Rainbow Rising

It all started when Ritchie Blackmore wanted Deep Purple to record a song from a band called Quatermass.  The song’s name – Black Sheep in the Family.  Deep Purple took a pass on the song, so Ritchie recorded it with another band.  In 1974, Deep Purple recorded the Stormbringer album.  He had no use for the funk and soul music favored by David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes [who replaced Ian Gillan and Roger Glover in 1973, respectively].  Having expressed his distaste for what he called “shoeshine music,” Ritchie left Deep Purple in 1975 to form Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow.  Blackmore’s band was Elf [minus their guitar player] and included singer Ronnie James Dio.  This band recorded Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow, which included the aforementioned Black Sheep in the Family.  It also included the AOR classic Man on the Silver Mountain and the moody ballad Catch a Rainbow.  

After recording the album, Ritchie sacked the entire band [except Dio].  In their places, Blackmore hired Cozy Powell [drums], Jimmy Bain [bass], and Tony Carey [keyboards].  The new Rainbow toured, and then they recorded an album – Rainbow Rising.  Rainbow Rising is a short record – six songs at just over 33 minutes.  But the elements of the Rainbow sound – Ritchie Blackmore’s classically-tinged lead guitar, Cozy Powell’s relentless drumming, Ronnie James Dio’s superhuman vocals – they’re all here.  The first four songs are just that – songs that have nothing to do with each other.  But the final two songs, which occupy all of what used to be Side 2 – Stargazer and A Light in the Black – tell a story.  Musically the songs take on a bit of a baroque character.  This can be attributed to Ritchie Blackmore having taken up learning the cello.  He wrote some of the songs using a cello – he wanted to try a new, unfamiliar tool for songwriting.

The songs:

Tarot Woman – Tony Carey starts things with a spacey 1:15-long synthesizer opening, after which Ritchie Blackmore starts playing a riff for about 20 seconds, when Cozy Powell comes storming in.  Ritchie and the Bain/Powell rhythm section gallop along while Dio sings about a mysterious woman he doesn’t want anything to do with.  At 3:20 Ritchie starts a jaw-dropping minute-long solo that’s equal to anything he did with Deep Purple.

Run With the Wolf – Werewolves!  Dio felt the need to write a song about werewolves.  This song and Starstruck are short, catchy tunes which would have been at home on a Deep Purple album.  Perhaps rocking songs like these would have made Stormbringer easier to listen to.

Starstruck – Here’s the story of RJD [or perhaps Ritchie Blackmore] being unable to shake off a stalking groupie who “wants a souvenir.”  No matter where he goes, there she is [If I'm away from home and think I'm all alone, she's there, somewhere… I could fly to the moon, but she'd soon find a way to be there…].

Do You Close Your Eyes – This is the only real clunker on Rainbow Rising.  Luckily for us, it’s also the shortest song [3:02].  The tune is good, but the lyrics are just plain bad.  For years, Ronnie James Dio said he wouldn’t write songs along the line of “hey baby, let’s make love under a tree.”  And yet, here’s a song the expresses almost that exact sentiment – Do you close your eyes when you making love, yeah, yeah /Making sweet love to me, yeah… Please…I expect much better from RJD. 

Stargazer – The story of an evil wizard who enslaves those around him.  For nine years this evil wizard forces his people to build him a tower made of stone so that he can watch the stars and so that he can fly [High noon, oh I'd sell my soul for water/Nine years' worth of breakin' my back].  This wizard is omnipresent - There's no sun in the shadow of the wizard… The task of building the wizard’s tower is all-consuming [In the heat and the rain with whips and chains, just to see him fly, so many die/We built a tower of stone with our flesh and bone just to see him fly/Don't know why, now where do we go?] When all is done, the wizard climbs the completed tower.  Ritchie’s solo is like listening to the guy climb to ever-increasing heights until the wizard gets to the top.  But when he tries to fly, he falls to his death instead.  Ritchie’s slide down the neck of his guitar is the wizard falling to his death.  When he was in Deep Purple, Ritchie was wary of playing with orchestras, but on Stargazer Rainbow is accompanied by the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra.  Their arrangement gives the song a bit of a haunting, Eastern character.  The Rainbow/orchestra combination works very well.  Without a doubt, Stargazer is Rainbow’s crowning achievement.

A Light in the Black – The wizard from Stargazer is dead, but those whom he enslaved can’t believe their sudden emancipation [All my life it seems, just a crazy dream, reaching for somebody's star/ Can’t believe it all, did he really fall? What to do now I don’t know…].  The only thing to do is to go home, wherever “home” is.  They’ve been at the task of building the wizard’s tower for so long they don’t know what to do or how to feel [Breathed the air before, heard the thunder roar, never knew it was for me /Always looking down, lost and never found, eyes that looked but not to see…] Instrumentally, this song is like a Deep Purple song.  Tony Carey takes a one-minute mind-bending synth solo, Ritchie matches him note-for-note for about 30 seconds, then takes his own solo [4:06 – 5:43], then Tony Carey matches Ritchie note-for-note until Dio’s vocals come back.  The Blackmore/Carey interplay is like a lot what Ritchie did with Jon Lord in Deep Purple.  While Tony Carey and Ritchie are performing their musical gymnastics, Cozy Powell is hammering away while his double-bass drums sound like Rommel’s Panzers rolling across Africa.

Rainbow Rising was released in May 1976.  Rainbow would tour the rest of 1976 with the line-up that created Rainbow Rising.  But after 1976 turned to 1977, Jimmy Bain and Tony Carey would be out of the Rainbow picture.  The core of Ritchie Blackmore, Cozy Powell, and Ronnie James Dio would record one more album together – Long Live Rock and Roll [1978].  Afterwards, Ritchie decided he wanted Rainbow to sound like Foreigner.  When that happened, Dio split.  But Dio wouldn’t be unemployed for long.  He soon joined Black Sabbath and made Heaven and Hell [1980], but that’s another story.  Rainbow Rising is an essential part of any Ritchie Blackmore or Ronnie James Dio collection.  It is good enough to be mentioned in the same breath as Deep Purple In Rock, Machine Head, and Burn.

Why I Like Black Sabbath

In the late 1960s, four lads from the industrial heartland of England, Birmingham, made their entrance onto the music scene.  These gentlemen – Tony Iommi, Terry “Geezer” Butler, John “Ozzy” Osbourne, and Bill Ward created a sound unlike any other.  They were heavier, harder and darker [and probably louder] than anything that preceded them.  First they were the Polka Tuck Blues Band, then they were Earth.  They had to change their name when they found another band named Earth.  A movie theater across the street from where they rehearsed would provide inspiration for a new name.  The movie playing there:  Boris Karloff’s Black Sabbath.  Geezer Butler took note that people would pay money to have the crap scared out of them.  Geezer and Ozzy wrote the words to Black Sabbath.  Tony Iommi stumbled upon the tritone, known in medieval times as “The Devil in Music.”  The music itself isn’t evil, it just sounds that way.  Tony Iommi wasn’t setting out to write Satanic music – he just thought it sounded cool.  Sabbath’s music evolved from the loud heavy blues of the late 1960s.  There wasn’t anything about “wearing flowers in your hair” from this bunch.  If anybody was singing about the occult during that time, they are unknown to me.  These guys weren’t like anything else at the time.  For better or worse [depending on who you talk to], Black Sabbath invented heavy metal.  \m/  What are some of the things that endears me to Black Sabbath?

The Riffs – With all due respect to “the human riff” Keith Richards, he doesn’t have anything on Tony Iommi.  Iommi has a million riffs, and they’re all cool.  Standout riffs:  Symptom of the Universe, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, Into the Void, Snowblind, Killing Yourself to Live, Heaven and Hell, War Pigs [of course!].

Doom! – If you want peace and love and hippie shit, you’ve come to the wrong place.  You’ve got death [Behind the Wall of Sleep], drugs [Sweet Leaf, Snowblind, Hand of Doom], nuclear war [Electric Funeral], anti-war [War Pigs], the dangers of messing with the occult [Black Sabbath], hookers [Dirty Women], fleeting fame [Looking For Today], getting ripped off by managers [The Writ], environmental destruction [Into the Void], and even God [After Forever].  So many songs, so many subjects, most of them are unhappy.  There are few love songs, if any.

Tony Iommi – The man had two of his fingertips chopped off [not by choice], detuned his guitars and invented heavy metal.  Black Sabbath has had 37 different people in the band at one time or another [ok, I exaggerate, but only a little bit], but Tony Iommi has been the one constant.  Listen to everything Sabbath has put out and you too will subscribe to the “Iommi = Sabbath Theory.”  Players come and players go, but the records with Tony Iommi still sound like Black Sabbath.  Some lineups have been better than others, but Iommi’s guitar tones from below Hell are always there. 

Geezer Butler – Tony Iommi may have come up with all the riffs, but it was Geezer Butler’s thunderous bass that made Iommi’s riffs the skullcrushers that they are.  Other bassist have played with Sabbath [Dave Spitz, Bob Dailey, Neil Larsen], but none of them had that heaviness that made Black Sabbath what it was.  Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler were made for each other.  I wish I could play bass like him, but that isn’t very likely to happen.

Ronnie James Dio – Simply the best heavy metal vocalist that ever walked this Earth.  I discovered him in Black Sabbath after he was without a job when he parted ways with Ritchie Blackmore and Rainbow.  I’ve written at length about RJD in these spaces before, so there’s no need to bore you with a rehash.

Antidote to Crappy Music – Black Sabbath is an antidote to crappy music.  Have you ever been in a dentist office waiting room, and they play this God-awful chick music while you’re waiting?  Have you seen commercials that feature the worst Sheryl Crow song imaginable [and let’s face it, they’re ALL really shitty]?  Or do you just hear a random song anywhere that annoys the crap out of you?  Black Sabbath is your antidote.  I guarantee if you have suffered from crappy music, one play of War Pigs will wipe that crap out of your mind.

Christians – Black Sabbath scares the hell out of hard-core Christians.  These people seem to think that the guys in Black Sabbath are Satanists.  While it’s true that Satan got name-checked every now and then, that doesn’t make them Satan worshippers.  But the mere mention of the word Satan gives these people hissy fits.  It shows how small-minded and clueless they really are, which is fine with me.  There’s one song about Satan – Lord of This World.

Finally, they’re dinosaurs, just like me!

Tony's Imaginary Ronnie James Dio Box Set

Yesterday marked one year that we lost Ronnie James Dio, the finest heavy metal singer that ever was or will ever be. I am mindful that there have been several compilations of Ronnie’s music, to include Catch the Rainbow, Stand Up and Shout, and Black Sabbath: The Dio Years. Stand Up and Shout came the closest to capturing the essence of Ronnie’s entire career, but for me two discs aren’t enough to commemorate the man’s achievements. So I thought if I was a record executive for a day, what would a four-disc box set of Ronnie James Dio’s career look like? This is what I came up with. People will take issue that I didn’t include anything from Elf. While that music was pretty good, I didn’t think it had that “metal” aesthetic, so I arbitrarily picked Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow [1975] as my starting point.

Disc 1 includes the Rainbow years and material from Ronnie’s first album with Black Sabbath, Heaven and Hell. There is a “sameness” to the production of these songs since Martin Birch produced [or co-produced] all of them. The Rainbow albums sound more like hard rock than heavy metal, and I believe Heaven and Hell fit into that category. Black Sabbath hadn’t been heavy since Sabotage [1975], so I don’t think I’m being too terribly blasphemous here. Not only that, but Bill Ward’s drumming has a lighter touch, especially compared to the man who followed him, Vinny Appice.

Disc 2 includes songs done by Ronnie’s own band Dio between his two stints with Black Sabbath. I like the Holy Diver album very much. I often wonder what Rainbow in the Dark would sound like if he had remained with Sabbath and done that song with them…I don’t have any songs from Lock Up the Wolves. I tried hard to like that album, I just didn’t have it in me. What surprised me as I was compiling my list was that I like Dream Evil now more than I did when I first bought it in 1987.

Disc 3 picks up the Dio journey after Ronnie left Black Sabbath the second time in 1992. Strange Highways gets a lot of love here because in my mind [and to my ears] it sounds like it could be Dehumanizer Part II. Ronnie was still in his “angry” phase that began with Sabbath’s Dehumanizer, and Strange Highways has a production sheen on it unlike any other Dio album. Equal love was given to Magica and Killing the Dragon. Some Dio fans don’t like those albums, but I do. I found one song from Angry Machines that I liked [Hunter Of The Heart], hence its inclusion here.

Disc 4 is the Heaven & Hell period. It is true that both Mob Rules and Dehumanizer are credited to Black Sabbath, and The Devil You Know is credited to Heaven & Hell. The bottom line for me is that all the music on Disc 4 was created by the same four guys – Vinny Appice, Geezer Butler, Ronnie James Dio, and Tony Iommi. So in the interests of continuity, and to show that despite the years separating those albums, there’s a good body of work there. Finishing my box set is Shadow of the Wind. It’s one of three new tracks recorded especially for Black Sabbath: The Dio Years. It’s my favorite of the three then-new tracks [The Devil Cried and Ear in the Wall being the other two].

I’m sure that I left off somebody’s favorite, but these are my favorites from Ronnie James Dio. He had quite a career, and it’s not for nothing that he became such a revered figure in the metal world. One year gone and I still miss him.

\m/

Disc 1

Man on the Silver Mountain/Neon Knights/Lady of the Lake/Children of the Sea/Lady Evil/Catch the Rainbow/Kill the King/The Shed [Subtle]/Die Young/Lonely Is The Word/Stargazer/Gates of Babylon/Tarot Woman/Heaven and Hell

Disc 2

Stand Up And Shout/Holy Diver/Don’t Talk To Strangers/Rainbow in the Dark/Shame on the Night/We Rock/The Last In Line/Egypt [The Chains Are On]/King of Rock And Roll/Sacred Heart/Rock ‘N’ Roll Children/Hungry For Heaven/Night People/Dream Evil/Naked in the Rain/I Could Have Been a Dreamer

Disc 3

Jesus, Mary & The Holy Ghost/Strange Highways/Evilution/Bring Down The Rain/Hunter Of The Heart/Fever Dreams/Turn To Stone/Eriel/Challis/Losing My Insanity/Killing the Dragon/Scream/Push/Cold Feet/Master of the Moon/In Dreams

Disc 4

Turn Up the Night/Voodoo/The Sign of the Southern Cross/The Mob Rules/Falling Off the Edge of the World/Computer God/After All [The Dead]/TV Crimes/Master of Insanity/Time Machine/I/Bible Black/Fear/Follow the Tears/Shadow of the Wind

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