• facebook
  • twitter
  • rss

REDEMPTION Guitarist: 'The World Of Heavy Metal Has Lost Its Voice'

May 16, 2010

Guitarist/songwriter Nicolas van Dyk of the Los Angeles-based progressive metal band REDEMPTION has released the following statement regarding the passing of legendary heavy metal singer Ronnie James Dio (DIO, HEAVEN & HELL, BLACK SABBATH, RAINBOW):

"I lost a musical hero today, and the news has hit me harder than I thought it would.

"Ronnie James Dio was one of the first concerts I saw, and 'Holy Diver' one of the first records I bought once I started liking this thing called 'heavy metal.' Over the years, I have seen him perform more than anyone else (with the exception of my friends in DREAM THEATER, given our tour together!) and the past several times I've seen him with BLACK SABBATH have been truly phenomenal.

"I was hoping that Ronnie would be able to perform a guest vocal on a future REDEMPTION CD, and the vocal line I had in mind for him was an expression of triumph over cancer. Obviously, this takes on a horrible irony now. And given my own diagnosis, obviously I'm particularly attuned to what Ronnie endured.

"My thoughts and prayers go out to Ronnie's family and friends. The world of heavy metal has lost its voice.

"Rest in peace, Ronnie."

In November 2008, Nicolas van Dyk was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, which he describes as "a particularly bad form of blood cancer which is generally considered incurable and which has a five-year survival rate of 34%."

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).