Apparently, Ronnie James Dio has lost his battle to stomach cancer at the age of 67.
I’m not going to get all sappy and lie and say that Dio was one of my favorite musicians, because he wasn’t. But I did like his music quite a bit. I’ve got the Holy Diver album and Sabbath’s Heaven & Hell, as well as the Black Sabbath: The Dio Years best-of compilation record. And they’re damn good.
I was even fortunate enough to see Dio (with Black Sabbath) a couple of summers ago, and it was damn awesome.
Dio’s the man who gave us the “bullhorns” (or “devil horns”) hand gesture, which has penetrated American society so much that people don’t even know he’s credited as having created the hand sign.
So, regardless of how you feel about heavy metal, every time you hold up ‘the horns,’ remember that without Ronnie James Dio, you wouldn’t have that hand sign to use.
Rest in peace, Dio. May the Devil worship you for all of eternity. Or at least until Ozzy shows up in Hell. Then you guys can have a drunken piss-fight about who gets to rule.