Legendary singer Ronnie James Dio will be posthumously awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award tonight (Thursday, March 6) from the Syracuse Area Music Hall Of Fame.
Syracuse.com reports the award will be accepted by Dio's son, Dan Padavona.
"I was a rock fan and a huge fan of his music, especially Elf and Rainbow," said Padavona "But most of what I knew was from reading in magazines. It was very surreal."
According to Dan, he had a somewhat distant relationship with his father growing up after Dio and Padavona's mother split when he was four years old.
"I hope it's a way to get closer to my father in his death than I did in his life," he said of the award. "I'm sure he'd be very happy that I'm up there with Rock (David 'Rock' Feinstein of The Rods, who is Ronnie's cousin) and a few of his closest friends."
Dio was born Ronald James Padavona in a small New Hampshire town in 1942. His parents – Cortland, NY natives -- returned to their hometown shortly after their son was born. It was in upstate New York that Dio learned to sing and play trumpet and bass guitar; he graduated from Cortland High School in 1960.
Ronnie James Dio died of stomach cancer on May 16, 2010 at the age of 67.
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