In Memorium... Ronnie James Dio, One Year Later
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| I'm a fire. Burning higher. Trying to burn the sun. - Elf, 1974 |
If you are a heavy metal fan, then you very likely remember where you were one year ago today. It was the day we learned we had lost a true legend of the genre, when Ronnie James Dio passed away. Despite knowing he was battling cancer, it still hit many fans and members of the metal community extremely hard. But rather than lament his passing further, it makes much more sense to celebrate some of the incredible music he had a hand in creating.
Though best known for singing with Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, his all together too brief stint with Black Sabbath and the band which bore his name, Ronnie James Dio's musical career stretched across a span of 50 years, something which few artists can attest to. Even with a library of songs to his credit, there are two which I always come back to hear time and again. Both are perfect representations of Dio's ability to pen "metal epics"; songs stretching beyond the usual radio-friendly lengths, which tell stories and are carried by the powerful sound of the bands for which he sang. The first of these is "Stargazer", from the 1976 album Rainbow Rising. If you've never heard it, please take the next eight and a half minutes and lose yourself in the tale of a wizard who builds a tower so he can reach the stars...
The second of Dio's epics, which, unless you are a fan of Black Sabbath, may have likely never heard, is "The Sign of the Southern Cross" from Black Sabbath's monumental Mob Rules album. Please, turn up your speakers, hit play, close your eyes for the next seven plus minutes and take in the dark and sweeping sounds of Black Sabbath at their finest and the haunting, allegorical lyrics of Ronnie James Dio.
Something that has stuck with me after an outpouring of Twitter tributes (Twibutes?) following the death of a different celebrity, was a tweet posted by a good friend, which essentially said, "Why celebrate and talk about someone after they've died? You should be doing that while they are here." That sentiment is echoed in the lyrics of "The Sign of the Southern Cross" when Ronnie sings "...make life your treasure...". While Ronnie James Dio is now part of the great gig in the sky, its seems appropriate that one year later we should perhaps no longer mourn his passing, but rather celebrate the music he made.
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