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Legendary Guitarist GARY MOORE Dies At the age
of 58.
Sad news this week with the passing of influential Irish guitarist (
and former
Thin Lizzy guitar slinger
) Gary Moore, who
died on Sunday, February 6, from a suspected heart attack. Moore, 58, was
vacationing in Estepona, Spain with his girlfriend who found him in the early
morning hours and called for help.
In a prepared statement, the members
of Thin Lizzy said of their former guitarist, “ It is with great sadness we hear
of the passing of Gary Moore. Our thoughts go out to Gary's family at this time
and our memories of Gary and his contribution to Thin Lizzy and music in general
will live on forever. "
More tributes began to roll in, with fellow
countryman ( and Boomtown Rats frontman
) Bob
Geldof hailing him as “...one of the greats. His playing was
exceptional and beautiful. We won't see his like again, " said Geldof. “
He is one
of the great blues players. ( Guns N’ Roses’
) Axl
Rose says that without Thin Lizzy, you don't get
Guns 'N' Roses and that whole idea of rock and roll, and Gary
was sort of fundamental in developing that twin-guitar lyrical thing, like on
‘Parisienne Walkways,’
" Geldof said.
Said Ozzy
Osbourne to Classic Rock magazine, “
I knew Gary
Moore for what seemed like forever. We'd run into each other many times
over the years and we were always able to pick up right where we left off. I had
the honor of recording with Gary on his After The War album on the
track 'Led Clones' which was great fun. To say that his death is a
tragic loss doesn't seem to give it the justice it deserves. We've lost a
phenomenal musician and a great friend. Rest in peace,
Gary. ”
Geezer Butler ( Black Sabbath
) said, “ I was very
saddened to hear of the passing of one of the greatest guitarists of all time --
Gary Moore. His Still Got The Blues album was one of the great albums,
certainly one of my favorites. His way of playing cannot be learned — it comes
from the soul. R.I.P., Gary .”
Europe: “
No words can
describe how sad we feel hearing the news that Gary Moore has passed away. We
can't believe it! It's a total shock! He was one of our biggest influences, both
as a guitarist and a songwriter. Our thoughts and feelings now go out to his
family and close friends. ”
Roger Taylor (
Queen ) to
Classic Rock magazine: “
It's terrible: 58 is just too early. In
Phil ( Lynott )'s case it was tragic, and in Gary's case there
should have been a lot more years. I have great memories of Gary on tour in
Thin Lizzy with Queen: always smiling, very
cheerful and… too young to die. He'd recently joined Lizzy and he fitted in
great: a blindingly fast player, and his thing was these staccato runs, with a
bit of jazz in there. Totally different to Brian May, who's a very fluid
player, but musicians usually 'get' other rated musicians, and Brian very much
enjoyed his playing. Over the years, I'd see Gary out in the clubs: a great guy
on the scene. He liked to drink, as I remember, but everybody did in those days.
It's very sad. But I think his music will live on. Virtuosity is something we
really don't have now: there are lots of great bands, but the emphasis just
isn't on that anymore. In those days, it was all about how great you were; there
were so many virtuosos and he was definitely one of them. He was a star
player." ”
Paul Rodgers ( Bad Company, Free
): “ Gary was a
friend and a truly great man. I respect that he played the game his way... no
time for B.S. He was focused and passionate about music and was one of the best.
The last time that I jammed with Gary, he came on as my special guest at
London's Royal Albert Hall and proceeded to take it to another level... the
place imploded! When he played, he was a man on fire. If there hadn't been an
ocean between us and Gary didn't mind flying, we absolutely would have created
more together. We've lost a great British blues man and I am very, very
sad. "
May 30,
2010
Ronnie James Dio's Public Memorial
Service: First Photos, Video
Footage.
Fans and friends say goodbye to
Ronnie James Dio during
a memorial service at Forest Lawn
Cemetery in Los Angeles,
CA. More VideofootageHere!
Ronnie James Dio
B.
July 10, 1942 - D. May 16,
2010
Ronnie
James Dio
was born
Ronald
James Padavona
in
Portsmouth, New
Hampshire, an only child in an
Italian family. They lived in
Portsmouth until the family moved to
Cortland, New York early in his life.
His parents raised him in the
Roman Catholic
church,
an experience he found
unsatisfactory.
Dio
graduated from the Cortland City
School in 1960, and was
inducted to the Cortland CitySchool Hall of Fame in 2004. He
was also honored on November 15, 1988
by his hometown naming a street after
him, Dio Way.
He
initially played the trumpet and even
recorded several singles with various
rockabilly bands when he was a boy.
When he was in high school, he joined
a band called The Vegas Kings, in
which he played the bass guitar. He
eventually became the lead singer of
this band, which changed its name to
Ronnie & The Rumblers and finally
to Ronnie And The Red Caps. Their
first 7-inch single was released in
1958 on Reb Records under the name
Ronnie & The Redcaps. Its A-side,
'Lover' still had Billy DeWolfe on
vocals but Dio's voice can be heard
clearly in the back. The B-side,
'Conquest' is an instrumental in the
style of the Ventures, featuring Dio
on trumpet.
Padavona took
up the name " Dio " after mafia member
Johnny Dio, and first used it
professionally in 1961, when he added
it to the band's second release on
Seneca. Soon after that the band
changed their name to Ronnie Dio and
the Prophets. The group did several
single releases during the following
years until they changed their name
again in 1967 to ( Electric )
Elves.
During
a performance at the
Darien Lake Performing Arts
Center
in Darien,
NY ( near Buffalo, NY ) on
September 19, 2007, Dio revealed that
he had attended the
University at
Buffalo,
majoring in pharmacy. University at
Buffalo officials confirmed that he
did attend from 1960 to 1961 but did
not graduate.He formed one of his
early bands during his freshman year.
He was also offered a scholarship to
the
Juilliard School of Music
but did not pursue
it due to his interest in rock music.
Despite being known for his powerful
singing voice, Dio claims never to
have taken any vocal training. He
attributes his singing ability to the
correct breathing techniques he
learned when playing the
French horn
as a child.
Dio's
musical career began in 1957 when
several Cortland, New York musicians
formed the band The Vegas Kings, which
soon changed their name to Ronnie and
the Rumblers. This band's lineup had
Padavona on the bass guitar, along
with singer Billy DeWolfe, guitarist
Nick Pantas, drummer Tom Rogers, and
saxophone player Jack Musci.
In 1958, the band again changed their
name, along with a few changes of
personnel. The band was now known as
Ronnie and the Redcaps. At this point,
Padavona began singing, replacing de
Wolf. Musci also left the band, and a
new guitarist, Dick Botoff, joined.
The Redcaps lineup released two
singles: "Lover" b/w "Conquest" ( with
De Wolf on vocals on the A-side ) on
the Reb label, and on Seneca ( S
178-102, USA ), 'An Angel Is Missing'
with 'What'd I Say' on the B side (
both songs featuring Padavona on
vocals ).
In 1961, they changed their name to
Ronnie Dio and The Prophets. The
Prophets lineup lasted for quite a
long time and produced several singles
and one album. Some sources state that
some of the single releases were made
by Ronnie James Dio solo, but others,
such as Dio himself, state that all of
the singles were made as a band.
Ronnie Dio and the Prophets disbanded
in 1967, but he and Prophets guitarist
Nick Pantas started a new band called
the
Electric
Elves.
They shortened their name to Elf in
1969, and went on to become an opening
act for Deep Purple. Dio's vocals
caught the ear of Deep Purple
guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, and when
Blackmore left the band, he recruited
Dio and other members of Elf to form
Rainbow. Rainbow released its first
album in 1975. Dio recorded three more
albums with Rainbow, but he left the
band due to creative differences:
Blackmore had wanted to take the band
in a more commercial direction.
Dio performed vocals on the 1974 UK
single "Love is All" taken from Roger
Glover's concept album
The
Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's
Feast
. Dio also
provided vocals for the songs
"Homeward" and "Sitting in a Dream" on
the album which also featured Deep
Purple alumni Glenn Hughes and David
Coverdale.
In 1979, after
leaving Rainbow, Dio joined Black
Sabbath, replacing Ozzy Osbourne. They
released the successful
Heaven and
Hell
album, which
revitalized the band's career. It was
during his time with Black Sabbath
that he popularized the
"
devil's
horns"
gesture. Dio says that his grandmother
used to make the hand gesture to ward
off the evil eye, which is very common
among superstitious Southern Italians.
The "horns," or
"
Corna,"
themselves are used both to scare away
and give someone the "Malocchio" (
the
Evil
Eye
). Ronnie James
Dio is not the first to use the "horns
sign". The band Coven used it on all
their record albums and on stage as
well going back to 1968.
Parliament-Funkadelic also used the
"horns sign" regularly, as seen in
many promo shots, album art work and
concerts in the 1970s. In 1992, Dio
briefly returned to Black Sabbath to
record
Dehumanizer
. The album was a
minor hit, reaching the Top 40 in the
United Kingdom, and #44 on the
Billboard
200.
In 1980, Dio sang
the tracks "To Live for the King" and
"Mask of the Great Deceiver" on Kerry
Livgren's solo album
Seeds of
Change
. Dio, who was
between stints as singer for Ritchie
Blackmore's Rainbow and Black Sabbath,
later proved somewhat controversial
among Livgren's Christian fans, as
Black Sabbath and Dio were then
perceived as "satanic" by many
Christians. Dio said in an interview
that he did not consider the album to
be a "Christian" album and had
performed on it as a favor to
Livgren.
In 1982, the mixing of the live
album
Live
Evil
led to Dio and
drummer Vinny Appice quitting the band
to form the band Dio.
In 1997, Dio made a cameo on Pat
Boone's
In a Metal
Mood: No More Mr. Nice
Guy,
an album of famous heavy metal songs
played in big band style. Dio can be
heard singing backup on Boone's take
of the Dio song, "Holy Diver".
In 2000,
Century Media
released
Holy Dio:
Tribute to Ronnie James
Dio,
an album featuring a number of covers
by mainly power metal bands.
Tenacious D has written a tribute
song entitled "Dio" that appears on
their self-titled album,
Tenacious
D,
that calls for the singer to "pass the
torch" on to them. Reportedly, Dio
approved of it, and had Tenacious D
appear in his video "Push". He also
appeared in the film
Tenacious D
in The Pick of Destiny
, playing himself.
However, on VH1, some have interpreted
small clips of an interview with him
as expressing resentment at the idea
that he needs to "pass the torch" and
seemed uncertain that Tenacious D is
worthy of such an honor. When viewed
in full, this interview is clearly
done in good humor.
In 2005, Dio was revealed to be the
voice behind Dr. X in
Operation:
Mindcrime
II,
the sequel to Queensrÿche's seminal
concept album
Operation:
Mindcrime
. His part was
shown in a prerecorded video on the
subsequent tour, and Ronnie appeared
onstage to sing the part live on at
least one occasion ( both shown on
the
Mindcrime at
the Moore
DVD ).
During September 2005, Dio toured
Siberia and Russia's far east, kicking
off in Khabarovsk.
In October 2006, it was confirmed
that Dio would be joining Black
Sabbath members Tony Iommi, Geezer
Butler, and former Black Sabbath
drummer Vinny Appice to tour under the
moniker Heaven & Hell, which was
the title of the first Dio era Black
Sabbath album. They chose the name
Heaven & Hell as Tony Iommi and
Geezer Butler are still in the Black
Sabbath band with Ozzy Osbourne and
felt it was best to use a different
moniker for the Dio version of the
band. Original Black Sabbath drummer
Bill Ward was to be involved in this
project, but he later withdrew. In
2008 the band completed a 98-date
world tour.
In 2006, Dio appeared in
Tenacious D
in The Pick of Destiny
playing himself.
He plays a small role at the beginning
of the movie, where Lil' JB, played by
Troy Gentile, is angry because his
father, played by Meat Loaf, won't let
him play rock because he thinks it's
the devil's music. Lil' JB then prays
to a poster of Dio to help him out.
Dio comes to life and urges him in
song to "leave his oppressive
neighborhood" and head to
Hollywood.
On January 17, 2007, he was inducted
into the Rock Walk of Fame at Guitar
Center on Hollywood's Sunset
Boulevard.
Dio married his
first wife, Loretta Berardi ( born
1941 ), sometime in the 1960s. They
adopted one son, Dan Padavona ( born
July 1968 ), who works as a
meteorologist for the National Weather
Service in Binghamton, New York.
After divorcing Berardi, he married
Wendy Galaxiola ( born 1947 ), who
also served as his manager. In the
1980s she managed the Los Angeles rock
bands Rough Cutt and Hellion. She is
the chair of the privately sponsored
organization, Children of the Night,
dedicated to rescuing America's
children from prostitution. Dio
remained married to Galaxiola until
his death.
On November 25, 2009, Wendy announced
that Dio was diagnosed with stomach
cancer:
"Ronnie has been diagnosed with the
early stages of stomach cancer. We are
starting treatment immediately at the
Mayo Clinic. After he kills this
dragon, Ronnie will be back on stage,
where he belongs, doing what he loves
best, performing for his fans. Long
live rock and roll, long live Ronnie
James Dio. Thanks to all the friends
and fans from all over the world that
have sent well wishes. This has really
helped to keep his spirit up."
On March 14, 2010, Wendy posted an
online update on his condition:
" It has been Ronnie's 7th chemo,
another cat scan and another
endoscopy, and the results are good –
the main tumour has shrunk
considerably, and our visits to
Houston ( cancer clinic in Texas ) are
now every three weeks instead of every
two weeks."
On May 4, 2010, Heaven and Hell
announced they were cancelling all
summer dates as a result of Dio's ill
health.
Dio
died at 7:45 am ( CDT ) on May 16,
2010, according to official
sources.
Wendy said on Dio's official
site:
" Today my heart is broken, Ronnie
passed away at 7:45 Am 16 th May.
Many, many friends and family were
able to say their private good-byes
before he peacefully passed away.
Ronnie knew how much he was loved by
all. We so appreciate the love and
support that you have all given us.
Please give us a few days of privacy
to deal with this terrible loss.
Please know he loved you all and his
music will live on
forever."
Dio's career spanned six decades,
from 1957 to 2010, and became known as
one of the most powerful and unique
voices in rock music after performing
with bands such as Rainbow, Black
Sabbath and his own band Dio.
Classic Rock Magazine awarded Dio
with the "Metal Guru Award" at their
yearly "Roll Of Honour" awards
ceremony in 2006.
On January 17, 2007, Dio was inducted
into Guitar Center's Rock Walk of Fame
in Hollywood, CA.
Dio was named "Best Metal Singer" at
the Revolver Golden Gods Awards in
April 2010.
Many people
should know this story, I wish it were
on the site, but I guess since he
wasnt a celebrity outside the
musicians world...
Here's the
story
...
On December
8th 2004, while performing
with
Damageplan
at the
Alrosa
Villa
in
Columbus,
Ohio
, Dimebag Darrell Abbott was shot and
killed onstage by
Nathan
Gale
. Abbott was shot a total of five
times, at point-blank range in the
back of the head. He was 38 years old.
Three others were killed in the
shooting: concert attendee Nathan
Bray, 23 of Columbus; club employee
Erin Halk, 29 of northwest Columbus;
and Damageplan security guard Jeff
"Mayhem" Thompson, 40 of
Texas
.
The
band's drum technician,
John "Kat"
Brooks, and tour manager, Chris
Paluska, were also injured.
According to
police, Gale fired a total of fifteen
shots, taking the time to reload once,
remaining silent throughout the
shooting. When security staff tried to
stop him, Gale fired at them, wounding
Paluska, and killing Halk, who had
attempted to stop the gunman with a
beer bottle as a weapon. Damageplan
head of security Jeffery Thompson
fought with Gale for a short time,
stopping him from killing Vinnie Paul
Abbott and John Graham, as well as
knocking off Gale's glasses (
preventing him from seeing Officer
Niggemeyer just minutes later ),
before being fatally wounded by Gale.
Audience member Nathan Bray, who
jumped onstage to try to give
CPR to Dimebag and
Thompson, stood up and took a single
step towards Gale before being shot a
single time in the chest. Brooks was
scuffling with Gale onstage but was
overpowered and taken hostage in a
headlock position. Brooks was shot
several times ( once in the right
hand, his right leg, and his right
side ) while attempting to get the gun
away from Gale.
Police
then arrived on the scene. Five
officers came in the front entrance
led by officer Rick Crum, and moved
toward the stage. Officer James D.
Niggemeyer came in through the back
door, behind the stage. Gale only saw
the officers in front of the stage; he
never saw officer Niggemeyer. When the
hostage moved his head, Officer
Niggemeyer shot Gale in the face with
a police-issued 12-gauge shotgun. Gale
was found to have 35 rounds of
ammunition remaining.
During the rampage, nurse and
audience member Mindy Reece, 28, went
to the aid of Abbott. She and another
fan administered
CPR
until paramedics
arrived. Dimebag Darrell was buried at
the Moore Memorial Gardens Cemetery
in
Arlington,
Texas
.
In May
2005, Officer Niggemeyer
testified
before the
Franklin
Countygrand
jury
, which is routine procedure in
Franklin County after a police
shooting. The grand jury did
not
indict
Niggemeyer,
finding that his actions were
justified.
Niggemeyer
received a commendation from the Ohio
Peace Officer Training Commission for
his outstanding police work in time of
crisis as well as The National Rifle
Association award as 2005 Law
Enforcement Officer of the Year. The
five other officers that were first on
the scene received Ohio distinguished
law enforcement medals for their brave
work. In 2006 James Niggemeyer penned
the foreword to
A Vulgar
Display Of Power: Courage and Carnage
at the Alrosa Villa.
Early
theories of
motive
suggested that
Gale may have acted based on the
Pantera breakup, or a public dispute
between Abbott and Pantera
singer
Phil
Anselmo
, but these were later ruled out by
investigators. Another theory was that
Gale believed Abbott had stolen a song
Gale wrote. In the
A Vulgar
Display Of Power
book, several of
Gale's personal writings, given to the
author by Gale's mother, show that the
motive of Pantera's breakup or the
idea of stolen songs is false, and
that due to his condition,
paranoid
schizophrenia, he
believed that the band could read his
mind, were stealing his thoughts, and
laughing at him.
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On December
8th 2004, while performing
with
