Sabbath Say Goodbye To Ronnie
1500 mourners turn up for Ronnie\'s memorial in LA
Ronnie James Dio’s bandmates from Black Sabbath were joined by 1200 fellow mourners to say goodbye to their frontman at his funeral on Sunday.
The public memorial at the Hall Of Liberty at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills in LA was attended by more than 1200 mourners, including Geoff Tate (Queensrÿche), Glenn Hughes (Black Sabbath, Deep Purple), Paul Shortino (Quiet Riot, Rough Cutt), Joey Belladonna (Anthrax), John Payne (Asia), Oni Logan (Lynch Mob), Claude Schnell (Dio), Scott Warren (Heaven & Hell, Dio), members of Elf, a video tribute from Motorhead and, of course his Black Sabbath / Heaven & Hell bandmates. There were also hundreds more outside the venue watching the memorial on screens.
The memorial was marked with tributes and performances from some of the guests.
The planned protest from the Westboro Baptist Church turned out to be very small with just a couple of morons turning up but being completely ignored by everyone in attendance.
You can watch some video footage and see some photos from the memorial over at Blabbermouth
Meanwhile, a couple of special memorial concerts are apparently being planned for the UK and LA.
Details about the shows are sketchy at best, but Classic Rock Magazine reports that Rob Halford may front Heaven & Hell for the shows.
More info on this as and when we get it.