Monday 17 May 2010

Ronnie James Dio - Rest In Peace


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 …

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8 comments:

  1. Pandora Behr18 May 2010 at 06:13

    PM,

    My condolences. As a Jeff Beck fan, I sorta get what you are feeling. He will be missed.

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  2. Plastic Mancunian18 May 2010 at 07:02

    Hi Pandora,

    He certainly will be missed.

    Cheers

    PM

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  3. Kath Lockett18 May 2010 at 11:11

    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....

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  4. Plastic Mancunian18 May 2010 at 17:55

    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

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  5. Scars Beneath The Skin19 May 2010 at 09:36

    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.

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  6. River19 May 2010 at 10:00

    I have no idea who he is. (was)
    Not my type of music at all.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Plastic Mancunian19 May 2010 at 17:09

    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

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  8. Plastic Mancunian19 May 2010 at 17:13

    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

    ReplyDelete