Ronnie James Dio and the nature of internet hoaxes
UPDATE: Several hours after the first announcement was proven to be false, Wendy Dio confirmed that Ronnie James Dio had indeed passed away. A very sad day for metal. The sentiments in this post are still relevant, however.
In what was a pretty unhappy hour or so, half the internet thought that Ronnie James Dio was dead.
Thankfully it looks like it’s not true and the man with the horns carries on – although for how long is not certain. According to this article, his wife Wendy told Blabbermouth that he’s not doing well. I sincerely hope that he can make a recovery because the world is not ready to move on without him just yet!
What’s interesting is that we were all so ready to believe the rumours. I think that’s because:
- he IS battling a serious form of cancer, and from all accounts is very unwell
- rumours no one wanted to believe about Peter Steele’s death just a few weeks ago turned out to be sadly true, and
- while you don’t always believe what you hear when it’s a big Hollywood star or a mainstream musician, Ronnie James Dio is so universally beloved by the metal community that we didn’t believe that anyone could possibly be so callous as to start a rumour about his death.
As it turns out, the metal community contains people who are complete cunts too. I guess given the level of intelligence of most Blabbermouth commenters, for example, this shouldn’t be a surprise, but somehow it still is.
So there you have it. A big lesson for all of us – check your facts carefully first. And remember that arseholes are everywhere.
In the meantime, let’s celebrate Dio and hope that he can pull through. Here’s two of my favourite Dio songs (and no, neither of them are Holy Diver):
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRnPuYuFSxE] [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOyFE-1LAI0]
Update: Pretty much at the same time as I posted this, the lovely Biodagar from Metal As Fuck posted a similar although possibly more impassioned rant on her own blog: To all the internet pranksters – fuck off and die. Check it out. She’s really angry!
~ by goat_admin on May 16, 2010.
Posted in metal
Tags: internet hoaxes, ronnie james dio
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To all the internet pranksters – fuck off and die « Biodagar.com said this on May 16, 2010 at 4:09 pm |
LOL. Yes indeed I am. I can get well worked up. The nature of mortality is really heavy. When the gods die: Ronnie, Bruce, Rob, Lemmy… we’re all going to be fucked up individuals.