• It is a very sad day today... I have lost a very dear friend.

    Ronnie was a true Leader of Heavy Metal... an Icon and a Visionary... there will never be another like him.

    Ronnie gave me wisdom, and showed me great compassion when he was in ELF, all those years ago, when we were on tour together in my time in Deep Purple. He was a beautiful Soul, kind, considerate and a wonderful teacher.

    Someday I'll be bringing your Microphone up there with me, and we'll sing a song, and share a Vindaloo together...

    I'll miss you mate.

    Your Pal,
    Glenn Hughes

    Read more...

  • I am proud that I had the chance
    to know Ronnie personally,
    and the pain in my heart is unbearable :( :( :(
    Glenn,I remember the first time I met Ronnie,
    we were sittin in the bar at "Admiral" hotel
    in Golden Sands,and talking for different things,
    and then I told him that you and Gabi
    are my best mates,and he asked me to give him
    your phone number,and then he called you from
    his mobile,and you were talking for a while.
    And After that conversation he told me
    that he love you like his brother,and that
    you are a man with great personality,
    and that you are always going to be
    very close to his heart.
    It is so very sad without Ronnie :( :( :(

    :ghcp:

  • Ronnie fought such a brave fight....but will live on!!

    I was flashing back on the first concert I ever attended in June 1978...I remember the rather bedraggled Commack Arena...the pungent smell of marijuana in the air....watching and listening to The Godz and never having seen anyone with hair that long in my life...Cozy Powell's drum solo and the flash pots going off..but my main memory is of the curly haired vocalist, short in stature but ten feet tall when he stepped to the mike to belt out a song....He sang "Mistreated" that night and again a month later when several friends and I saw Rainbow with AC/DC at the Calderone Theater. I will never forget that...

    Unlike Glenn, I never actually met Ronnie. But I would like to recount a story told by someone over on the Grand Funk Railroad Roadkill forum. JR got to meet one of his heroes and addressed him as "Mister Dio" to which the reply came; "It's Ronnie...always Ronnie". There was no pretense, no airs about him at all....he was giving of his time and enthusiasm to his fans. There is also an interview that some fans did with Ronnie that can be viewed on You Tube. He invited them into his trailer and let them film the proceedings...and it was far more frank and insightful than would have been the case with a regular reporter. The guys laid out CD booklets and Ronnie gave them a rundown on each one....lots of behind the scenes stuff and no punches pulled at all.

    Ronnie started making music in the late 50's...think about that....50 years of music and magic. Ronnie faced his illness with his chin up and bravery that we can all learn from. Here's hoping you enjoy the view from the top of the silver mountain....

    Ronnie......whenever someone steps up to that microphone and belts out a song in the heat of the spotlight....you will always be there! :thumbup:

    Yours In The Funk
    Bill "Capt. Midnite" Redford

    :ghcp:

    http://www.facebook.com/bill.redford

    "Cause if you fake the FUNK..your nose got to grow!" Bootsy Collins

  • On the passing of one of rock music’s major icons, an astonishing singer and a true gentleman:-

    I was a teenager at Liverpool Empire back in 1977 for my first Rainbow gig. At the time, punk was in and we weren’t supposed to like stuff like The Man on a Silver Mountain, Stargazer, Kill the King or Catch the Rainbow anymore. But instead of angst and political rantings, you gave us a fantasy scenario woven within the most wonderfully dramatic music that inspired us. Rainbow Rising remains a metal classic. A precluder to the Megadeths and such like.

    You lived it and breathed it and we were there with you. And you sang it us, not to some greedy record company executive in return for commercial crumbs off the rich man’s table. You understood what we wanted from our music. The warmth you showed towards fans was infectious. Whether riding high with Sabbath, Dio, Heaven and Hell or Rainbow or simply walking on the high street, you never walked alone.


    “We’re not in Kansas anymore.” Catch the Rainbow Ronnie.

  • I'm absolutely heart broken. Someone I've been listening to and been a huge admirer of since before I was a teenager has left us and it's really a difficult thing to accept.

    Just last week, I was on my way to college on the bus, listening to some stuff off Mob Rules and wondering how Ronnie was doing. I figured that since Heaven & Hell had some European dates, scheduled with The Big Four, that he must have pulled through and beaten this terrible thing.

    Come Monday morning and I log on to read that Ronnie had passed away, I was and am still devastated. I'm fighting back the tears and it's hard when listening to Stargazer and hearing him belt out lines like "Going home, I'm going home" just crushes me man, it ****ing crushes me! :(

    Apologies for the expletive!

  • It's terrible to hear these bad news, a sad day, R.J.D. was one of the great vocalists on the metal scene, Rising, Heaven and Hell and Holy diver are classics.
    R.I.P. Ronnie.

  • When Heaven & Hell cancelled all festival dates I expected the worst, but I didn't expect it to happen that quickly :(
    This is a huge loss. And what's even worse is that more and more of the musicians that I have been looking up to for 30 years, most of whom are my parents' age, are succumbing to cancer, heart attacks and related illness.
    It's hard to imagine that come another 30 years they all will (most probably) be no more...
    Life is the most precious thing that we have.
    Seize the day.

    Christian

    P.S. I have tickets for High Voltage and was looking forward to the H&H set - what would have been my first Dio show - I did see B.S. with Ozzy, 20th June 2005...


    MEDUSA

        

  • ronnie was and still is a true icon. his legacy will live on. you can sign a condoleance register on the forum of ronnie's official site.
    hail to this great singer!
    Willem.

    | Burn | Stormbringer | Come Taste The Band

  • It's very sad that Ronnie lost his battle, he's been one of my very favourite singers for many years and was a truly great and unique human being. What an incredibly HUGE voice he had!

    I feel extremely lucky to have had the pleasure of seeing him live in 2007 with Heaven & Hell and along with every other person there that night, was completely blown away by his voice and stage presence, he stole the show and was well and truly the stand out musician of the night. There's no way I ever would have believed that less than 3 years later he'd be gone. Thanks Ronnie for all the wonderful music you left us, you really are "The Man On The Silver Mountain" :claphands :bow:

  • at first when I heard that one of my Heroes had gone away I was in shock, and kind of angry as well, asking "why him, when there's so many bad people still alive out there?" but now I see we where all blessed to have had the oportunity to see an hear one of the gretest talents of all time. I guess all there's left for me to say is: THANK YOU RJD! for all those wonderfull years, Bless you my hero!

    "Turn back the Time and let me in"

  • There will be a Public Memorial Service for Ronnie James Dio on Sunday, May 30th at 2:00 PM at The Hall Of Liberty located at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills, 6300 Forest Lawn Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90068.

    This will be a celebration of the life and music of Ronnie James Dio and is open to all of his friends and fans from around the world.

    For those of you that will be flying in from out of town or out of the country, there are special rates at various local hotels available to you! Just go to the Ronnie James Dio official Facebook Page for hotel information!

  • Yes thank you! That must have been so emotional for all who were there! Well done G for an excellent and professional tribute! I can't imagine how difficult that must have been x

    Love and hugs xxx :)

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