Sabbath did a song for the soundtrack called The Mob Rules. A great song, I bought the first two Black Sabbath albums he did, Heaven and Hell and Mob Rules. Having been a Black Sabbath fan during the Ozzy Osbourne years, I was pleasantly surprised that Ronnie more than made up for Ozzy’s departure in 1979 and began to put his own stamp on Black Sabbath. But this version of Black Sabbath was not to last. They recorded a live album entitled Live Evil, but they argued over the mixing of the guitars, bass and vocals and soon enough Ronnie James Dio was on his own to form his own band, which he simply called Dio. When this happened I thought I had missed my opportunity to see Black Sabbath live at its best [more on that later]. Ronnie put together Dio quickly. He brought Vinny Appice with him from Black Sabbath, and he brought in Jimmy Bain from their days in Ritchie Blackmore’s band Rainbow. And he brought in a new up-and-coming guitarist from Ireland named Vivian Campbell. They recorded their debut album Holy Diver in early 1983 and went on tour. When Holy Diver was released, I also discovered Ronnie’s back catalog with Rainbow. That catalog consisted of three albums: Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow, Rising, and Long Live Rock and Roll. After I found these heavy metal gems I found out that Dio was going to tour with Aerosmith in the summer of 1983. Since they were going to open for Aerosmith, would they play songs from Black Sabbath and Rainbow in addition to stuff from Holy Diver? I got my answer when I saw Dio for the first time in July 1983 [or was it August?]. I was not disappointed when I heard the first strains of Man on the Silver Mountain, Rainbow’s first well-known song. He also played Black Sabbath’s Children of the Sea. I was very happy to hear Ronnie was not going to ignore his past. The new stuff from Holy Diver rocked just as well and just as hard. He was a hard act to follow for Aerosmith that night.

So life went on for me in Southern Colorado. I met a great lady who would end up being my wife [she is to this day]. When I met her I asked her what music she liked [here’s a hint: a mural of the Dark Side of the Moon album cover, painted by her, was on the wall behind her in the living in which she was living]. At the time she was working her way through school as a cocktail waitress at one of the local hotels. As we spent more and more time together, she told me that while Dio was in town for the concert I saw, he was at that same hotel and that she worked and she got an autograph from Ronnie. She still has it today. As fortune would have it, we both heard his then-new single while driving somewhere: The Last In Line. We decided right then and there we would go see him when the next tour rolled through Colorado. We got tickets to see Dio at Red Rocks in August 1984. There is no better place anywhere to see a concert than at Red Rocks. Dio headlined the show while Twisted Sister opened. The day didn’t start out too well. It rained all day, it rained through about half of the concert. I was sick with a 102 degree fever [later in the week I was diagnosed with mononucleosis]. I had a COBOL final exam the next morning [I got a ‘B’ if you’re keeping score – good enough]. But I was determined to see the show with Carol, and we did. All the crappiness was worth it.

After Dio’s third album Sacred Heart, there began the personnel shuffle. Original guitarist Vivian Campbell was out. His parting with Dio was not a happy one. I was more interested in starting my life with Carol [we got married in 1987, then I went to Air Force officer training]. Then as if from nowhere came the announcement in 1991 that Ronnie James Dio would get back together with Black Sabbath. Great news for all Sabbath fans! They recorded the album Dehumanizer, released in June 1992. Gone were the fantasies of rainbows, dragons, wizards and kings. The topics here are technology, insanity, the perils of televangelism and other more-earthly concerns. This was skull-crushing riffage at its best. It was a helluva lot better than the “hair metal” crap that came before [Poison, Cinderella, Dokken, Motley Crüe, Bon Jovi, etc]. And even better, Carol and I got to see our favorite lineup of Black Sabbath [Ronnie James Dio, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Vinny Appice] at Constitution Hall in Washington DC. Was it worth the 10-year wait? Damn right it was. It was one of the two loudest shows Carol and I ever saw [the other was the original Black Sabbath with Ozzy Osbourne in San Jose, 1999]. We definitely suffered hearing damage from that show. Yes, once again it was worth it [wouldn’t do it today though]. Two months after that show I shipped out to Korea for a year. A month after I got to Korea I heard Ronnie left the band again. Tony and Geezer wanted to play at Ozzy Osbourne’s “retirement” shows in Costa Mesa in mid-November. Ronnie disagreed and refused to do the shows. Rob Halford filled in for him on vocals. I thought “damn, they blew it again.” But to me Dehumanizer nicely wrapped up some “unfinished business” with the Mob Rules lineup. I got to see them live and thought “ok, we’re good.” I thought the Dio chapter of Black Sabbath had closed for good. However…fast forward to 2006.

The original Black Sabbath [the band with Ozzy] put out a box set of their original eight albums called The Black Box several years ago. Then Rhino Records wanted to remind Black Sabbath fans that there was more to Black Sabbath than Ozzy, so they wanted to put out The Dio Years. Rhino approached Tony Iommi about whether there was any leftover Dio-era stuff still in the can. Tony told them “no,” but he had an idea. He went to see a Dio show when they came around to Tony’s hometown of Birmingham, England and made a proposition to Dio – would you like to write and record some new songs for The Dio Years? Much to my astonishment, Dio said yes. They recorded three new tunes for The Dio Years and hit the road for a short, ten-date tour of North America. Instead of calling themselves “Black Sabbath,” the Dio-era lineup dubbed themselves Heaven & Hell, after the first album they recorded together. The final date was to be a show at New York’s Radio City Music Hall. When word got out about the show at RCMH, the place sold out in 30 minutes! Not only that, the band filmed the show for DVD release and recorded the soundtrack for an accompanying 2-cd set. We Sabbath fans got more than we bargained for, but we didn’t complain. Then a funny thing happened…these guys, who had broken up twice, discovered they were playing well together, enjoyed what they were doing, and actually enjoyed each other’s company. The problems of the past didn’t come back. Then they booked several more tours for 2007. They ended up touring most of that year. Then they toured some more in 2008. When that was done, they all thought “what a shame to end it all now – wanna do an album?” They all thought “sure, let’s do it!” So they did it. Under the name Heaven & Hell, they recorded The Devil You Know. They picked up where they left off with Dehumanizer and gave us fans exactly what we wanted short of a full studio album from the original Sabbath. The Devil You Know is pure headbanging, skull-crushing, face-melting, ear-splitting heaven [no pun intended].

Heaven & Hell hit the road in 2009. Many friends of mine from the Tony Iommi message board went to see them, but not me. Having seen the RCMH DVD was good enough for me, and no hearing damage either. But it was very gratifying to see a new generation of fans for the Dio-era of Black Sabbath. It was great to know the old fans who hadn’t given up the faith were happy as well. I lived vicariously through my message board mates. Just to read the pure joy expressed in the words of who saw them made me happy. The band then took a well-deserved break in the fall of 2009. Ronnie James Dio wanted to do a European tour with his own band, but during rehearsals something was wrong. It was painful for Ronnie to sing. The pain was in his stomach. He went to the Mayo Clinic to get checked out. The diagnosis – stomach cancer. Cancel the European tour. We all assumed Ronnie would slay this dragon. We got word that Heaven & Hell booked summer tour dates for 2010. All looked like Ronnie was getting better and would conquer cancer. But then came that Facebook message from Tony Iommi two weeks ago announcing the tour was canceled – Ronnie was too sick. Uh oh…Then Sunday morning while looking up the usual Facebook nonsense I saw the words “RIP Ronnie James Dio 1942-2010.” Damn – Ronnie lost the fight….

I looked all over the web to see what his contemporaries had to say about Ronnie’s passing. Before I share them with you, allow me to indulge in some thoughts of my own. If this had happened thirty years ago when I was but a teenager, I would have cried for Ronnie as I cried for John Lennon after his murder. But I’m a chronological adult now [I refuse to grow up!]. Dying is a part of living. Ronnie’s music was exhilarating. Sometimes you felt his anger, sometimes you felt his sorrow and pain, sometimes he took you on trips of fantasy and wonder, but it was all good. He was part of my youth, he was part of my adulthood. To all of this I can just simply write “Rest in Peace Ronnie – well done and thank you."

“Yesterday 16th May my dear, dear friend Ronnie James Dio passed away at 7.45am LA time. I’ve been in total shock I just can’t believe he’s gone. Ronnie was one of the nicest people you could ever meet, we had some fantastic times together. Ronnie loved what he did, making music and performing on stage. He loved his fans so much. He was a kind man and would put himself out to help others. I can honestly say it’s truly been an honor to play at his side for all these years, his music will live on forever. Our thoughts are with Wendy Dio who stood by Ronnie until the end, he loved her very much. The man with the magic voice is a star amongst stars, a true professional. I’ll miss you so much my dear friend. RIP.” – Tony Iommi [Black Sabbath, Heaven & Hell]

"Ronnie had a unique and wonderful voice. He will be sadly missed in the rock and roll world." - Ritchie Blackmore [Deep Purple, Rainbow]

"Goodbye my dear friend." - Geezer Butler [Black Sabbath, Heaven & Hell]

“It is with huge sadness we hear that Ronnie has lost his battle against stomach cancer, and our heartfelt condolences go out to his wife Wendy and family at this terrible time. From his earlier years in Elf, Black Sabbath and Dio, right through to his most recent days fronting Heaven and Hell, Ronnie, time and again, proved his genius as a frontman, always giving his all to his fans and his music. Ronnie was not only an incredibly gifted singer but also a wonderfully warm, intelligent and generous person and this shone through both on and off stage leaving a positive mark on everyone he came into contact with. A longstanding friend of Maiden, we played many shows together over the years and we will all miss him greatly. The world has lost an irreplaceable talent and, first and foremost, one of the finest human beings you could ever wish to meet.” - Steve, Bruce, Adrian, Dave, Janick, Nicko and Rod [Iron Maiden]

“We are filled with great sadness at the terrible news about our friend Ronnie James Dio - our condolences and love go to Wendy and Ronnie's family - Ronnie was a wonderful man and will be sorely missed.” - ROB, GLENN, K.K., IAN & SCOTT [Judas Priest]

“A huge part of my life just disappeared. Words are not enough, emotions are too much. My sincere condolences to Ronnie's family and friends.”- Roger Glover [Deep Purple, Rainbow]

"Ronnie James Dio was undoubtedly one of heavy metal's greatest performers and will continue to influence the world of heavy metal forever. He was certainly a very big influence on QUEENSRŸCHE and along the way became a cherished friend too. We will all miss him greatly, but Ronnie will live on every time we raise our metal horns high! The man on the silver mountain will always be our rainbow in the dark." – Members of Queensrÿche

"Ronnie was one of the kindest souls I have ever met and his talent was beyond inspirational to so many of us. I still have this image of him standing on stage in front of 100,000 belting out 'Man on the Silver Mountain' and remember the shivers it sent up my spine. He will be missed by all of us.” – Nikki Sixx [Motley Crüe]

"R.I.P. Ronnie James Dio. I only got to meet him once and I can honestly say he was the nicest person I have ever met in music. Ronnie was a true gentleman, and obviously one of the best rock singers there will ever be. What a sad loss today.” Billy Corgan [Smashing Pumpkins]

"Rest in peace, Ronnie James Dio. Horns at half mast. Such a huge loss...So many memories of Ronnie. Toured together many times. He always had a kind word and a smile and he LOVED the Yankees. In 2004 on the DIO/ANTHRAX tour I would get the Yankee score every inning for Ronnie while he was on stage. He was so into it. Saw Black Sabbath on the 'Black & Blue' tour [featuring BLACK SABBATH and BLUE ÖYSTER CULT] at Madison Square Garden [in New York City] in 1980. First row center. Ronnie was king of the world. Top 3 shows of all time." – Scott Ian [Anthrax]

"Rest in peace, Ronnie James Dio... one of the greatest of all time. Looks like Dime [late PANTERA guitarist 'Dimebag' Darrell Abbott], Randy [Rhoads; late OZZY OSBOURNE guitarist], Cliff [Burton; late METALLICA bassist] and Bonzo [late LED ZEPPELIN drummer John Bonham] just scored the ultimate singer. This is one of the saddest days in metal ever." – Mike Portnoy [Dream Theater]

"[I was] so very sad to hear of Ronnie's passing... My thoughts, prayers and condolence to his family and friends." – David Coverdale [Whitesnake, Deep Purple]

"It is a very sad day today... I have lost a very dear friend. Ronnie was a true leader of heavy metal, an icon and a visionary... There will never be another like him. Ronnie gave me wisdom, and showed me great compassion when he was in ELF, all those years ago, when we were on tour together in my time in DEEP PURPLE. He was a beautiful soul, kind, considerate and a wonderful teacher. Some day I'll be bringing your microphone up there with me, and we'll sing a song, and share a Vindaloo together...
I'll miss you mate." – Glenn Hughes [Deep Purple, Trapeze]

"Dio was a shining light of rock/metal authenticity. He was a completely dedicated artist with massive talent. It's likely that his vital contributions will continue to inspire well into the future. He is now legend. But more than all this, Ronnie was a really cool guy. I mean reeeally cool. God bless you, brutha." – Steve Vai

"I was very saddened to hear of the passing of Ronnie James Dio. Metal has truly lost one of its greatest voices. My heart goes out to his family and to his many fans. Love and respect.” – Ozzy Osbourne

"I'm truly upset, especially since he seemed to be rallying at the Golden Gods show. Bon Voyage, Ronnie, rest in peace. I'm devastated" - Lemmy Kilmister [Motörhead]

"Backstage at the venue [in Brandon, South Dakota during Rollins' spoken-word tour]. Listening to RAINBOW, tonight's walk-in CD is burning away in my laptop. All Dio all night. Ronnie James Dio, the great vocalist of ELF, RAINBOW, BLACK SABBATH, DIO and HEAVEN & HELL passed away [Sunday] morning. What a loss. I have been getting mail all afternoon about it. [Saturday night], there was an Internet rumor of his passing and it was great to hear that it wasn't true. I came back from the gym a few hours ago and Angel, our merch man, told me that it was indeed true. What a voice, what a loss. Dio's passing made me think of my old bandmates in BLACK FLAG as we used to listen to those records quite a bit. Damn, at least he left some amazing records behind. The metal world is stunned, I am sure. Ronnie James Dio, one of the greatest singers ever." – Henry Rollins

"It's a shock to hear that Ronnie has gone. Even though we had all known he was battling with cancer for some time, he was such a wiry fighter, and of such an amazingly optimistic nature, I think I assumed he would go on forever. Well, he fought to the very end... was gearing up to go back out on tour. I know this will be a very hard blow for my friend Tony Iommi. When I last saw Ronnie in Los Angeles, he was as full of life and positivity as anybody I've ever known…and sang up a storm with HEAVEN & HELL in the Universal Amphitheatre. I don't know if he invented the devil-horn salute, but he was certainly the man who, more than ever, made it a universal symbol, a worldwide salute of metal. He was universally loved in the community of rock music, and will be sorely missed." - Brian May [Queen]

"My Dear Friend Ronnie,

Departed but not gone. Resting peacefully (for a while) but never forgotten.

I've had a sackful of mail since your passing; a sharing of grief and sorrow.

We all remember your huge voice of course - my ears are still ringing: Your wicked humour and sense of decency: The utter professionalism and personality that inspired so much respect from your friends in music.

The list goes on but the quality that stands out above all others is your enduring generosity. The one thing that we all treasure, the gift you gave us was your kindness.

We all agree you were the kindest man we ever knew.

Catch up later mate,

Cheers, ig"

Ian Gillan [Deep Purple, etc]

"Hey Ron, I never thought the day would come so suddenly. Ronnie was everything to me. He was my best friend, he was my brother. I sat behind him on my drums each night and played, watching him sing, hearing his roaring voice thru my monitors. Every night he sent chills down my spine with his singing, inspiring me to push it further and play the best I can to the limit. I always knew how lucky I was to be in a band with him, but to become friends was even more special. When I met Ronnie I was a kid, 21 years old, eyes wide opened. He took me under his wing, he showed me the way, he was the greatest teacher and inspiration in my life and most of all, the greatest rock singer in the world! My heart is so broken. We are now in a world without him and I will miss him so much. I can only think of how fortunate I was to make music with him that was in his heart. Music that will remain to be listened to by all his fans all over the world, whom he adored and loved! Ronnie I love you man!!" - Vinny Appice [Dio, Black Sabbath, Heaven & Hell]


I - Heaven & Hell, Bonn, Germany June 16,2009, from Dehumanizer


Gates of Babylon - Dio, New York 2004 - the old Rainbow song from Long Live Rock and Roll


Stargazer - Dio, New York 2004 - the old Rainbow song from Rising