Bonzo Brad's Heavy Metal Thunder: In Memory of the Holy Diver himself, Ronnie James Dio.

July 10, 1942 - May 16, 2010

One year ago today, the world lost a very significant voice in heavy metal and hard rock music, and that voice was Ronnie James Dio. He is easily one of the best, if not, THE best vocalist of all time in the metal community. To me, he is definitely my favorite singer of all time. That voice is one of a kind. He can softly croon a tune, or just scream and shout a banger of a song. He could do it all, along with playing some keyboard here and there. The man is just a gifted and talented soul. From the interviews I have seen of his, the man seemed to be the sweetest, funniest, coolest dude anyone could imagine. The man seemed to love to put a smile on people's faces, whether with his actions, or most importantly, with his music. The man has given us so much classic material, whether it be with Rainbow, Black Sabbath, or his solo band, Dio. In fact, my favorite Sabbath record, along with one of my favorites, is the first record that Dio recorded with Sabbath, "Heaven and Hell." Dio's voice on that record was just so powerful and bad ass compared to Ozzy's maniacal vocals he had contributed to Sabbath before. In fact, when he joined Rainbow and Black Sabbath, those were my favorite eras of those bands (even though the other eras of those groups were just as good.) Dio just brought something to those bands that gave them a nice kick in the ass. Hell, somedays, I'd have to say that Dio made Rainbow, not Ritchie Blackmore (even though the man could slay on the guitar.) Basically, this man IS metal. The man helped metal evolve and make it become bigger and better than it was before. He simply is a god who is respected by many of his peers and phrased by many people. Now that he is gone, one of my biggest regrets is that I did not ever get to see the man in action. There was a tour I would have killed to see at the time it went on (2008), the Metal Masters tour. It had Testament, Motorhead, Judas Priest, and Heaven & Hell, the reformed "Mob Rules" era of Black Sabbath. It came to Chicago and I was wanting to go, but with school going on at the time, plus no one to go with, it did not work out for me to go. I keep kicking myself quite a bit because I missed that tour and my opportunity to see the voice of Metal in action and in person (along with three other kick ass bands.) So now, I'll just stick to listening to my records of his, whether it be Rainbow's "Rising," or Dio's "Holy Diver." I can just pretend that Dio is in front of me singing songs such as "Stargazer" and "Stand Up and Shout" and throwing those horns my way. The man helped me get into metal at such a young age when I first heard "Rainbow in the Dark" on the radio (well...nine years old. Still pretty young, eh?) That song rocked like a mofo to me as a kid. I never heard anything that heavy at the time (even though later on in life, I would find other music that would be way heavier than Dio, but not as kick ass.) Then, my uncle had a best of Dio CD that he would jam in his car to when I would stay with him. I remember sitting in his car and hearing a live version of Rainbow's "Man on the Silver Mountain" that really got me all jacked up when listening to it. It was just full of energy and power. It made me real interested in that song, and when I found that it was not him, but Rainbow that did it, I decided to look further into this band, only to find out he was in it. From that day forward, I became quite the fan of Dio's work, getting into his solo songs like "Straight Through the Heart," "The Last in Line," or his tunes with Sabbath like "Neon Knights," and "The Mob Rules." I am grateful of my uncle for really making me a Dio fan ever since I heard that CD of his in his car. If he never played that CD, who knows if I'd even get into Dio today (I might have, but you never know!) Because of my uncle, I know have a grand collection of metal records by this man. The man has been a part of essential work in the metal and hard rock community, and we cannot thank him enough for that. May he rest in peace, and rock on with the best up there, like Cliff Burton, Randy Rhoads, and John Bonham.

Essential Dio Albums:
Rainbow - "Rising"
Black Sabbath - "Heaven and Hell"
Dio - "Holy Diver"

Dio Playlist:
"Stargazer" - Rainbow
"Man on the Silver Mountain" - Rainbow
"Long Live Rock N' Roll" - Rainbow
"Heaven and Hell" - Black Sabbath
"Children of the Sea" - Black Sabbath
"The Sign of the Southern Cross" - Black Sabbath
"Falling Off the Edge of the World" - Black Sabbath
"Stand Up and Shout" - Dio
"Don't Talk to Strangers" - Dio
"Straight Through the Heart" - Dio
"We Rock" - Dio
"Egypt (The Chains Are On)" - Dio
"One Night in the City" - Dio

Dio Quote:
"The lover of life's not a sinner. The ending is just the beginner. The closer you get to the meaning, the sooner you'll know that you're dreaming. And it's on and on and on, it's heaven and hell. Oh well." - RJD ("Heaven and Hell")

Dio Videos

Rainbow - "Long Live Rock N' Roll (Live)"