Jimmy Kay from Canada’s The Metal Voice spoke to late wife and manager of Ronnie James, Wendy Dio. She spoke about the 4th annual Ride for Ronnie on May 6 2018, Unreleased Dio material, The hologram tour and the long awaited Ronnie James Dio Autobiography/Biography.
Watch the interview here:
When asked about the details on this years RIDE FOR RONNIE on Sunday May 6, 2018 hosted by Eddie Trunk for the Stand up and Shout Cancer fund in California
“We started it off on the 5th memorial of Ronnie’s passing and a lot of people were coming from different countries and different States. So we thought maybe we should do something where there would be other things for the fans to do while they are in town. So we arranged for the memorial and they day before we did the bowling and then we did the ride for Ronnie. It caught on and it was so good that we decided that we would keep the Ride for Ronnie around the passing day every year and we would do Bowl for Ronnie in October every year, so we would have two fundraisers to keep his memory and music alive and raise money for research and education for the terrible disease that took him and many other people.”
“Harley Davidson in Glendale (California) sponsors us, so the ride starts there and they ride to Los Encinos park in Encino and then we have a concert there. The line-up so far includes Steve Adler’s (ex Guns and roses) All star band ( to be announced), Dio Disciples and others.”
When asked if the Ride for Ronnie will be coming to the East Coast
“We are in the midst right now of trying to set up with Ronnie’s cousins an East Coast ride and an East Coast Bowling. it won’t happen this year but we are hoping next year.”
When asked about the long anticipated Ronnie James Dio Autobiography/ Biography
“When I was in London last week I met with publishers, it’s on the way now, it think it should be out by late 2019. Ronnie wrote the book up until the middle of Rainbow years. What I would like to do is continue it by taking interviews he has done with several people so it is still in his own words all the way through. Also interview people that have been on the road with him, band mates, bands that have supported Ronnie or bands that feel that Ronnie has influenced their lives. The book will include explanations of lyrics and I also have another thought in mind and I haven’t approached it yet I thought of doing an illustrative book of lyrics, in a medieval theme.”
When asked if there was any unreleased original material of Ronnie James Dio
“There are a few that I know of. One he was writing with Doug Aldrich before he passed away. There is one I have that was written in the Holy Diver days which Ronnie decided that we wasn’t going to put on the album. And then there was two maybe three songs that he was writing with Craig Goldy on the Magica 2.”
When asked if the Hologram Tour and if it continue into to USA and Canada
“We took the Hologram tour out in Europe to see if there was a market for it because this is all very new, it’s a new technology and a lot of people are Nay Sayers. Some people say it’s good, some people say it’s bad. The Hologram tour was very well received, kids were crying to me and saying to me thank you so much from bringing Ronnie back to us. I think it was great for people who had been there who have seen Ronnie before back on stage and for kids who have never gotten the chance to see Ronnie before. It was a good test, we did very well but there are things I need to perfect as I am really very critical I need to perfect his face a little but more his eyes and his eyebrows are not quite right for me. So we are back to the drawing board and it takes a lot of time. We are hoping the Hologram tour will go out again probably beginning of next year and we will hit Canada and USA.”
When asked about the Naysayers of the Hologram tour
“For the naysayers, look at it and see it first because most of the people who criticizes it haven’t seen it and they don’t even know what to expect, it’s a whole experience. Ronnie comes in and out, you don’t know when he is going to come in and out. Ronnie does about 6-8 songs the rest of the time it’s with Ripper Owens and Oni Logan singing the songs. And what we are developing now is for Ronnie to sing together with them. ”
“How it is done, we isolate Ronnie’s voice and the band plays live together with Ronnie’s voice. It is something that is done with Love and hopefully the fans will enjoy and want to see it. It costs a lot of money, it’s not like something we are making a bunch of money with. It costs a fortune right now we are into 2 million dollars developing it. We want to keep Ronnie’s memory and legacy alive.”
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