Roger Glover:

A huge part of my life just disappeared. Words are not enough, emotions are too much.

My sincere condolences to Ronnie’s family and friends.

Ian Gillan:

My Dear Friend Ronnie,

Departed but not gone. Resting peacefully (for a while) but never forgotten.

I’ve had a sackful of mail since your passing; a sharing of grief and sorrow.

We all remember your huge voice of course – my ears are still ringing: Your wicked humour and sense of decency: The utter professionalism and personality that inspired so much respect from your friends in music.

The list goes on but the quality that stands out above all others is your enduring generosity. The one thing that we all treasure, the gift you gave us was your kindness.

We all agree you were the kindest man we ever knew.

Catch up later mate,

Cheers, ig

Steve Morse:

Ronnie Dio was a real musician. He was a guy that everybody liked, and always sang loud, in tune, and strong, with that famous voice. I watched him patiently deal with fans at the stage door, and patiently deal with me when I was lucky enough to back him up on our orchestra tour. We backed him up doing a couple of his tunes, and he was tactful and precise with his constructive comments. He could tell if I played one note wrong. I recall him telling me that he used to play trumpet, which might explain his very good ears.

Everybody that ever met him will miss him, as well as anybody who ever heard him sing.

Jon Lord:

I would like, along with my wife and daughters, to express my sadness at the passing of Ronnie Dio.

A friend of many years standing and a truly delightful man. His voice was an instrument of power and of beauty, and was a seminal influence in rock music. His loss is even more devastating when considering how much more he would have had to offer us.

My heart goes out to dear Wendy, and my thoughts are also with Roger and Richie, who were so close to him for so long.

I will always cherish the memories of those remarkable nights at The Royal Albert Hall in September 1999 when, sitting on the stage with all the massed musicians of Deep Purple, The London Symphony Orchestra et al, Ronnie sang Roger’s lovely song “Sitting in a Dream” and brought us smiles and tears, and goosebumps as big as they come.

I shall forever connect that song with that moment and with Ronnie.

Rest in peace my friend.

With love
Jon

Ritchie Blackmore:

Ronnie had a unique and wonderful voice. He will be sadly missed in the rock and roll world.

Glenn Hughes:

It is a very sad day today… I have lost a very dear friend.

Ronnie was a true Leader of Heavy Metal… an Icon and a Visionary… there will never be another like him.

Ronnie gave me wisdom, and showed me great compassion when he was in ELF, all those years ago, when we were on tour together in my time in Deep Purple. He was a beautiful Soul, kind, considerate and a wonderful teacher.

Someday I’ll be bringing your Microphone up there with me, and we’ll sing a song, and share a Vindaloo together…

I’ll miss you mate.

David Coverdale:

[I was] so very sad to hear of Ronnie’s passing… My thoughts, prayers and condolence to his family and friends.

Joe Lynn Turner:

Ronnie was a true gentleman of rock… always kind and giving. I was proud to know him… everyone he touched was raised higher. His energy and legacy will live on… and I — as a fellow member of Rainbow — will continue to sing his praises and his songs.

May God hold him in his hands… RIP.

Greg Smith:

I have lost someone who I looked up to as a teenager and that person became my good friend. I shared many laughs, stories, drinks and good times with him on and off the road.

Ronnie, I will miss you terribly and always think fondly of the times we spent together and of your tremendous talent.

Till we meet again, my friend!

Bobby Rondinelli:

I was very sad to hear of Ronnie’s passing. He was one of the best singers and writers ever, and every time I saw him he was a total gentleman. He will be greatly missed but never forgotten.

Doogie White:

A very great man lost his life [on Sunday].

Ronnie James Dio was one of, if not the greatest singer I ever heard.

I remember trembling when I heard ‘Rainbow Rising’, such was the passion and energy not only from the band and Ritchie’s [Blackmore] guitar but from that voice that shone above all else. He was also a jolly decent chap who had time for all fans come rain, wind or shine.

I first met Ronnie 10 years or so ago and he said, ‘Ah! So you are Doogie, I know who you are, but never knew what you looked like. Come in, son and have a glass of wine. Is red okay?’ This was backstage at the Wembley Arena. He dedicated ‘Man On The Silver Mountain’ to me that night, saying ‘To my new friend, Doogie. You may have sung it, but I sang it first.’

We met a few times after that and discussed his excitement at doing the TENACIOUS D movie and the loss of his thumb in the bizzare gardening accident. We agreed gardening was the new RnR.

I had a tremendous affection for the man. He was kind, considerate and wonderful fun.

My thoughts at this time go out to Wendy [Ronnie’s wife/manager] and to the extended Dio family. You do know how much he was and is loved, for his music, his singing, his humanity.

Catch the rainbow… Ronnie… Catch the rainbow.

Graham Bonnet:

It was a horrible day yesterday. I want to thank him for being a good friend, and drawing the map for me, when I was in doubt of the role I would play in Rainbow. My musical background was so different from his but I listened and learned the way to be a replacement, as such and followed the master of hard rock singing, and the name he used to call me “Gray”…the only American that abbreviated my name that way..it was funny to hear…Thanks Ron !!…and Wendy I know will keep him in her heart forever…My love goes out to him and his family…only one Ronnie!

Paul Mann:

Ronnie had the gift of making those who met him feel, for the time they were with him, as if they were the most important person in the world. His music will long outlive him, and defeat the cruelty of his premature passing. His total commitment as a performer was a massive inspiration. During the concerto shows, I used to retire to the wings to watch his songs with Purple, and in the bar after one particularly emotive night I said to him that as far as I was concerned he could sing excerpts from the telephone directory and turn them into poetry. “Only if I believed in that particular set of numbers”, he said.

I will remember his generosity of spirit: I lifted a gift tag on a bouquet of flowers at my grandmother’s funeral to see that they were from him. And his sense of humour. He could do a pretty decent Geordie accent. And I still have the bees, and the John Belushi hat and shades.

And that voice…

Steve Morse dedicated his Guitar Parade on May 18th in Seoul to Ronnie’s memory:

Ian Gillan spoke to the Taipei Times before the band’s first ever appearance in Taiwan. The first part of the interview is from a telephone conversation and is hardly interesting, while the second was done over email and digs a little deeper than usual:

Taipei Times: When Deep Purple began in the late 1960s, a lot of rock bands were influenced by blues and R ’n’ B. What artists in particular inspired you to sing and make music?

Ian Gillan: I grew up with classical music, jazz (well boogie woogie — my uncle was a pianist) and was a boy soprano in the church choir. Then I was touched by the young Elvis, Little Richard and moved on to Ray Charles and Ella Fitzgerald, somehow learning to play blues harmonica and absorbing everything from field laments to Delta blues and up the big river to Chicago…

Oh, yeah, about the new album:

TT: What’s next for Deep Purple? Is there a new album in the works?

IG: No idea — we never make plans. 2010 is a busy year on the road — we don’t finish until mid-December, so I guess we’ll take a holiday then see what’s what.

You can start your moaning now 😉

Read more in Taipei Times.

Thanks to Daniel Bengtsson for the info.

Roger Glover sends us an update from the road:

The tour is going really well so far. It was probably the best Australian tour we’ve ever done. The audiences get younger every time, and they know how to rock!

The Asian section of the tour is also superb, a lovely welcome wherever we go. It was especially good to play in Taipei, somewhere that we’ve never been before (and there’s not many places like that left-we are very lucky).

The band is really enjoying playing and every night on stage is an adventure and a joy.

Thank you and good luck,
RG

Thanks to deeppurple.com for passing this along.

On May 12th purple played in Singapore. Venue was the National Indoor stadium. An airconditioned venue. A good decision as the humidity was really heavy outside.

The show was supposed to start at 8pm without an opener. At 8.10 the intro tape was started and after all members had entered the stage, paicey started with his drumkit into highway star. A great opener in my opinion.

According the newspaper, the venue was visited at this event by an aprox number of 5500. The mood was good and whenever the old classic songs where played, they went crazy. After 108minutes the show was over. A great night with great musicians in good shape. It was a good decision to go to Singapore.

Highway Star
Things I never said
Strange kind of woman
Maybe I’m a leo
Rapture of the deep
Fireball
Contact Lost
Sometimes I feel like screaming
Well dressed guitar
Mary Long
Lazy
No one came
keyboard solo
Perfect Strangers
Space truckin
Smoke on the water
Hush (with solo from Roger, Steve and Paicey)
Black night

I don’t travel often on work, so it was a nice surprise when a trip to Singapore coincided with a Deep Purple concert on May 12, 2010. Of course I had to see the concert, so tickets were booked, and I managed to slip away a little early from work to catch the gents live.

I reached the venue (Singapore Indoor Stadium) at 8:10 PM (10 minutes past the scheduled start) to the strains of Highway Star. By the time I located my seat (to the right of the stage), Don was in the middle of his keyboard solo. The mix didn’t sound quite right. The keyboards and vocals seemed way too low.

The mix improved as the evening went on, and so did the performance of the band. I really need to get some sleep, but here is a quick review of the show.

Highway Star
The mix, the mix, the mix…was quite lousy, at least where I was, but the band sounded tight. The crowd was really into the song, though.

Things I Never Said
Competent job, but IMO they can drop this one for some time.

Strange Kind Of Woman
Excellent version. The mix was still an issue, with the guitars dominating way too much. Only Paicey’s drums sounded consistently good in the mix. The version was similar to DP’s earlier tours Total Abandon.

Maybe I’m A Leo
Nice version. The mix was beginning to get better now, although Don’s solo still sounded like it was played from somewhere deep down a well. Tasty drumming by Paicey.

Rapture Of The Deep
The mix finally sounded right. A great version of the song! Big Ian sounded great. How the hell does he still have the pipes after so many years on the road? Some of the crowd settled down during this song.

Fireball
Scorching version, with stunning drum work by Paicey, and some great work by Don as well on the Hammond. The Hammond sounded great in the mix.

Contact Lost
Big Ian introduced Steve with, “I want to introduce you to the freshly manicured, very equatorial Steve Morse.” A lovely version of Contact Lost song followed, which blended into…

Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming
A shorter version of the song that appears on the album, and the Total Abandon tour, but it sounded great. Big Ian in fine voice.

Well Dressed Guitar
SIFLS blended into the Well Dressed Guitar. I have always liked this song live, and this was no exception. Steve clearly getting a lot of time center stage, and Paicey’s drumming during this song was also exceptional.

Mary Long
My first time hearing this song live, which was great. Not as strong as the Perhelion version though, but still thoroughly enjoyable.

Lazy
Don’s short Hammond solo heralded the beginning of Lazy. Excellent version. Great vocals.

No One Came
I love this song live, and this version did not disappoint. Terrific guitar outro by Steve.

Don Airey keyboard solo
Good solo with a short snippet of Mr. Crowley’s key intro. Predictably led to…

Perfect Strangers
Tight version! Really got the crowd on its feet.

Space Truckin’
*The* song of the evening, I thought. Paicey’s drumming was stunning. Great vocals too.

Smoke On The Water
A short guitar intro by Steve led to Smoke. The crowd was on its feet throughout the song. I am not too fond of this song, but I thought that they played a good version.

Encores:

Hush
Good version with a slightly longish keyboard solo.

Roger entertained the crowd with a nice bass solo, before the band burst into…

Black Night
A great version of this song, featuring a short guitar spot by Steve where he got the crowd to sing along with the guitar. Great way to end the evening – it ended much too soon!

I was seeing the band after 3.5 years, and it was good to see that they remain as tight as ever. Big Ian looks in great shape, and still has the pipes. Paicey\’s drumming continues to be a highlight of any concert. Steve is phenomenal as usual. Don and Roger look like they are enjoying themselves a 100%.

Still a great band to see live. And yes, they are *loud*.

This was my second time seeing Deep Purple the first time I went to see Deep Purple was in May 2006 on the second night in Sydney with Status Quo during their Australian Double Trouble tour and they were good there too.

The second time was at a different place, Entertainment Center. I thought that the Hordern was a nice place but the Entertainment Center is better and more bigger.

Anyway Electric Mary opened up (whom I was new of) however they were very good and introduced themselves nicely and said at the end of the show they were going to be at the merchandise section if anyone wanted to meet them. I was about to meet them but I didn’t have enough time. Speaking of tour merchandise, I got a 2010 tour shirt, and some CDs. Don Airey’s A Light In The Sky and an Electric Mary album. I was disappointed to find out that there were no tour books for this tour but then I thought it was because they weren’t promoting a new album.

Anyway me & my mum got back in just in time to see Deep Purple come on stage. They played their intro Montauges and Capulets and then they began the show with Highway Star. Lots of people were cheering, but the audience seemed a bit tired & motionless at the beginning of the concert. At the beginning of the show the sound was a bit soft but during Fireball the sound started to get louder. When the sound got louder people started to get more into the show. When The Battle Rages On started the sound shot up to deafening level and that’s when everyone started to get up and move around more often.

They played for approx 2 hours and played 21 songs in their setlist, we got encores Hush & Black Night including a bass Solo that should have went on for longer.
it was a great show and I hope they come back to Sydney soon. My highlights were The Well Dressed Guitar, No One Came, starting the show with Highway Star, the Encores & Roger Glover’s Bass Solo. I also liked the lighting effects for this show too. There was no sing along during Smoke on the Water, only during the choruses. Sadly we didn’t get any new songs as lots of people hoped but oh well.

May, 18th, at Seoul, Korea, rain had fell down all day when DP had the seventh gig in the history of this country.

Walking toward the venue, I was in a dark mood instead of thrill and anticipation, because, as everyone knows, Ronnie (James Dio) left us a few days ago. What I came to my mind at that day was “how many more times I can see DP play in the future?” I was afraid that this could be their last show in my country. (The previous gig was held at 2004, in their Banana Tour. This is their first visit in the last six years.) Another thought in my mind is whether DP would pay a tribute to Ronnie during the show.

The venue was packed with people (but not sold out). The background music came out before the show: AC/DC, Airbourne, Kings of Leon, Neil Young, Hanoi Rocks and…. Black Sabbath’s ‘Heaven & Hell’ came out, which was felt deeply.

Then lights out suddenly and some classical intro came out. I don’t know what the title of the tune was but it was felt like a requiem. And ‘Highway Star’ kicked in. Our Big Ian and his colleagues were in a quite good shape. They did not say a word of condolence about Ronnie during the show and were at very ease for their playing as usual.

Some trivial mistakes in interplay or accompaniment (and lost voice of Big Ian) did not matter to them. They just enjoyed the show with big smile and were quite strong, meaning how different they are from other pretentious rock bands.

However, the tribute moment for Ronnie came out through Steve. The Riff-Raff intro of ‘Smoke on the water’ was filled out with ‘Rainbow In The Dark’ (not just riff, along with the melody of verse and chorus), ‘Fever Dream’ and ‘Man On The Silver Mountain.’ (I remember that DP had played the former two songs with Ronnie at Concerto tour around 1999~2000.) Only people who held their fingers with “Devil’s horn” knew what that moment meant. (R.I.P, Ronnie. You are the Neon Knight of our souls.)

The show was quite fresh and full of energy. Especially, ‘No One Came’ stood out. IMHO, among the old songs of DP, this is the best tune for Don, because his funky playing fitted quite well with the song and combination with Steve’s solo gave explosive moment. I recommend to everybody who will attend their gigs in the future. Another joyous thing was Steve’s new guitar solo approaches I have not heard of before. For instance, at the solo break of ‘Black Night’, Steve played some darkness-tinged riff (very similar to the intro of ‘Iron Man’ of Black Sabbath) with pushing the strings against the pickup (I have no idea how this worked.) and B.B. King-ish, greasy and sensitive licks followed, which was absolutely brilliant! For the guitar solo moment, the ethereal tune Steve had played at the ‘Total Abandon’ DVD (with volume technique) appeared again and linked with ‘Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming’.

On the other hand, for the Roger’s bass solo, I was quite surprised that Roger shredded 64th notes (!) for his bass solo, which made the people knock out.
The show was over and, showered with the energy the band had emitted, I realized that only God knows when this guys stops playing. I really hope to see them (and hear their new songs) for the long time in the future.

God bless Deep Purple.

Wendy Dio, wife/manager of legendary heavy metal singer Ronnie James Dio , has released the following statement to BLABBERMOUTH.NET:

Today my heart is broken, Ronnie passed away at 7:45 a.m. [on Sunday] 16th May. Many, many friends and family were able to say their private goodbyes 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.

All here at The Highway Star pass on our condolences.

Considering that the venerable Concerto for Group and Orchestra is a rare guest this side of the pond, we thought we’d pass this on as a public service announcement:

What: University of Delaware Symphony Orchestra and student rock band Dancehall Throwdown perform Concerto for Group and Orchestra. The Concerto performance will be bookended by two other pieces: Paul Dukas’ The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (popularized by Disney’s Fantasia) and Benjamin Britten’s The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra.

When: 3 p.m. Sunday, May 15.

Where: Roselle Center for the Arts, 110 Orchard Road, Newark, DE, USA.

More info: Delaware Online

While being in Australia, Steve Morse and Don Airey met with Bob Daisley to discuss the schedule to complete recording of a new Living Loud album. 3 tracks have already been laid down and are awaiting Jimmy Barnes to complete the vocals. The plan is to find some time in October to finalise the rest of the material for an early 2011 release.

Steve Morse writes in his latest update from the road:

Type A in Taipei… I am still getting used to being in Asia, food-wise, but they sure have managed to keep order out of what looks like too many people in a small space. The audience in Taipei was incredible, very energetic! We just arrived in Hong Kong, and you just can’t imagine the immensity of high rise buildings on top of hills, everywhere.

Australia was a blur, I think I was still trying to get over the change of day to night, and then we were gone. It was better than last time, I think, and it felt like a good result for all. A guitarist that I met years ago at a Guitar Player guitar concert, Nathan Cavaleri, sat in with us, and played very well, as I expected.

I touched base with Living Loud bassist Bob Daisley, and we made plans to finish the tunes we started. I do wish Australia would float a few thousand miles closer to the USA, though! Always a good experience.

~Steve