OPETH Pays Tribute To RONNIE JAMES DIO At U.K.'s BLOODSTOCK OPEN AIR (Video)

August 16, 2010

Swedish progressive metallers OPETH paid tribute to legendary heavy metal singer Ronnie James Dio (HEAVEN & HELL, DIO, BLACK SABBATH, RAINBOW) by performing a cover version of the RAINBOW classic "Catch The Rainbow" on August 13, 2010 at this year's edition of the Bloodstock Open Air festival at Catton Hall in Derbyshire, United Kingdom.

Fan-filmed video footage of OPETH frontman Mikael Åkerfeldt's onstage speech, in which he talks about how he met Ronnie, and the "Catch The Rainbow" performance can be viewed below.

In a May 17 statement regarding Ronnie's passing, Åkerfeldt wrote about the late SABBATH/RAINBOW singer, "Ronnie James Dio is gone…. I love him almost like a family member, and I feel empty and lonely knowing he's not around anymore. He sits on my wall as he has since my family moved in here. Can't bring myself to hear him sing right now, even though I think it might be comforting if I did.

"I was fortunate enough to meet him and share a few drinks with him once, and it's a memory I will treasure to the end of my days. He blew my mind, quite honestly.

"Thank you, Ronnie James Dio, for everything!

""I was thinking about this for quite some time, and I think we can say for sure that even if he was taken from us too soon (100 years from now would've been to soon),I'm sure he felt happy with his life and what he had achieved. But it hurts, though, it really fucking hurts…. I can't stop thinking about it.

"There is a massive hole in my heart."

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