by Paul Wylie

Created on: May 17, 2010

The Day The Music Died

Although most of you reading this article know that heavy metal rock legend Ronnie James Dio of Black Sabbath fame has succumbed to his battle with stomach cancer, this writing will try to put into perspective the impact the man and his music had on not only myself, but an entire generation.

Since leaving former Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore's band Rainbow to join Black Sabbath, and releasing their first album since the departure of lead singer Ozzy Osbourne, Dio's haunting and sometimes tragic melodies have struck a chord with metal fans and catapulted him to stardom in the realm of music. Not always recognized for his work, (many Ozzy fans bad mouthed him every chance they could), he nevertheless persevered in the face of opposition to breathe new life into the Black Sabbath name.

From the sunny shores of California, where beach radios would blast out anthems such as 'Heaven and Hell', to the streets of Brooklyn, N.Y. where teenage fans would roll the windows down on their Ford LTD's and shock the neighborhood with riffs from 'The Mob Rules'.

I first saw Black Sabbath live in Madison Square Garden many a year ago during the 'Black and Blue' tour. Featuring Blue Oyster Cult and Black Sabbath, the audio bombardment that shook the arena when Sabbath hit the stage was unlike anything I had been prepared for at that time.

A loud explosion blew out my eardrums as the voice of Dio rose over the massive bass guitar to flow into the opening song, 'Neon Knights'. Like a pied piper, he seduced the audience to come with him down mystical pathways and magical kingdoms. I was hooked from that moment on, even though I could not hear for three days hence. Following the band from town to town, city to city, I would sell shirts for the vendors outside of the arenas in order to obtain a ticket to wonderland inside. Hustling from groups of teenagers to gaggles of older folks, I begged, pleaded, and suckered them into buying a shirt, sometimes four or five, rushing back to collect my cut and purchase a scalped ticket and run inside.

An actual form of depression set in after the release of the 'Live Evil' album, when we learned that Dio was leaving Sabbath to form his own band. Although singer Tony Martin, who replaced Dio to carry on the Sabbath banner was well under rated and filled the void left behind by Dio, we all followed Dio's solo career, cranking up the volume on 'Holy Diver' and 'Dream Evil'.

Overjoyed at the release of Sabbath's reunion

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