Sunday, May 16, 2010

RONNIE JAMES DIO : R.I.P.

RONNIE JAMES DIO : R.I.P.

From Blabbermouth:

Wendy Dio, wife/manager of legendary heavy metal singer Ronnie James Dio (DIO, HEAVEN & HELL, BLACK SABBATH, RAINBOW), has released the following statement to BLABBERMOUTH.NET:

"Today my heart is broken, Ronnie passed away at 7:45 a.m. [on Sunday] 16th May. Many, many friends and family were able to say their private goodbyes before he peacefully passed away.

"Ronnie knew how much he was loved by all.

"We so appreciate the love and support that you have all given us.

"Please give us a few days of privacy to deal with this terrible loss.

"Please know he loved you all and his music will live on forever."

It was only a month ago that Dio, 67, spoke about his battle with cancer with the Artisan News Service on the "black carpet" of the Revolver Golden Gods Awards, which took place on April 8 at Club Nokia in downtown Los Angeles. When asked about how he had been feeling since he was diagnosed with the disease late last year, Dio said, "Well, I feel good and bad at times. It's a long process. Chemotherapy is a... I never realized what a difficult thing it was to go through. It's a real cumulative effect — the more you have, the more it piles up on top and it takes longer and longer to get over it. I find it very difficult to eat. I don't like to eat anyway, so I guess that's OK. But I know I have to. But this makes it very, very hard. But if you're determined to beat it, then you have to go with what you believe is going to beat it for you, and in this case it's that. I go to a great hospital in Houston called M.D. Anderson, which I think is the best hospital in the world, I have the best doctor in the world, Dr. Ajani, who I really trust and I really believe in, so I think I've done all the right things. It makes me feel positive about my life and positive that there is a lot more of it to live."

Earlier this month, HEAVEN & HELL canceled its summer tour plans in Europe due to Dio's treatment for stomach cancer. The band said in a statement that Dio wasn't "well enough to tour this summer. We hope that everyone understands and want to thank fans and industry colleagues for their continuing support at this time."

Ronnie James Dio had performed with ELF, RAINBOW, BLACK SABBATH, and his own band DIO. Other musical projects included the collective fundraiser "Hear 'n Aid". He is widely hailed as one of the most powerful singers in heavy metal, renowned for his consistently powerful voice and for popularizing the "devil's horns" hand gesture in metal culture. He was most recently involved with HEAVEN & HELL, a project which also included former BLACK SABBATH bandmates Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Vinny Appice. Their first and only studio album, "The Devil You Know", was released on April 28, 2009.

R.I.P. Ronnie & thank you.

7 Comments:

Anonymous nightsblood said...

Sad to hear, I thought he was doing a bit better recently. One of the first Metal Gods to head for that big Marshall stack in the sky

Got to meet him once at an autograph signing in Lubbock, Texas (of all random places!). Was very nice to the hundreds of people in line that night, and put on a good show later that evening. Still have the 'Long Live RnR' LP he signed for me :-)

Monday, May 17, 2010 9:29:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

R.I.P.Ronnie...............

Monday, May 17, 2010 2:23:00 PM  
Anonymous steve said...

so sad, it brought tears to my eyes I grew up with his music, been a fan since 1975

Monday, May 17, 2010 5:38:00 PM  
Blogger ys said...

A god of heavy metal music. Never gonna die in our hearts.

Monday, May 24, 2010 3:44:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

One of the greats. Saw him with Sabbath in 80/81 and would just like to say that whatever Ronnie did it always had that distinctive Dio quality. Heaven and Hell and Rainbow Rising are two of the all time great Metal albums. Ronnie, you were a gentleman and I raise my glass to you. Never forgotten. Blofeld.

Monday, May 24, 2010 4:39:00 PM  
Blogger feralpunk said...

Sad loss indeed, remember seeing him at Donington a long time ago. Got to see Heaven and Hell a couple years back too.
Had guest list for the Dio gig in London which was cancelled when he got his diagnosis. Such a shame, a true little giant of metal.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010 8:12:00 AM  
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