Metal Moment Update

The news I'm about to give you shook every fiber of my being to the core, especially since I expressed such high hopes yesterday.  The unthinkable has happened.  Ronnie James Dio passed away this morning.

I first caught wind of this on his official Facebook page.  I couldn't believe it.  I didn't want to believe it.  But the update was written by his own wife.  How could I refute that?

The thing that pissed me off was the disrespectful handling of this information.  Some websites were already reporting his death before it even happened, which Wendy responded by stating, on his Twitter, that he wasn't dead, but was not doing good.  Of course, when she did announce his passing, a lot of people were still calling it a hoax.  Even "news" websites said that the announcements of his death were fake.  I spent about two hours wondering if it was true or not.  It wasn't until I went back to his website, which, for a while, was down, that I saw the same announcement that was on his Facebook page.  It seems that most sites have finally caught up with what happened, but the way these rumors muddled the truth is just fucking pathetic.

But enough about that bullshit.  I want to honor the man, his music, and what it meant to me.  Out of all the metal groups I listen to, his singing and lyrics were the most inspiring.  When I heard his songs, I connected with them, as if he understood what I was going through.  From the interviews I've seen him in, he seemed like an honest, down to earth person, someone you could relate to.  I said to myself, "When he gets better, I would love to meet the guy, just hang out with him, even for only a few minutes."  I wanted to experience his presence.  Sadly, that day will never come.

Putting this into perspective, I feel that my previous post was so cruelly timed.  I was riding high on the hopes of him making a triumphant return.  Everything seemed to be pointing to a bright future with Heaven and Hell still going strong and Dio's own band making a return to the studio - a future that was cut unfairly short.

First, it was Frank Frazetta, and now this.  This has got to be the worst fucking week I've had in a long time.  Though I didn't post anything about Frazetta's death (I felt that some of my fellow brothers in blogging, especially CROM!, said it better than I ever could), I felt as if a legend had passed from this mortal realm.  Now, another legend leaves to join him.  I would like to believe that, even if they've never met before, they share a table in the hallowed halls of the immortals.  For their work and inspiration, I feel that there is no one who does not lift them, with their steelclad hearts, to the heavens.  Therein, lies their true immortality.

Death may claim life, but it cannot conquer the true soul of men.

Rest in peace and know that your life made the world richer.

Kaiser out