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Obituaries Top Stories
Dio dies
By CMU Editorial | Published on Monday 17 May 2010
Ronnie James Dio, best known as number two frontman for Black Sabbath, has died after losing a fight with stomach cancer, which he was diagnosed with last November. He was 67.
As online speculation grew that Dio had died yesterday, his wife and manager Wendy Dio posted a statement on the metaller’s website reading: “Today my heart is broken, Ronnie passed away at 7:45am 16 May. Many, many friends and family were able to say their private goodbyes before he peacefully passed away. Ronnie knew how much he was loved by all. We so appreciate the love and support that you have all given us … Please know he loved you all and his music will live on forever”.
Dio first rose to fame in the mid-seventies as the lead singer of Rainbow, replacing Ozzy Osbourne as frontman of Black Sabbath in 1980 ahead of the recording of one of the metal band’s most critically acclaimed albums ‘Heaven And Hell’.
He had three relatively short stints with the Sabbath, but in that time won over a significant portion of the fans, some of whom still see Dio as the better of the band’s frontmen, quite an achievement given the default tendency of fans to prefer original band members. During Dio’s latest stint fronting the Sabbath the band toured as Heaven And Hell, named after that seminal album to avoid confusion with recent Osbourne-fronted Sabbath reunions.
Earlier this month, Heaven And Hell cancelled an upcoming European tour, telling fans: “Sadly, Ronnie isn’t well enough to tour this summer”.
Outside of his times with Black Sabbath, Dio enjoyed success as a solo artist, releasing music under just his surname. Twisted Sister guitarist Jay Jay French played with Dio on his solo tours, and was due to join him at some festival shows this summer. He told Billboard yesterday: “He possessed one of the greatest voices in all of heavy metal, and had a heart to match it. He was the nicest, classiest person you would ever want to meet”.
