Ronnie James Dio dead Ronnie James Dio, legendary vocalist for Black Sabbath, Heaven & Hell and Dio, has died after a battle with stomach cancer, according to his wife, Wendy Dio. He was 67 years old. The heavy metal singer died early this morning. He was being treated at M.D. Anderson in Houston. A rumor circulated Saturday night on Twitter about Dio's death. His wife quickly shot that down: "He is not doing well, but he is not dead." His wife released a statement to blabbermouth.net today: "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." "The grand wizard of classic rock" was born in New Hampshire and first burst onto the scene with the band Elf. Dio's last studio work as part of Heaven & Hell, The Devil You Know, was released in 2009. The band was scheduled to tour this summer but canceled all dates in early May.
Damn. This one hurts. Dio was easily one of the top 5 front men of all time and he still had his voice to the end. A true legend. Damn.
When Ozzy found out, he wrote a new song: Cancer, well that's how it goes Dio is dead now, ohhh the noes Maybe, it's not too late To get Black Sabbath back I'll rehabiltate I want my old gig back I've quit drinking again In the meantime fuck Dio, Ronnie James In the meantime fuck Dio, Ronnie James Sabbath since I got fired Is good only for fools I made that band awesome I got us money and jewels Fired for being a drunk, it's what I was Tony Iommi is a massive tool I want my old gig back I've quit drinking again In the meantime fuck Dio, Ronnie James In the meantime fuck Dio, Ronnie James Better Ronnie James than me You gotta listen to my words, yeah! Older than dirt That's what we've become My brains been burned out, my mind is numb But I can still rock out, and cancer didn't kill me I want Sabbath back, I love you Tony I want my old gig back I've quit drinking again In the meantime fuck Dio, Ronnie James In the meantime fuck Dio, Ronnie James I want my old gig back I've quit drinking again In the meantime fuck Dio, Ronnie James In the meantime fuck Dio, Ronnie James
Re: Ronnie James Dio has died of stomach cancer. Could you preamble with a who he was? name is not ringing any bells, sorry to say. never the less, condolences to the family.
Re: Ronnie James Dio has died of stomach cancer. It never even remotely occurred to me that people here wouldn't know who he was! Heavy metal singer. Replaced Ozzy Osbourne in Black Sabbath in 1980. Had his own solo band called "Dio" through the 80's, 90's, and 00's. Original lead singer for Rainbow (Ritchie Blackmore's post-Deep Purple project). He was a legend, really. One of the true founding fathers of the heavy metal genre.
Re: Ronnie James Dio has died of stomach cancer. It was 1979, not 1980 that Ozzy was fired/quit/just stopped showing up.
Re: Ronnie James Dio has died of stomach cancer. Chuck's thread was created 1 minute earlier, so I've merged both threads under his.
Re: Ronnie James Dio has died of stomach cancer. As far as the world is concerned, Never Say Die happened in 1978 and Heaven and Hell happened in 1980. Since Ozzy was on Never Say Die and RJD was on Heaven and Hell, he "replaced Ozzy" in 1980. No one cares about what happened in 1979.
If it's really that offensive, and heaven forfend anyone make fun of a dead celebrity that none of us actually knew, feel free to use your super mod powers to edit it out.
Just sayin' that coming into a memorial thread and dancing on the grave could be construed as trolling.
I was always a fan and had the pleasure of shooting one of his shows a few years ago. He did the devil horn thing right in front of my camera lens.
Ronnie James Dio was a Rock God in all aspects of the term. I grew up listening to him covertly (my parents were ultra fundamentalist and would have flipped), via a portable transistor radio I would hide in the basement and sneak downstairs and just listen to him, and would just rock out to his truly awesome music. His voice was legendary, and you always knew something was going to be kick ass when Dio got involved. Rest in peace and Godspeed, Ronnie. You will be missed.
In Memorial: Legend has it he originated the 'Devil Horns' sign, based on his grandmother's Evil Eye sign. He was also one in a short list of successful replacement singers. Godspeed, Dio. You had a great voice & seemed like a good down-to-earth guy.
A singer with a very distinct (often parodied) voice. Unlike in today's "metal" frontmen had to actually sing melodies, not growl them. Not a huge fan, but Holy Diver, Man on the Silver Mountain, Rainbow in The Dark are great.
