MANY CONSIDER RONNIE JAMES DIO ONE OF THE BEST METAL SINGERS OF ALL TIME. HE FRONTED OR FOUNDED SOME OF THE GREAT BANDS OF OUR TIME INCLUDING RAINBOW, BLACK SABBATH, DIO, AND HEAVEN AND HELL. HE IS ALSO KNOWN FOR POPULARIZING THE “METAL HORNS” HAND GESTURE. TEN YEARS AGO RONNIE JAMES DIO PASSED AWAY AT THE AGE OF 67. THE MOST TRAGIC THING ABOUT DIO’S DEATH FROM STOMACH CANCER IN 2010 IS IT COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED. DIO HAD NOT BEEN TESTED FOR STOMACH OR COLORECTAL CANCER FOR AT LEAST 10 YEARS. ( THE AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY RECOMMENDS A COLONOSCOPY EVERY 10 YEARS OVER THE AGE OF 50). GEEZER BUTLER, DIO’S BANDMATE IN SABBATH AND HEAVEN AND HELL STATED IN THE BOOK “LOUDER THAN HELL: THE DEFINITIVE ORAL HISTORY OF HEAVY METAL”:
“All the doctors said if he’d have gone in [for a colonoscopy] a year earlier or two years earlier, they could have treated him, If it had been stage one they could have dealt with it. But by the time Ronnie was diagnosed, he had stage four cancer, which was inoperable. The doctor hinted that it was just a matter of time and there was nothing they could do. It’s really upsetting to think about that, and hopefully it will encourage people who need to have a check up to get it done.”
ONE OF A KIND WITH A BOOMING VOICE AND GREAT STAGE PRESENCE, THERE HAD NEVER BEFORE BEEN ANYONE LIKE RONNIE JAMES DIO, AND THERE NEVER WILL BE AGAIN. HERE’S DIO WITH ONE OF HIS BEST.
ALSO ON THIS DATE TWENTY TWO YEARS AGO TODAY, KEITH RICHARDS WAS RUSHED TO THE HOSPITAL AFTER HE FELL OFF A CHAIR WHILE REACHING FOR A BOOK IN HIS CONNECTICUT HOME, INJURING HIS CHEST AND RIBS. AT LEAST THIS TIME HE DIDN’T HURT HIMSELF FALLING HEAD FIRST OFF OF A COCONUT TREE ! HERE’S SOME VINTAGE KEITH RICHARDS WITH THE ROLLING STONES.
richards photo thanks- Raph_PH
dio-photo thanks akihito nakanishi