Following the sad news of Ronnie Dio passing away on Sunday 16th May, tributes have been pouring in from across the music world.
Lead singer with British band Rainbow, filling the shoes of Prince Of Darkness Ozzy Osbourne in Black Sabbath as well as fronting his own bands Elf and Dio, Ronnie Jame Dio was a hugely influential figure of heavy rock.
Battling cancer for over a year the singer passed away peacefully in hospital on Sunday 16th May at the age of 67. Since the news broke, tributes have been pouring in from across the music world.
Metallica drummer, Lars Ulrich spoke an emotional tribute to the singer, who has been a massive inspiration to the Metallica icon. Being a lifelong fan, revealing he actually met Dio as an unknown teenager, Lars had this to say.
"I made the pilgrimage to the Plaza Hotel to see if I could somehow grab a picture, an autograph, a moment, anything," Ulrich wrote. "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."
Speaking of when they actually played together onstage, he described Ronnie Dio as “one of the main reasons I made it onto that stage to begin with”. Continuing, “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."
Amongst others paying tribute to the metal legend was Ozzy Osbourne, who Dio actually replaced in Black Sabbath after Ozzy was sacked from the group.
In other news, organisers of this year’s Download Festival have confirmed that the Second Stage at the weekend event will be re-named the Ronnie James Dio Stage in honour of the late singer.
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