This is a sad day to hear for me and for millions of metalheads and fans around the world. Ronnie James Dio died yesterday on May 16, 2010 as a result of stomach cancer that he was diagnosed with last year.
Ronnie played perhaps the biggest part of influence for heavy metal singers for many years to come, including my favorite current vocalist Marco Hietala of Tarot and Nightwish. He was best known for his work in his band Dio as well as in Elf, Black Sabbath, Hear 'n Aid, Heaven And Hell, Munetaka Higuchi, The Vegas Kings, Ronnie & The Rumblers, Ronnie and The Red Caps, The Elves, Ronnie Dio & The Prophets, and last but not least Rainbow, who I did a post of a week ago.
Here was what Dio's wife Wendy had to say about his death on his official website:
"Today my heart is broken, Ronnie passed away at 7:45am 16th May. Many, many friends and family were able to say their private good-byes before he peacefully passed away. Ronnie knew how much he was loved by all. We so appreciate the love and support that you have all given us. Please give us a few days of privacy to deal with this terrible loss. Please know he loved you all and his music will live on forever."
R.I.P. Ronnie! You will always be one of my favorite vocalists. Your fans will never forget your amazing voice and the passion that you had for music! Even though you are not with us on earth right now, because of you metal will live on forever! \m/ And so will you.
Okay, some of you might be thinking, "How is this band underrated?", because a lot of people have heard of this band before. Well for one, Ronnie James Dio (R.I.P) needs no introduction at all, being one of metal's greatest singers of all time and also being one of my personal favorites as well. After all, he is the man that influenced Marco Hietala! Too bad he did not last too long with these guys before he was in Black Sabbath and his more famous solo project. His predecessors as vocalist (Graham Bonnet, Joe Lynn Turner, and Doogie White) could not even hold a candle to Dio, but they all have their own talents nonetheless. And of course the guitar legend Ritchie Blackmore, who was most notably known in the legendary rock band Deep Purple, who left them to form this band, and also his folk female-fronted rock project, Blackmore's Night. His influence on metal is beyond words as he really set the tone for future shredders like Yngwie Malmsteen, Timo Tolkki (ex-Stratovarius), Jari Maenpaa (ex-Ensiferum, Wintersun), and many more. Rainbow consists of one of the most underrated drummers of all time in Cozy Powell, a solid bass player in Jimmy Bain(who also played for Dio in the years to come), and numerous keyboard players over the years as well (Tony Carey being the most influential of them all).
Some of you may also be thinking, "No way, these guys are hard rock, not metal!". If you do not think they are metal, look here! Well in my personal opinion, Rainbow was one of the big major pioneers of heavy metal in the mid-70s and into today as well. Listen to the song "Stargazer" which is the featured video below, and you will see what I mean. Their style was a hybrid of progressive rock like Deep Purple, hard rock like Led Zeppelin, and metal like Black Sabbath at that time. They can fall into the rock category too, but they have that edge that seperates them from many other bands in that era. Rainbow's sound was very revolutionary, fresh, and melodic for their time and contributed to the start of the "New Wave of British Heavy Metal" in the following years with legends like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Saxon, Def Leppard, Motorhead, and so on. One of my favorite finnish metal bands,Tarot, also credits Rainbow as being an inspiration for their band as well.
The reason I posted this is because I feel that Rainbow, though still moderately well known, has become shoved aside over the years and doesn't get the credit they deserve. This is one of Britain's greatest rock/metal acts along with Iron Maiden and Sabbath and is also perhaps one of the most underrated legendary classic bands of rock and metal. My personal recommendation is the album Rising. It features heavy metal masterpieces like "Stargazer", "A Light In The Black", and "Tarot Woman". For their time, they were a breakthrough band and gave Dio his claim to fame and rise to being a legend. But today, they are vaguely mentioned, which is a shame because they really did some amazing work in the 70's. Recommended for anyone into 70's hard rock/heavy metal, or just good music in general. Rock on! \m/
