Over One Thousand Fans Attend Ronnie Dio's Memorial
Wednesday, 02 June 2010
Written by Jon Stickler
Over one thousand fans turned out for Ronnie Dio’s memorial service in Los Angeles this weekend.
Ronnie Dio was an innovator of Heavy Metal and a hero to countless numbers of music fans across the planet. Selling an unbelievable amount of records whilst touring the world several times, the metal legend passed away last month after losing a hard fought battle with stomach cancer.
Starting as a lead singer with hard-rocking British band Rainbow, Ronnie Dio went on to replace Prince Of Darkness Ozzy Osbourne as frontman of Black Sabbath. Perhaps the ultimate prize and recognition in heavy metal music.
Ronnie Dio’s death shocked the metal world with millions of fans mourning the loss. With his funeral taking place on Sunday 30th May at the Hall Of Liberty in Los Angeles some of metal’s most respected figures attended the service.
Associated Press reported that some 1200 fans attended the service, including famous faces of Ozzy Osbourne, Geoff Tate from Queensryche and Paul Shortino of Quiet Riot fame.
Ronnie Dio’s cousin, and former Elf band mate, David Fernstein spoke to the crowd paying his respects to the metal legend. "He touched all of us with his music and his message and his magic. I know that Ronnie truly loved all of you. He had a great appreciation for your loyalty. I'm talking about all you out there, all the fans."
A number of tracks from Ronnie Dio’s career were performed by mourners at the service, including Sabbath’s late era classic ‘Heaven and Hell’. Unfortunately the funeral also attracted a small protest from the Christian cult Westboro Baptist Church who gathered outside the gates of the Hall of Liberty.
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