Several artists are expressing appreciation for the contribution Ronnie James Dio made to Hard Rock.  Dio, who died Sunday (5/16) of stomach cancer in a Houston hospital (story), was credited in an open letter Lars Ulrich posted on the Metallica web site shortly after finishing a concert set in Zagreb, Croatia as '...one of the main reasons I made it onto that stage to begin with.'  At the age of 11, Ulrich saw Dio when Ronnie's band Elf open for Deep Purple in Denmark in 1969.  The performance left the future Metallica member '...completely blown away by the power in your voice, your presence on stage, your confidence, and the ease with which you seemed to connect to 6,000 Danish people'.  Ozzy Osbourne, who Dio replaced in Black Sabbath, issued a brief R.I.P. wish to Dio on his Twitter account. Pearl Jam worked a bit of the Sabbath tune Heaven & Hell into their set at TD Garden in Boston Monday night (5/17).  See it.
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