RJD Day

Two years ago today, May 16th, Ronnie James Dio passed away after a battle with stomach cancer. Last year and this year on the anniversary of his death I have taken the day off of work and for the entire 24 hours of May 16th I listen to every single Dio song. The Elves, Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Heaven & Hell, and every solo album; its all playing all day.

His music really helped me define who I am as a person today. As soon as I heard "Rainbow In The Dark" when I was in the 7th grade (on the "The Very Beast Of Dio" album my dad had bought) I was a Metalhead. Yeah I had Van Halen's debut, Metallica's "Black Album", Def Leppard's "Vault", and Saigon Kick's "The Lizard" all memorized early in elementary school; but that was the first time that I really labelled myself as a Metalhead. Once I had something that defined me I really came out of my shell, I had something I was passionate about! A decade later I'm still as passionate, if not more so, about all of Ronnie James Dio's music and the entire genre of Heavy Metal that he helped spread. I'm very saddened that I never got to see him perform. But am very grateful for the career he had.

Long Live Rock And Roll.