RIP Ronnie James Dio
May 21st, 2010 | 
Commodore128
Commodore128
A legend is dead and we are mourning at the Clan of the Gray Wolf. As it was reported on Sunday, Ronnie James Dio, heavy metal frontman of Black Sabbath, Rainbow, Elf, Heaven and Hell, and his eponymous group Dio has died. Dio meant a lot to a great number of geeks, metal heads, D&D loyalists, musicians, and all the various and sundry combination therein.
Many of the legends of metal have contributed their own personal thoughts about the sad loss of one of metals greatest iconic and I wanted to contribute my own thoughts as someone who thought very highly of the man that legitimated in many ways the genre of fantasy metal. If D&D had a soundtrack it would begin with Dio and continue in perpetuity with all of the artists inspired by his work. Read on to hear some of my own thoughts about Ronnie James Dio.
Jason Ferguson over at Something Awful has an article that I think summarizes the entirety of Dio’s contributions far better than I am capable of doing. I’ll reprint some of his post here and then add my own comments below. Ferguson says:
Ronnie James Dio's death marked the passing of not only a legend but also a true believer, an artist so passionate about his singular vision that he didn't change course when cretins started treating him like an anachronistic punchline, or when fewer and fewer fans bought his new CDs. He never "outgrew" metal's fantastical aesthetic: Thirty years after recording with a band named Elf, he released an album called Killing The Dragon. But Dio's work didn't reflect a stunted sensibility; it revealed what happens when an unbridled imagination survives past childhood.Dio simultaneously embodied metal at its most extreme and at its most accessible. His "devil's midget" appearance and swords-and-sorcery themes opened themselves up to outsider mockery, but the keyboard-padded melodies and the easy-to-grasp, literally black-and-white nature of his lyrical dichotomies made it easy for Dio to convert anyone who gave him an honest chance.
I have to say that I agree entirely. And is Dio’s unbridled imagination not also analogous to our own? One of the reasons Dio meant so much to so many of us geeks was because even though he was a heavy metal frontman, he was one of us. His imagination was incredible indeed, which allowed him to forge his interest in fantasy with his love for great music. Many of us as geeks grew up in a bit of a hostile environment, always seen as a bit different or eccentric from the “normal” kids because of our geeky interests. Dio shared these interests, sang about them, gave us anthems for them, and in doing so, told us it was ok to be different… while he rocked our faces off.
Punch-lines will undoubtedly always follow the playing of the video for Holy Diver on VH1 Classic at the sight of this vertically challenged, anachronistically costumed, explosion of finely curled hair barely hoisting a sword far too large given his stature and far too shiny to be anything remotely useful. But I think if we’re all honest with ourselves, we’re even just a little bit envious that this man is getting the opportunity to act out some of his imaginative sword and sorcery fantasies, complete with ancient church scenery, more smoke machines than is likely regulated by statute, and a blank canvas for imaginative fiction. Sure I laugh at it too, but I also see that Dio is in some ways beyond the joke we’re making, because above all he’s just being himself. I don’t care who you are, that’s just awesome. And a lesson some of the kids today could stand to learn in the sea of crappy sameness that is our popular culture no?
I love my Dragonforce. I’m not ashamed to say that I have a fantasy metal station on Pandora. This kind of music is the soundtrack to D&D games everywhere. And while Dio might not be the father of all fantasy metal, he is undoubtedly a pioneer. And for that we will all miss him. Ferguson alludes to this at the end of his piece, but I think starting this week when people ask me how I am I’ll start answering with a smile, “I’m just riding the tiger,” and I’ll think of Dio. If Jesus loves heavy metal then Dio is undoubtedly the performing entertainment in Heaven right about now.
Rock on in the afterlife, Dio. You'll be sorely missed!