Ronnie James Dio will forever be hailed as one of the best metal vocalists that have ever walked the planet, mainly because he was one of the best metal vocalists that have ever walked the planet. Disturbed vocalist David Draiman was one of the infinite metal vocalists that looked up to Dio as a role model, and the one time he met him was nothing short of memorable. If not maybe a little deflating.
According to Draiman in an interview with Raised On Radio, he once asked Dio about his vocal warmups. To which Dio replied that he doesn't at all, and if you need to then maybe you just "don't have it."
"And he's doing his usual – he's got a glass of wine in one hand and a cigarette in the other. And I was just so taken with the opportunity to meet him – one of my greatest sources of inspiration and an idol of mine; one of the most majestic rock voices that ever existed.
"And I pulled him to the side for a minute. I'm, like, 'Ronnie, could I ask you a question?' 'Sure. What would you like to ask?' 'What do you do for your warm-up? How do you get ready for the show?'
"And he goes ahead and puts his hand on my shoulder and he looks me in the eyes and he says, 'Brother, if you have to warm up, you don't have it.' [Laughs]
"And I was crushed. I literally felt like four inches tall at the time. And he said that he was messing with me. But literally, the man never warmed up – the wine and the cigarettes was the warm-up.
"So, God bless him and his memory. I have nothing but the highest level of reverence for the memory and the legacy of Mr. Ronnie James Dio."
Obviously this was all in jest, but can you even imagine?
