Last Song RONNIE JAMES DIO Worked On To See Light Of Day

A new song which legendary heavy metal singer Ronnie James Dio (HEAVEN & HELL, BLACK SABBATH, RAINBOW, DIO) nearly completed before his death will be released next year, according to former DIO member Craig Goldy. The guitarist tells U.K.'s Classic Rock magazine, "We were working on tracks for a new DIO album just before Ronnie died in May. And we did almost finish one song. Wendy [Dio, Ronnie's widow/manager] has been talking about reissuing [DIO's] 'Magica' album (originally released in 2000) with bonus tracks, including this one." He adds, "The thing is that the lyrics deal with what Ronnie was going through at the time, when he was battling cancer. So now they are very emotional. It's hard to listen without a lump in your throat."

Prior to his death, Ronnie was working on two follow-up albums to "Magica". One of the songs completed during those sessions, "Elektra", was made available as part of the DIO "Tournado" box set (which was originally made for the DIO fall 2009 European tour which was cancelled after Ronnie got sick) in a limited edition of 1,500 copies, signed and numbered.

Ronnie previously said about "Elektra", "It's a really good song, and part of the whole 'Magica' trilogy. It's hard for it to stand alone, so I did write an explanation of what it was about. It's just a brief glimpse into what will be 'Magica' again. There are some special plans."

One of the last-ever recorded sons by Ronnie James Dio, "Metal Will Never Die", appears on "Bitten By The Beast", the new solo album from Dio's cousin David "Rock" Feinstein — a former member of RONNIE DIO & THE PROPHETS, THE ELECTRIC ELVES, ELF, and the leader of the legendary New York band THE RODS.

In a recent interview with the Artisan News Service, Feinstein stated about "Metal Will Never Die", "About two years ago, Ronnie was coming back home [to upstate New York] more frequently because his mother had gotten ill, so he was making frequent trips back to Cortland. And one of the times he had called me and said, 'I'm gonna be up, I'm gonna be there for a few extra days. It'll be a good time. I can sing a couple of songs.' And I said, 'That'd be great.' And when I got my solo record done, Wendy and I both decided, 'Hey, let's put one song on your solo album and the other song could go on the new THE RODS record.' The horrific turn of events, with Ronnie passing away, the fact that I wrote that song, the fact that he chose that week to come up and sing it, it's just kind of an eerie thing, because it was kind of meant for him to write it, meant for him to sing it. And now this song is part of his legacy; it's a tribute to him, really, in a way. And now it becomes, like, the most important song I've ever written."

The second song Ronnie James Dio recorded during the sessions with Feinstein — entitled "The Code" — is expected to surface on THE RODS' new LP, "Vengeance", which is tentatively due next year.