Dio

I was shocked to find out two weeks ago that heavy metal icon Ronnie James Dio had died at the age of 67. I wasn't shocked that he had died, I was shocked that he was 67. Paul McCartney's 67. Mick Jagger's going to be 67 shortly. Those guys are 60's icons. I never even heard of Dio until that strange brief time when metal ruled the world in the mid-80's. To achieve rock stardom at 40 is definitely unusual, and probably an unrepeatable career path. Not being a metal fan I only became acquainted with Dio through his videos on MTV. Metal bands of that era absolutely loved to make music videos with these elaborate science-fiction, fantasy, or horror scenarios that were then rendered laughable by their inadequate special-effects budgets. You know, like this one.

Anyway I never saw him in concert myself but some college friends of mine went to see him back in his heyday. My friends showed up dressed in their normal everyday attire. As they headed into the arena a Dio fanatic dressed for the occasion in leather, chains, etc., took one look at them and said with disgust, "You don't deserve Dio".


This post is dedicated to my friend Bret.  He does deserve Dio.