10 Hard Rock Musicians That Died Too Soon

Ever since the first time he opened his mouth, Ronnie James Dio was poised to be one of the greatest hard rock singers of all time. From his brilliant work with the theatrical Rainbow to his ability to effortlessly fill the shoes of Ozzy Osbourne in Black Sabbath, Dio was able to take the most feral metal riffs and turn them into sprawling epics of grandeur.

While the man has given us some of the best power metal anthems of the 80's, no one could have anticipated how quickly he would be taken from us. Shortly after igniting the Black Sabbath beast up again under the name Heaven and Hell, Dio quickly came down with a stomach problem which turned out to be cancer. Though things weren't looking good from the tests, Dio continued to fight with the some bravery as the heroes in his songs, as he kept pushing to give the fans the best that he could.

However, the fight proved to be grueling, which led to Dio's passing in early 2010. Though Ronnie might not be with us anymore, his reputation as one of the greatest vocalists in metal have led people to love the genre through his work with Sabbath, Rainbow, and even Tenacious D. The Metal Lord may be gone, but there's not a chance in hell that he'll be forgotten.