As a hard rock/heavy metal fan, Ronnie James Dio was perhaps my favorite metal singer. I’m one of those people who prefers Dio as the frontman for Black Sabbath over Ozzy Osbourne. The album “Heaven and Hell” was a huge influence on me, and a lot of my guitar technique is based on Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi. Dio sang about rainbows, evil magical women, wizards, and…well, not much else. But he is the quintessential archetype of a heavy metal singer – devil horns, screeching vocals, and mystical imagery in his lyrics. When he died in May of 2010, the music world was shocked and saddened. I was glad I got to meet him before he passed, and he was one of the nices, down to earth guys you could ever meet, despite his almost supernatural stage presence. But if anyone was ever going to come back from beyond the grave to haunt people, it would be Dio. And it appears that some people think he has done just that…but is this really the ghost of Ronnie James Dio?
“It’s Voodoo!!!”
Concert-goers who hit up Last in Line’s first concert on Saturday, Aug. 3 at Slidebar in Fullerton, Calif. got quite a show, even if they didn’t know it at the time. According to allegations made by Last in Line’s vocalist Andrew Freeman’s brother Raymond Freeman Jr., a very special guest joined the band that night.
Freeman Jr. believes that an apparition of the late Ronnie James Dio made an appearance on stage during the show. He posted about the experience on his Facebook page, explaining, “The moment Ronnie Dio came through this past weekend… Watch the video (seen above)… Right when Vinny [Appice] goes too long on the snare fill… Look at my brother’s face… That’s Dio… channeling through my bro who I have now tagged Di’omen… Weird sh– like this runs in my fam. Call me crazy.”
Blabbermouth also caught up with Freeman Jr. to get his personal account. “I just came across it while looking at photos from the last gig,” he explained. “Call me crazy, but it somewhat appears to be Ronnie James Dio just above Vivian Campbell. Just weird… Ghost??? Weird lighting??? Not sure, but it’s there and pretty creepy.”
So why would Ronnie James Dio choose a Last in Line show to make his ghostly appearance? Well, Last in Line features ex-Dio guitarist Vivian Campbell in addition to founding and past Dio members Vinny Appice, Jimmy Bain and Claude Schnell. To date, no one in the band has commented on the alleged apparition.
Freeman also posted the photo below on his Facebook page, you be the judge!
Now, I have heard rumors that musicians will sometimes imbibe in alcoholic beverages and other mind-altering substances, so I’m not completely shocked that this guy thinks this is Ronnie James Dio. This, to me, just looks like a trick of the light. As much as I want to believe that he has come back from the dead to make an appearance, I don’t think this photo shows the ghost of Ronnie James Dio. Interesting that the anomaly is a bit reminiscent of a rainbow, though…
“I’m a rainbow in the dark! A light in the black! You’ll burn!!!”