• facebook
  • twitter
  • rss

FIREBALL MINISTRY's REV. JAMES A. ROTA II Remembers RONNIE JAMES DIO

May 17, 2010

Rev. James A. Rota II of Los Angeles' FIREBALL MINISTRY has issued the following statement regarding the passing of legendary heavy metal singer Ronnie James Dio (DIO, HEAVEN & HELL, BLACK SABBATH, RAINBOW):

"FIREBALL MINISTRY had the privilege to tour with DIO in 2004. The third night in, Ronnie passed me in the hall, stopped and said, 'Hey, I heard that at the last two shows you guys haven't had a dressing room. Any night that happens, just come into ours. We never eat or drink all the stuff they give us anyway.'

"We spent the rest of the time on the road in that dressing room with him as much as we could. He treated us as his equals, even though we were his disciples.

"Not only was he a true gentleman, but he also never hit a bad note the whole tour. From 'Gates of Babylon' to 'Don't Talk to Strangers', his voice was always perfection.

"On one of the nights in the dressing room, I asked him, 'Ronnie, what do you do before each show to warm up?' His reply as he gave me a sly pat on the shoulder, 'Jimmy, you either got it, or you don't.' He obviously had it.

"From myself and the rest of FIREBALL MINISTRY, thank you, Ronnie, for making it up so we had the right path to follow. You will always be the true master."

Photo Credit: Kat Von D

Find more on
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).