My Tribute To Ronnie James Dio

Yesterday I found out that Ronnie James Dio passed away. I knew he had been in the hospital for stomach cancer and I was amazed at his optimism during his chemo-therapy treatments. He had agreed to tour later in the year which proves he anticipated a complete recovery. The unfounded death rumor of May 15 was expeditiously quelled by his wife Wendy, but unfortunately the news of his passing the next morning was tragically accurate.

I have seen Ronnie in Dio and Black Sabbath a number of times in concert - Dio in 1997, 2002 and 2004 and Black Sabbath three times in 2007 and twice in 2008. As a man who performed extensively in his 50s and 60s, he had tremendous energy on stage. Certainly the slower songs, like the 1970s masterpiece "Stargazer", do not require massive exuberance and quickness of movement, but when the song called for it, like "Mob Rules" for example, Ronnie turned it up several notches and ran around the stage like a man in his teens or twenties. He had fantastic stage presence and increasing age never stopped him from writing, recording and performing powerful songs. His death is a profound loss to the Heavy Metal community. The genre has lost one of its patriarchs if not THE patriarch.

I had the extraordinary fortune to have met him two times in person. I first met him in 2004, an hour or so after his gig. Despite the cold October air, he gave autographs and posed for photographs and stayed to the very last fan. On that occasion, knowing that he was as much of an enthusiast of the Middle Ages as I, and a collector, I mentioned my hobby of collecting coins, manuscript pages and other artifacts from the Medieval Period. I told him it is a great area of study. He agreed saying that period seemed like such a magical time and he also stated that he wished the values of that era existed today. The only problem he had with the Middle Ages was that there was no running water. That night he autographed a Rainbow 8-Track tape and a pair of Dio Last In Line-era jogging shorts for me. He said, "whew" over the 8-Track, haha. He likely had not seen one in a while. I always enjoy discussing an artist's more obscure material so I asked, "You know what song I'm into?" and he said, "What's that?" and I told him ... "Pain". "Pain" is a track from his Strange Highways album released in 1994. I then met him after a Black Sabbath show in September 2007. I once saw a video clip featuring a tour of his home and its decor. Through that, I noticed he collected old Bibles so I started a brief discussion about that. I told him my earliest Bible-related manuscript was from the eleventh century and he said he had one a century older. I also told him it was great that he kept the song "I" in the setlist. We then spent some time talking about "I" as well as the song titled "Hollywood Black". Ronnie signed five items for me: a Mystery 12 inch record, a Dio trading card, a Dio jacket, a Black Sabbath poster and a Black Sabbath painters cap! You can tell I dig the obscure, oddball memorabilia! After all of the fans, about seven total, got their autographs and photos, Ronnie went up to each of us, actually hugged each of us and said goodbye. It was very special meeting him those two times and now that he is gone, those two brief yet significant and very friendly encounters have been magnified to such a higher level. I will always look back at those meetings with a smile and absolute fondness.

For the record, Ronnie Dio was taller than I (as seen in the jpegs below). In the past, I had been asked about how short he was compared to me and I said, nope, I am shorter. He was an incredible performer on stage and a great guy off stage. Ronnie truly epitomized Heavy Metal and always released excellent material including his overlooked 1950s and 1960s catalogues as well as his participation in various collaborations. He was consistent in releasing albums and singles from 1958 to 2009 - six solid decades and in several genres. If he were to have released a record in 2010, it would have been seven decades. Although he is now gone, he will forever exist through the songs he gave the world ... some of which represent Heavy Metal's finest moments. I will never forget him and I will miss him immensely. Farewell Ronnie James.

Our meetings ...

2004:


2007:


Here are some photos of the autographed items:

The 8-Track:


The shorts were also signed by Jimmy Bain and Vinny Appice.


The trading card and record (also signed by Vinny) (the ticket stubs were signed by Geezer Butler):


The jacket was also signed by Jimmy and Vinny:


The poster was also signed by Vinny and Geezer:


The cap was also signed by Vinny and Geezer: