RIP RJD

Ronnie James Dio died this morning, at the age of 67. He had been battling stomach cancer for perhaps 6 months, and had recently canceled touring plans for this summer. I knew that couldn't be a good sign, so his passing was not unexpected. I'm sad right now, but not really for Ronnie himself. Like Jaws a year ago, he had lived a good long life. He was a professional musician for 50 years, doing what he loved. Such longevity is a sign of blessing. He was always the first to state in interviews how fortunate he'd been in life.

It is a little surprising to realize that I saw Dio live, fronting Heaven & Hell (Black Sabbath), as recently as August 15 of last year. It was my fourth time seeing him, and my second Heaven & Hell show, after twice seeing his solo band. Ronnie sounded great, and seemed poised to continue on forever. It turned out to be around that time that he started feeling the stomach pangs which lead to his eventual diagnosis.

Tribulations are pouring in from around the world, the best I've read so far comes from Lars Ullrich:

"Dear Ronnie,

I just got off stage in Zagreb. I was met with the news that you've passed on. I'm kind of in shock, but I wanted you to know that you were one of the main reasons I made it onto that stage to begin with. When I first saw you in Elf, opening for Deep Purple in 1975, I was completely blown away by the power in your voice, your presence on stage, your confidence, and the ease with which you seemed to connect to 6,000 Danish people and one starry-eyed 11 year old, most of whom were not familiar with Elf's music. The following year, I was so psyched when I heard the results of you joining forces with my favourite guitar player. You guys sounded so right for each other and I instantly became Rainbow's #1 fan in Denmark. In the fall of 1976, when you played your first show in Copenhagen, I was literally in the front row and the couple of times we made eye contact you made me feel like the most important person in the world. The news that you guys were staying in town on your day off somehow embedded itself in my brain and I made the pilgrimage to the Plaza Hotel to see if I could somehow grab a picture, an autograph, a moment, anything. A few hours later you came out and were so kind and caring... pictures, autographs and a couple minutes of casual banter. I was on top of the world, inspired and ready for anything. Rainbow came to Copenhagen a couple more times over the next few years and each time you guys blew my mind, and for a good three years were my absolute favourite band on this planet. Over the years I've been fortunate enough to run into you a half dozen times or so and each time you were as kind, caring and gracious as you were in 1976 outside the hotel. When we finally got a chance to play together in Austria in 2007, even though I may not have let on, I was literally transformed back to that little snot nosed kid who you met and inspired 31 years earlier and it was such a fucking honor and a dream come true to share a stage with you and the rest of the legends in Heaven & Hell. A couple of weeks ago when I heard that you were not going to be able to make it to the Sonisphere shows that we would be sharing this June, I wanted to call you and let you know that I was thinking of you and wish you well, but I kind of pussied out, thinking the last thing you needed in your recovery was feeling obligated to take a phone call from a Danish drummer/fan boy. I wish I'd made that call. We will miss you immensely on the dates, and we will be thinking of you with great admiration and affection during that run. It seemed so right to have you out on tour with the so-called Big Four since you obviously were one of the main reasons that the four bands even exist. Your ears will definitely be burning during those two weeks because all of us will be talking, reminiscing and sharing stories about how knowing you has made our lives that much better.

Ronnie, your voice impacted and empowered me, your music inspired and influenced me, and your kindness touched and moved me. Thank you.

Much love,

Lars."

I couldn't put it any better myself. I'll close with some of Ronnie's lyrics, from the Black Sabbath song Over & Over:

Too many flames, with too much to burn
And life's only made of paper
Oh, how I need to be free of this pain
But it goes over, and over, and over, and over again