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Ulrich pays tribute to Dio
By CMU Editorial | Published on Tuesday 18 May 2010
Metallica drumming man Lars Ulrich has paid tribute to the late Black Sabbath frontman Ronnie James Dio, who died of stomach cancer last weekend. Penned in the form of a letter to Dio on the Metallica website, Ulrich writes: “I just got off stage in Zagreb. I was met with the news that you’ve passed on. I’m kind of in shock, but I wanted you to know that you were one of the main reasons I made it onto that stage to begin with”.
He continues: “When I first saw you in Elf, opening for Deep Purple in 1975, I was completely blown away by the power in your voice, your presence on stage, your confidence, and the ease with which you seemed to connect to 6000 Danish people and one starry-eyed eleven year old, most of whom were not familiar with Elf’s music. The following year, I was so psyched when I heard the results of you joining forces with my favourite guitar player [Deep Purple’s Ritchie Blackmore]. You guys sounded so right for each other and I instantly became Rainbow’s number one fan in Denmark”.
He then recalls meeting Dio for the first time outside a hotel in Copenhagen, where fanboy Ulrich was seeking an autograph. “You came out and were so kind and caring”, he says. “Pictures, autographs and a couple minutes of casual banter. I was on top of the world, inspired and ready for anything”.
He adds: “When we finally got a chance to play together in Austria in 2007, even though I may not have let on, I was literally transformed back to that little snot-nosed kid who you met and inspired 31 years earlier and it was such a fucking honour and a dream come true to share a stage with you and the rest of the legends in Heaven And Hell”.
He then concludes: “A couple of weeks ago when I heard that you were not going to be able to make it to the Sonisphere shows that we would be sharing this June, I wanted to call you and let you know that I was thinking of you and wish you well, but I kind of pussied out, thinking the last thing you needed in your recovery was feeling obligated to take a phone call from a Danish drummer/fan boy. I wish I’d made that call. We will miss you immensely on the dates. It seemed so right to have you out on tour with the so-called ‘Big Four’ [Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax and Megadeth] since you obviously were one of the main reasons that the four bands even exist”.
Elsewhere in Dio tributes, organisers of the Download Festival have announced they will rename their second stage The Ronnie James Dio stage this year as a mark of respect. The Download main stage has already been renamed The Maurice Jones Stage in memory of the late festival promoter who co-founded the Monsters Of Rock festival franchise that preceded Download and who, as previously reported, died last year.
