Yesterday, the world lost one of the greatest heavy metal vocalists it has ever been my pleasure to hear; Ronnie James Dio passed away having lost his battle with stomach cancer at the tender age of 67.
Ronnie James Dio is a legend in my eyes. His performances since the 70’s have been breathtaking. It’s hard to believe that such a small man had such a wonderfully strong and powerful voice.
He was the vocalist on, in my opinion, the greatest rock album of the 1970’s – Rainbow Rising with the incomparable genius of Cozy Powell and Ritchie Blackmore. This incredible album is one of the main reasons I love hard rock and heavy metal – I still listen to it today.
I have been fortunate enough to see Ronnie perform on two occasions; once with Black Sabbath and once with his own band Dio. He sounded even better live.
I think I’ve said enough for now. I will let Mr Ronnie James Dio do the talking.
Here he is performing “Stargazer” from the album Rainbow Rising – my favourite song from that album.
Rest in peace …
8 comments:
PM,
My condolences. As a Jeff Beck fan, I sorta get what you are feeling. He will be missed.
Hi Pandora,
He certainly will be missed.
Cheers
PM
Hey PM, my ex-boyfriend was a huge Ronnie James Dio fan, so I'm sure there'll be a fair bit of dragging out the old LPs and a few blokes headbanging away with less hair than they used to have back in the day....
G'Day Kath,
Yes - the local rock station has been doing its best to keep his memory alive, which is fab!
I am one of those who used to have less hair, though I'm sure if Mrs PM let me grow it again I could recapture my youth.
:0)
Cheers
PM
RIP.
Never got to see him live, sadly.
'Kill The King' was the Rainbow track I used to play most. Always thought it was a bit of an overlooked classic.
I have no idea who he is. (was)
Not my type of music at all.
Hi Andy,
Yes - Kill the King - another absolute classic. It was the first song I heard by Rainbow and is still a favourite today.
Cheers
PM
Hi River,
RJD was, sadly, overlooked by conventional radio stations. Take my word for it, he is a legend.
It's never too late to appreciate his genius. Try this (a more radio friendly example of his singing that you may appreciate):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2m-095okyQY
Cheers
PM
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