Cooper and Band Pay Respects to Dio Live
Upon learning the news of the death of longtime friend Ronnie James Dio, Alice Cooper and his band dedicated the final song at their Lazerfest performance last Sunday night to Dio. They did a mashup of “Under My Wheel” with part of Sabbath’s “Heaven and Hell.”
Cooper’s bassist, Chuck Garric, played with Dio prior to working with Cooper. Garric joined Cooper on his syndicated radio program, “Nights With Alice Cooper,” to tape a special segment talking about their fondest memories of Dio:
“We used to have a lot of fun with Dio on the road,” Cooper recalled. “(Drummer) Eric Singer could not help from going ‘Holy Diver!’ as loud as he could to the point where the manager finally says, ‘Could you stop doing that? It’s starting to annoy Ronnie.’ And of course you don’t say that to Eric Singer, because that just means he’s going to double the efforts.”
Garric added that Dio was “such a genuinely nice guy and welcomed me with open arms. From the moment I walked into the rehearsal rooms to audition, I felt at home…It was one of the greatest moments of my life, and it had changed my life. I owe him everything.”
Ronnie James Dio died on May 16th from his stomach cancer diagnosed last year. He was 67. RIP Dio. You can read more about Cooper’s memories of RJD through this radio program website.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010 at 10:07 am by michelle
Tags: Alice Cooper, Alice Cooper News, alice cooper summer tour, Alice Cooper Tickets, chuck garric, cooper talks about dio's death, dio's death, lazerfest, ronnie james dio
