Memorial Held For Ronnie James Dio

A public memorial was held today for Ronnie James Dio at the Hall of Liberty in Los Angeles.  

More than 1,200 fans attended the memorial, while hundreds more sat outside watching on giant TV screens.  

Musicians paid tribute to Dio at the event which included performances by Joey Belladonna (Anthrax), Glenn Hughes (Black Sabbath, Deep Purple), Oni Logan (Lynch Mob), John Payne (Asia), Laude Schnell (Dio), Paul Shortino (Quiet Riot, Rough Cutt), Geoff Tate (Queensryche) and Scott Warren (Dio).

David Feinstein, Dio's cousin and bandmate from Elf, said at the proceedings "He touched all of us with his music and his message and his magic. I know that Ronnie truly loved all of you. He had a great appreciation for your loyalty. I'm talking about all you out there, all the fans."

Dio's son Dan Padavona also addressed the crowd saying "I beg you not to make the same mistake my dad made. For dad, the show always had to go on. He ignored the warning signs for years, and all along the cancer was growing and mutating from something that was probably easily defeatable into a monster which even Dio couldn't slay."

Blabbermouth reports that there was a small protest by members of the Westboro Baptist Church who claimed Dio was a "Satan Worshipper".  A source told the website that "protesters were cordoned off outside of Forest Lawn grounds proper and were small in number with an at least equal number of counter-protesters. All seemed orderly despite the usual idiocy from the WBC folks."

Follow us Facebook and keep up to date with the latest music news

Tagged as : Ronnie James Dio | news |