Ronnie James Dio (1942 – 2010)

I was extremely sad to read that Ronnie James Dio passed away this morning, after a fight with cancer. Dio's music was an early staple in my life, and will always be a favorite and an important influence. I always enjoyed the unapologetic epic-ness of his lyrics and the booming power of his voice, which was all the more impressive coming from a sweet, thoughtful man of modest stature. There was a giant living inside of Ronnie Dio, which came out the moment the music started and he opened his mouth.

So many of the figures of the time in rock and especially metal seemed to be so hard-living, and lead such self-abusive, callow lifestyles, but Dio always had a sense of grace and charm that belied his rock god status. In an old TV segment in which the producers get a tour of his new home, Dio comes across as an endearing and slightly geeky guy who is just really proud of his antique furniture pieces and can't wait to tell you their histories. It's a very touching portrait, rendered slightly surreal by the interspersing of cuts from the video for his song "Last in Line."

I was probably first introduced to Dio by that video, which was an MTV staple in the 80's. When I won a gift certificate to the local drug store during a football game as a teen, I bought the album, along with Iron Maiden's "Powerslave" and Motely Crue's "Shout at the Devil" on cassette.

A few years later, while on a big Deep Purple kick, my friend introduced me to Rainbow, and I was floored to discover that Dio and Ritchie Blackmore had been in a band together. My 16-year-old brain may have exploded. In particular, the live version of Deep Purple's "Mistreated" blew me away. When Ronnie enters with the melody, all traces of David Coverdale's gin-soaked, blues of the original is gone, replaced by full-throated Dio bombast. "David Who?" Blackmore and Dio seemed like musical soulmates to me, with their interest in wizards, dragons, and magic. But they only produced three records together before heading their separate ways.

It wasn't too long before I was off to other musical interests as well, but Dio and Rainbow (and Black Sabbath and Elf) are never too far away (or gone from my ipod).

A couple of years ago, a trio of Rainbow live shows from 1976 were released on CD as a set, and I eagerly snatched them up. I was working in the computer lab at Cornish College of the Arts on weekends and saved the set for a Sunday morning shift, when I knew there would be no students coming in. It was glorious treat to blast those shows in my headphones one after the other, and listen to Dio's huge voice.

For the Zubatto Syndicate show at the Crocodile last month, I wanted to wear a t-shirt that would serve to remind me to bring the maximum rock to my own playing and give everything I could to the performance. I picked a Rainbow shirt, with the classic over-the-top art from their second album "Rising." It was there to ask me, WWRJDD?

Goodbye, Ronnie. You will be missed. But the magic that we felt was worth a lifetime.