metalhead gallery

As most of you are probably aware, today marks the sad anniversary of the passing of heavy metal legend Ronnie James Dio.

You all know who he was, what he has accomplished, how much he is missed, and the great debt everyone who enjoys metal and hard rock owes him, so I won't attempt to put it into insufficient words. I was instead hoping we could try to accomplish something worthwhile in his memory.

As you might know, Dio was a strong supporter of the charity organization called Children of the Night, whose mission is to help children that have been forced into prostitution. They are based and act in America, but they also help advise similar agencies across the world. As evidenced by many songs throughout Dio's discography, speaking out and acting against child abuse was a cause very important to him.

There is also the Ronnie James Dio "Stand Up and Shout" Cancer Fund, created by his wife Wendy after his death in order to support programs for cancer prevention and education. Its goal is to reduce the risk of developing life-threatening cancer.

I would invite everyone who is willing and able to make a donation to either or both of these organizations, thus doing a bit of good in this world while honoring the memory of this great man. I am certain that even a few dollars can be put to good use, and I am hoping that with the significant traffic going through this site, the accumulation of all our donations will make a noticeable impact for these charities. Any other metal website interested in making a similar request to their visitors should definitely feel free to do so; perhaps we can get a kind of unofficial donation drive going in the metal world.

Thank you all for reading and considering.