In 1986 my BFF J introduced me to Metallica. I was a 14 year old girl who listened to mostly pop music at that time of my life. I liked Meatloaf, thanks Dad, and I loved, loved, loved Michael Jackson. I really wasn't interested in her "devil music" but she was my friend and I figured I would check it out. Now if any of my FB friends are stalking this blog they will know that after listening to Fade to Black, Disposable Heroes, and Master of Puppets about a million times each, something changed in me. I found a kindred in the dark lyrics and frenetic lead guitars.
As I got older I started going backwards in time to the origins of this music and while many people will debate this, Ronnie James Dio was the godfather. At the very least he was the cool uncle who could rock your socks off.
He invented the so-called heavy metal "devil horns" hand sign. If you hear him tell it, it was actually a sign of luck he got from his grandmother. He was lead singer for the band Rainbow. In 1975 Ritchie Blackmore had enough of Deep Purple, and probably Smoke on the Water because really who hasn't had enough of that, and formed his own band. Rainbow laid some great tracks with some wild medieval themes. Ritchie and Ronnie wrote the bulk of the album themselves. After some creative differences, read Ritchie was sort of a bitch, RJD left and moved on to Black Sabbath. During that time they released Heaven and Hell, a wildly successful album that help save Black Sabbath from fading into the oblivion. After his time with Sabbath, RJD formed his own band Dio and released Holy Diver, the title cut of which I have linked for you above.
Yesterday, after fighting a tremendous battle against stomach cancer, RJD passed away at 7:45 am EST. The loss to the music world is momentous and whether you are on the side of Sabbath + Dio or Sabbath + Ozzy, there is no denying that music today would not look the same if it weren't for Ronnie James Dio.
Rock in Peace Ronnie!
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