R.I.P Ronnie James Dio

Lost his battle with stomach cancer, he will be missed.

He reminds me of my Army days in school in Alabama.
First time I was a "Big boy' Bought my own 6 pack (legal for the first time)
bought a Sony Walkman and the Holy Diver tape.

To this day I remember it like a milestone.... away form the parents - working - living - learning on my own for the first time.

I shall surely miss him but will always remember that time and his music will be a great part of a great memory.

R.I.P.

Pisser - false alarm - a case of don;t believe every thing you read on the interwebs.

UPDATE: from Blabbermouth.net= Contrary to published reports, legendary heavy metal singer Ronnie James Dio (DIO, HEAVEN & HELL, BLACK SABBATH, RAINBOW) **has not** died after a six-month battle with stomach cancer.

After a flood of rumors started circulating via the Internet late Saturday that Dio had lost his cancer fight, BLABBERMOUTH.NET reached out to Ronnie's wife/manager Wendy Dio, who sent back the following message at approximately 11:35 p.m. PST on Saturday, May 15 / 2:35 a.m. EST on Sunday, May 16:

"I am at the hospital and Ronnie has NOT passed away!!!! He is not doing
good, but he is not dead.

"I will let you know if anything changes.

"Thank you for your concern."

"I'm not dead yet"

Oh Dear God... it's back to being true.
AP reports:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/articl...5vacJQD9FO6D100

Ronnie James Dio, whose soaring vocals, poetic lyrics and mythic tales of a never-ending struggle between good and evil broke new ground in heavy metal, died Sunday, according to a statement from his wife and manager. He was 67.

Dio revealed last summer that he was suffering from stomach cancer shortly after wrapping up a tour in Atlantic City, N.J., with the latest incarnation of Black Sabbath, under the name Heaven And Hell.

"Today my heart is broken," Wendy Dio wrote on the singer's site, adding he died at 7:45 a.m. "Many, many friends and family were able to say their private goodbyes before he peacefully passed away.

This time..... I think..... I shall not amend my post....

http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-...0,6407628.story

Dio was one of my starter bands. When I was first getting into Heavy Metal music, Dio was one of my first purchases. Dream Evil was the name of the album.

I was also lucky enough to see him play a small club in Oklahoma City. The station I was working for sponsored it. I was in line to meet him after the show, but one of the members of his team kicked me out of line because I wasn't pre-approved to meet him and didn't have a backstage pass. The radio station account rep who set up the show took pity on me and got me an autographed ticket. He wrote Magic Ronnie James Dio. I still have it. Wish I had met him.

Did you know that on any "album" cover you turn DIO upside down and it spells DEVIL?
A little RJD trivia......