SERIES OF EVENTS PLANNED MAY 15TH-17TH IN CALIFORNIA TO CELEBRATE THE LIFE AND MUSIC OF RONNIE JAMES DIO
The Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund, founded in memory of the voice of Rainbow, Black Sabbath and Dio, is planning a weekend of activities in Los Angeles to commemorate the 5th anniversary of the singer’s untimely death from gastric cancer on May 16th, 2010. The weekend will include a public Memorial Service, as well as a Celebrity Bowling tournament and the inaugural “Ride For Ronnie” motorcycle ride and BBQ, according to Dio Cancer Fund Co-Founder/President, Wendy Dio.
A free public Memorial Service will take place at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills on Saturday, May 16th to celebrate the 5th Anniversary of Ronnie’s passing. Several former band members and friends who worked with Ronnie over his illustrious career are expected to speak and perform his music. As seating for this event is limited, if you are interested in attending, please send an email, along with your name, phone number and the number of seats to: info@diocancerfund.org
The weekend will begin on Friday, May 15th with a Celebrity Rock ‘n Bowl tournament at PINZ Bowling Center in Studio City. It will be a fun evening of bowling, entertainment and a silent auction, which will include bowling pins autographed by Aerosmith, Fleetwood Mac, YES, Anthrax, Metallica and many others.
All events lead up to the inaugural “Ride For Ronnie” motorcycle ride and BBQ on Sunday, May 17th. Riders will depart from Harley-Davidson of Glendale and ride to Los Encinos Park in Encino, where they will be treated to food, live music, raffle/silent auction and more. Fans who don’t ride are welcome to attend just the BBQ.
Further information on registering for the “Ride For Ronnie” and purchasing tickets for Celebrity Bowling and the BBQ will be available shortly. Check back at the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund website diocancerfund.org for updates.
Ronnie is dearly missed.
I can’t believe it’s been almost 5 years since Ronnie passed away. I miss him as do all metal fans do but at least he left us with decades worth of incredible music to listen to and cherish.
DIO WOULDN’T BE TOO HAPPY… a memorial is set to celebrate the life of Ronnie James Dio (Dio, Black Sabbath, Rainbow) on the anniversary of his death, May 16 and Tracy G Grijalva (Dio, World War III) has not received an invitation to attend, his longest running consecutive guitarist… this morning they posted one of Dio’s “Top 10” albums, Strange Highways (which Tracy G wrote with Dio) and asked which was your favorite song? This is my reply:
I truly loved them all and that’s hard to say of any album… Dio himself was so undeniably pleased, saying without Tracy G it would have never manifested into such a great masterpiece. For years Dio wanted to explore a heavier sound, he was blown away he had found the perfect collaborator and why he kept Tracy for six consecutive years in a row, no other guitarist did that in Dio. Some may love Dio for his traditional sound, but when he ventured out to set forth what he wanted to accomplish, they both delivered effortlessly.
I was long a fan of the gracious Dio and saw him in concert many times before I even met Tracy G. Many of you may not know, Tracy is a virtuoso guitarist in heavy metal, jazz, flamenco, blues and rock. Tracy went down in history with Dio and he should be respected for his deliverance in a critically acclaimed “Top Ten” of Dio’s greatest repertoire, regardless if other’s wanted the old sounding Dio to forever stay the same.
I am so happy as a great fan of Ronnie James Dio, he got to accomplish everything he wanted in his career. Long live Dio in our hearts… and as for Tracy G Grijalva, he is not one to ever be overlooked, an extraordinary and innovative talent who to this day has never stopped playing, featuring many legendary peers, he keeps cranking new material year after year. To deny Tracy in any of Dio’s events, is to deny Dio himself. What a shame, I wouldn’t want to be the one who takes Dio’s career in their own hands by directing who gets to memorialize him and denying a great part of Dio’s life… they have yet to cross those pearly gates, or as in Dio’s scope of universal life and beliefs, be denied themselves ~ Nita Neets