Ronnie James Dio RIP

From his wife Wendy via Blabbermouth:

 

Ride the Tiger, Ronnie. You can see his stripes but you know he's clean.

RIP to a pioneer of heavy metal.

 

I guess heaven needed a man on the silver mountain. How did he die?

 

Stomach cancer.

http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=131004

Caught his show a few years ago. He and his band were second on a bill that had Motorhead opening and Iron Maiden headlining. Enjoyable show.

Now the angels are saying to him, "Sing us a song, you're a singer."

 

Listening to DIO on YouTube has always been a guilty pleasure. A co-worker and I used to make fun of the cheesy lyrics, but Piotr is right. RJD was a pioneer, and damn if some of DIO's songs aren't as catchy as metal gets.

Rainbow in the Dark:

Holy Diver:

Last in Line:

A bonus track from Dio's days in Rainbow that is featured prominently on a mix CD I have in my car right now:

 

He had to be in the running for shortest rock star ever.

 

How come you don't get a lot of Black Sabbath with Dio vs. Black Sabbath with Ozzy arguments like you do with Van Halen?

 

Too bad. I knew he was battling cancer, but it's still a shock to see that RIP by his name.

Man, in my teens, I just about wore out the tapes on my "Holy Diver" and "Last in Line" cassettes. "Sacred Heart" had a couple catchy tunes as well.

 

His videos were hilarious ... very much in the sword-wielding metal vein of the time.

He seemed like a really cool and grounded kind of guy. RIP.

 

A huge voice from a little man.
RIP

 

He had rocked for a long, long time. It was time for him to pass the torch.

(Too soon?)

 

So he's really, truly, sincerely dead? Because there had been one report that he died that his wife had refuted.

Anyway, an amazing career. Funny to think he started as a doo-wop singer. And that he credits his voice to the breathing techniques he learned playing the french horn.