RONNIE JAMES DIO Tribute Album And Concerts In The Works; Autobiography Due In 2012

Eric Blair of "The Blairing Out With Eric Blair Show" conducted an interview with Wendy Dio — wife/manager of legendary heavy metal singer Ronnie James Dio (HEAVEN & HELL, BLACK SABBATH, RAINBOW, DIO) — at this past Friday night's (October 29) Dimebash 2010 event, which was held in honor of the late, great "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott (PANTERA, DAMAGEPLAN) at the world-famous Key Club on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, California. You can now watch the chat below.

On the Ronnie James Dio "Stand Up And Shout" Cancer Fund, which will receive a donation of over $10,000 raised from Dimebash 2010:

Wendy: "We set the fund up because I wanted to make sure that if a kid gave me $10, it was going to the right place and not going into some fat cat's pocket. So we've raised a lot of money — over $300,000. We gave $100,000 this week, actually, to T.J. Martell for cancer research and especially for colon cancer and stomach cancer. I met all the researchers and they've invited me to go to Nashville whenever I want to see exactly where the money is going. We're giving another $100,000 to M.D. Anderson [Cancer Center in Houston], which is the hospital that Ronnie was at, the treatment center, and they're gonna put it in Ronnie's name and it will be research for stomach cancer with Ronnie's doctor, the oncologist that treated him — he's got a research going on to try and find a cure for stomach cancer. We've got a lot of things coming up. We've got a lot of guitars that we've been collecting, autographed guitars from everyone, and we're gonna have a big auction, probably in March, at Christie's or Sotheby's. We have to raise a lot money from that. We're also gonna do a tribute CD with Ronnie's friends, which is mostly everybody in the music business, and we're going to do a concert, probably in October or November of next year — one in New York, one in London and one in L.A."

On what the upcoming Ronnie James Dio tribute concerts are going to be like:

Wendy: "I think it'll be a lot of Ronnie's friends [performing]. I've already got some people lined up, but I can't say right now, but I will [announce] it early [next] year. I think it will just be Ronnie's music being played, living on, his legacy living on, [with] proceeds going to cancer [research], to help [find a cure for] cancer, and with his friends. And just a celebration of life."

On the recent Dio tribute concert at the High Voltage festival in England with a performance by the surviving members of HEAVEN & HELL alongside Glenn Hughes (DEEP PURPLE, BLACK SABBATH) on vocals:

Wendy: "Glenn Hughes is one of our very best friends, and it was very touching for him. He did a great job and he's a wonderful person and he's a wonderful friend. He also sang at the funeral and the memorial. We had a funeral the day before [the public memorial], a private one for the family, and he sang there also."

On the upcoming live/concert CDs and DVDs from Ronnie's career:

Wendy: "Ronnie and I formed a record label, Niji Entertainment Group, before he got sick. And this is one of the things that we were planning on doing — releasing a lot of stuff. And we had looked at the BBC tapes [of DIO's performances at the Monsters Of Rock/Castle Donington festivals in England]; we had gone to the BBC, we had to get permission from them [to release the recordings from the] 1983 [edition of the] Donington [festival] and 1987 [installment of] Donington. Ronnie had gone and remastered them with his engineer he always worked with, so he actually is the executive producer on those CDs. When he got sick, we put it on hold, but since he's passed away, I know it was something he wanted to do, so I wanna keep his music alive. And I know he was really happy with the production and the sound of it, so that will come out November 9."

On Ronnie James Dio's upcoming autobiography:

Wendy: "The book is three-quarters written. I'm gonna finish it. I have a book deal already. I have to finish it by June, and it will come out in early 2012."