Ronnie James Dio (1942-2010)

Many of you wrote in with the news that legendary metal/hard rock pioneer Ronnie James Dio (born Ronald James Padavona) succumbed to stomach cancer at 7:45am on May 16th. Dio, 67, followed Ozzy Osbourne as Black Sabbath’s lead vocalist in 1979 and recorded three albums with the influential band. Afterwards, he formed the eponymous Dio who released the heavy metal staple, ,Holy Diver and several other albums with a variety of lineups. Dio most recently was touring with Heaven and Hell, a version of Black Sabbath renamed for legal reasons. All shows were canceled last March because of his illness.

Our deepest condolences go out to his family and friends.
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ANTHRAX Singer JOEY BELLADONNA: DIO ‘was A Big Inspiration, Influence And Dear Friend Of Mine’

ANTHRAX singer Joey Belladonna has issued the following statement regarding the passing of legendary heavy metal singer Ronnie James Dio (DIO, HEAVEN & HELL, BLACK SABBATH, RAINBOW): “Ronnie was a big inspiration, influence and dear friend of mine.
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Why Harmonix did Rock Band: Green Day after the Beatles

Some people were surprised that Harmonix, producers of the Rock Band series of games, would tackle Green Day‘s catalogue after creating a game devoted to the single most influential band of all time, The Beatles. In a recent article, the company explained:

We were pleased with the performance of Beatles: Rock Band but we were expecting higher sales, Our core audience of 16 to 34-year-old males are much more familiar with Green Day music than The Beatles. This isn’t a band that has been around for a short period – they’ve been going 21 years. They have a great history. It is in fact a much wider audience than some people might give them credit for. Green Day probably has a much higher awareness than perhaps The Beatles did.

The new game will drop on June 8, 2010.
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