[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64coD-rx9sk[/youtube]It was one year ago today that the legendary Ronnie James Dio passed away. While it’s sad that he was taken away from us so young, his legacy is still shining brightly. In between the activity of his Niji Entertainment Records, his wife’s very active Ronnie James Dio Foundation, and Revolver’s Golden Gods renaming their lifetime achievement award the Ronnie James Dio Lifetime Achievement award, his name has continued to live on. And then there’s his music, which is classic in every sense of the word. We could post a different song every ten minutes for the rest of today and not run out of music, but instead we’ll pay tribute to him with the title track of his first solo album. Rest In Peace, Ronnie.

If we can take one thing from Dio’s passing, it’s best summed up by Dean Schachtel, the GM of Niji Entertainment and a very close friend of Dio’s: “If you are a man, get checked for cancer. It’s easy and painless… Do it for your wife, girlfriend, kids, parents and Ronnie.”