Head’s still spinning more than a tad after having the opportunity to speak with two of the godfathers of metal, Black Sabbath/Heaven and Hell’s Tony Iommi and “Geezer” Butler at the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout at Cancer fund-raiser last week (very, very brief conversations, but Iommi was gracious enough to let me take this picture with his award as the King of Rock and Roll for his battle against lymphoma). Wendy Dio also an incredibly kind person, with whom I had the opportunity to speak for a decent amount of time, as the night raised thousands for cancer research.
Sadly, no interviews lined up, but chatted with Anthrax’s Joey Belladonna on the red carpet. Class dude who, like everyone who attended and/or performed, felt honored to celebrate the legendary Ronnie James Dio. Belladonna helped close the night in mind-blowing fashion, too, leading the all-star band’s performance of “Man on the Silver Mountain” which I’m positive Ronnie was enjoying from above, even with his devil’s horns.
More pics from the world’s worst camera phone below the fold …
Dio Disciples 1
Dio Disciples 2
Dio Disciples 3
Wendy Dio (right)
Honoree Neil Warnock
Joey Belladonna (right)
Deep Purple’s Glenn Hughes
Iommi, Dio Disciple Scott Warren, Butler
Honoree Charlie Hernandez
Quiet Riot’s Frankie Banali, also on the skins for the night’s “Man on the Silver Mountain”
Dio Disciple Tim “Ripper” Owens
Thanks for sharing your pictures, EP. Sounds like a great night!
Ditto what Tink said.
Yeah, I’m here and you were there, lucky bastard. You didn’t rub it in too much, so let me!
Head’s still spinning more than a tad after Falling off the edge of the World like a Holy Diver
…having the opportunity to speak with two of the godfathers of metal, Black Sabbath/Heaven and Hell’s Hand of Doom, Tony Iommi and Bit of Finger, “Geezer” Butler“ at the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout at Cancer fund-raiser last week (very, very brief conversations, but Iommi was gracious enough to let me take this picture with his award as the King of Rock and Roll for his battle against lymphoma). Wendy Dio also an incredibly kind person, with whom I had the opportunity to speak for a decent amount of time, as the night raised thousands for cancer research.
Smoked 32 cigs Wed, 13 Thur, 10 Fri, it’ll be 8 or 9 today. I’m not a happy camper……the power of Comcast compels me.
Did Tony Iommi regale you with stories from his time with Jethro Tull?
Yeah, I’ll try and fit that into my 1-2 minutes of offering well-wishes and prayers re. his lymphoma, and thanking him for making the night possible by inventing heavy metal (pretty close to my exact words) next time. Frikkin’ Tull.
Coolness.