When I go online, first I check my email.
Today one of my emails was from my friend Masa. He told me that the legendary heavy metal vocalist Ronnie James Dio has passed away.
After I check my emails, I always check my favorite websites for updates. There are a number of blogs, news sites, and others that I visit everyday.
But once I knew that Dio has died, I knew that some of my favorite music-related blogs would have posts about it…Hard Rock Hideout, Metal Excess, Metal Odyssey, Heavy Metal Addiction, and Heavy Metal Time Machine all wrote excellent posts about Ronnie Dio’s passing.
Ronnie James Dio was most famous as the lead vocalist for the metal bands Rainbow, Black Sabbath (after original vocalist Ozzy Osbourne was fired), and his solo band Dio.
I knew that he had been fighting stomach cancer but I was still surprised and saddened to learn that he died on May 16.
Ronnie James Dio, 1942 July 10 – 2010 May 16, R.I.P.
Here are a couple official promotion videos for two of his biggest hits with his solo band Dio, “Holy Diver” and “The Last In Line“.
The videos seem pretty “cheesy” nowadays, but when they were first released in the ’80s they were cool (at least to the teenage heavy metal fanatic that I was back then).
Tokyo Five 
I couldnt believe he passed away. Holy Diver was one of the few songs that I forever remember in my youth, thanks to my eldest brother and heavy metal music (or what genre you might like to correct me ๐ ) was slowly introduced to my list of favorite music to listen to. In the morning i’d be hearing Holy Diver playing loudly from his room aside from his Iron Maiden, Steve Vai, Alice Cooper etc ..
His powerful voice will forever be immortalised through his music.
May he now rest in peace.
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Sounds like your brother had an excellent record collection.
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He sure did ..dont know where he hid them cos Id like to ‘rip’ and ‘burn’ them into mp3 format ..aside from that hes an ultra cool brother to go to a live gig with ..beer in hand, headbanging away ๐
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Have you attended many concerts?
Which ones, for example?
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Such a legend and wonderful person that I’ve only come to appreciate in the last few years. Even at 67 years old, he was taken away from us far too soon. I felt like he had so much more to give the world. He apparently did too as he was in the process of writing Magica II (a planned trilogy) and was optimistic about a new Heaven and Hell album as well.
๐ฆ
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Having Ozzy release solo albums (a new one coming out soon) and back with Black Sabbath (hopefully they’ll make a new album sooner or later)…and Dio’s solo albums as well as with “Heaven And Hell” (which was the “Dio era” Black Sabbath with a new name) all meant the potential for a lot of great music.
But, as you said, he passed away too soon.
R.I.P.
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I came a little late to the game for Dio…back when he had his solo band DIO, which I wasn’t a fan of. Because of that I never sought out his work in Rainbow or (his tenure in) Sabbath.
It wasn’t until after college that I heard the Heaven & Hell album and finally understood. The man had an amazing voice and great theatric delivery.
I also didn’t realize he was 67 years old. The man lived an amazing life and left behind some amazing music for us to enjoy forever!
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You didn’t like metal classics like “Holy Diver” and “The Last In Line” when they were released in the ’80s?
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so sad ๐ฆ
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Yes, it’s too bad.
Nice post about this on your blog too.
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I remember my Metalhead buddies and I back in high school… we used to say we were “the last in line”. Why? Because we never got the “good seats” or seats at all in the school cafeteria and the teachers all thought we were heading for prison. One teacher, in fact, used to say… “your on the yellow brick road to summer school” to me everyday.
Ronnie James Dio and his music made my life much more clearer back in those 80’s high school years… more clear than any teacher had accomplished.
Very fitting tribute to DIO on your end too.
Stone
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I was in that “line” too! ๐
I noticed on your blog that you saw Dio in concert with Savatage as the opening act in the late ’80s.
I remember that I really wanted to see that show but was unable.
(Savatage by the way are from my hometown in West-central Florida. So the Dio / Savatage show I wanted to attend was Savatage’s home crowd).
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oh my god… I didn’t even know he had stomach cancer… He was a great artist with a really unique voice…
R.I.P. Ronnie ๐ฆ
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His voice is part of the soundtrack of my youth!
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