ROCK FOR RONNIE Year of the Dragon Concert Event at Warner Center Park Brings in $80,000 for Ronnie James Dio Stand Up & Shout Cancer Fund Benefit

Wendy Dio Presents Eddie Trunk with “King of Rock ‘n Roll” Award  (Photo by PG Brunelli)

Dr. David Wong, whose team at the UCLA School of Dentistry has had the support of the Dio Cancer Fund since 2016, was on hand to accept a check for $25,000 toward his team’s research to develop a simple, non-invasive saliva swab test for early cancer detection. His team’s progress in researching salivary biomarkers for gastric cancer has allowed them to prepare to submit their findings to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for a “Gastric Cancer Biomarker Characterization Center” grant in the coming weeks.  Cancer fingerprints are 7 times more prevalent in saliva than in blood.

From left: Dio Cancer Fund Medical Director Dr. Sandy Kapoor, Wendy Dio, Dr. David Wong, Eddie Trunk (Photo by Craig Newman)

VIP seating for the concert was sold out in advance. The afternoon kicked off with young, up-and-coming band X-COMM, led by drummer Revel Ian, son of Anthrax’ Scott Ian and his musician wife Pearl Aday, and bandmates Adan Escort, Michael Gatto and Jay Vargas.

Revel Ian on drums for X-COMM (Photo by Gene Kirkland)

The band Billy McNicol, consisting of Billy McNicol (drums/vocals), Bhargav Choudhury (guitar) and CJ Wilson (bass), followed.

Billy McNicol on drums (Photo by Scott Mitchell)

Returning to the ROCK FOR RONNIE this year by popular demand was Jason Charles Miller, along with his band comprising Allie Kay and Gary Joseph Potter Jr. on guitars; Will Smith on bass and drummer Nick Mason.

Jason Charles Miller (Photo by Craig Newman)

Then Dio Disciples, featuring Terry Ilous and Dyna Shirasaki on vocals, took the stage. The lineup included Simon Wright on drums, Scott Warren on keyboards, Ira Black on guitar and Sean McNabb on bass guitar.

From left: Scott Warren, Sean McNabb, Terry Ilous, Simon Wright, Dyna Shirasaki, Ira Black

 (Photo by Gene Kirkland)

Dio Disciples delivered a blistering set with Terry Ilous and Dyna Shirasaki trading vocals.

(Photo by Craig Newman)

Rock icon Lita Ford asked PBS Guitar Builder to the Stars Jim Cara, who has designed custom guitars for her, Gene Simmons and Ace Frehley of Kiss and Brad Gillis of Night Ranger, among others (www.caraguitars.com), to create a one-of-a-kind DIO/Dio Cancer Fund guitar, which she played on two songs during in her All-Star Band appearance. The unique instrument, emblazoned with a DIO logo that lights up, was later auctioned and brought in $11,500 for the charity.

A guitar signed by all the members of Quiet Riot was also auctioned off and sold for an additional $7000.

Lita Ford with custom guitar by Jim Cara which she played and auctioned at Sunday’s event

(Photo by Craig Newman)

All-Star Band participants also included vocalists/guitarists Abby Gennett (Slunt), Brett Scallions (Fuel); guitarists Doug Aldrich (Dio, Dead Daisies, Whitesnake), Marc Ferrari (Keel), Tracii Guns (LA Guns), Patrick Kennison (Lita Ford), Robert Sarzo (Hurricane); bass players Marten Andersson (Lita Ford), Julia Lage (Vixen) and Marty O’Brien (Daughtry, Lita Ford); vocalists Dewey Bragg (Kill Devil Hill), Andry Lagiou, Keith Saint John (Montrose, Kingdom Come), Patrick Stone (Budderside), Neil Turbin; keyboard player Dennis Atlas (QRST, Rock the Vault), drummers Ronnie Ciago (BrandX, Circa), Glen Sobel (Alice Cooper, Hollywood Vampires), Daniel Bermudez (Wilt) and Brian Tichy (Whitesnake) and sax player Scott Page (Pink Floyd, Toto, Supertramp), among others.

Lita Ford is joined by bandmates Patrick Kennison (left) and Marten Andersson during her

All-Star Band performance. (Photo by PG Brunelli)

From left: Brett Scallions, Glen Sobel, Abby Gennett, Tracii Guns (Photo by Craig Newman)

From left: Julia Lage, Doug Aldrich and Marc Ferrari before playing with the All-Star band

(Photo by PG Brunelli)

Singer Keith St. John and bass player Marty O’Brien with All-Star Band (Photo by Gene Kirkland)

Andry Lagiou and Robert Sarzo (Photo by Alex Kluft)

From Left: Robert Sarzo, Patrick Stone, Bill McBride before joining the All-Star Band

(Photo by PG Brunelli)

Headliners Quiet Riot brought the crowd of more than 3000 people in the vast Warner Center Park to their feet.

Quiet Riot lead singer Jizzy Pearl (Photo by Alex Kluft)

Quiet Riot’s Alex Grossi (with Rudy Sarzo) holds the signed Quiet Riot guitar that was

auctioned for the charity (Photo by PG Brunelli)

Photo by PG Brunelli

This year’s ROCK FOR RONNIE made full use of the abundant space by including a silent auction and raffle, beverage and merchandise sales, food trucks, assorted vendor booths selling unusual crafts and other items and artist meet and greets. A specially-created “Garden of Hope,” at which donors could dedicate a special hanger to someone in their life who has battled, survived or succumbed to cancer, became a popular stop.

Ronnie James Dio Welcomes crowd to Garden of Hope   (Photo by Gene Kirkland)

Sponsors lending their invaluable support to the ROCK FOR RONNIE include the Rainbow Bar & Grill (Mikey Maglieri), The Ivy in Ojai, Christine Cardoso-Moore/Keller Williams Realty, McBride Wealth Management (Bill McBride), Danny Wimmer Presents, Danny Zelisko Presents, Liquid Death Mountain Water (Blasko), HOP WTR (Ryan Haggerty), Big Noise Beer (Kevin Schwimer), Marquis Sugar Free Mate Beverages (Nicole Like), Austin Eastciders Cider Beverages (Emma Herrera), Lattini Sunflower Milk (Ethan Lynch), Smart & Final, Delorio Foods (Jim Viti) and BevNOMAD beverage product distributors (Steve Kwapil).

Additional sponsors include Archie’s Ice Cream (Shant Keuilian); Mates Studios (Bobby and Jenny Brunner); Road Radios (Jeremy Schilling, Rebecca Meick); and Clair Global (Paul Newman, Nelson Walti, Bryan Bazilski, Bryan Hernandez, Rudy Necoechea and Dave Bibbens).

ROCK FOR RONNIE also wishes to thank the following companies and their staff members for their services: Valley Cultural Foundation (Joellen Ammann); All Valley Rentals (Rob and Amanda Dickey); Kapoor Medical Group (Sandy, Devin and Dylan Kapoor, David Saviola and Elizabeth Flores); Ciao Bella Staffing (Aggi Roselli); Diamond Environmental Services (Lorena Parada); Trade Show Power (Jim Crisman); US Audio (Pete Docter and Brian Murray); North Hollywood Ice (Bobby Benedetto); Salt N’ Pepper Food Truck (Armando Melendez); Drizzle Truck; Eagle Rock BBQ Truck (Nathaniel Harris); The Tropic Truck (Lauren Saravia); Starbucks (Woodland Hills #0288); King Keg (Tariq Amin); ​Food & Beverage Magazine (Michael Politz); Screamer Magazine (Dave Castagno, Laura DeGaetano, Don Duree, Noah Ferguson and Kurt Nelson); Rock and Roll Soul (Sheril Porter); Odds and Endz (Michelle Mair); Retune Wellness (RJ Sarzo); Blueprint Studios; and Acid Rainwater (Megan Cooksey).

A BIG HUGE THANK YOU TO ALL THE PEOPLE AND COMPANIES WHO SO GENEROUSLY GAVE OF THEIR TIME AND SERVICES–WE COULD NOT

DO THIS WITHOUT YOU!!

The Dio Cancer Fund wants to recognize the members of its dedicated Board of Directors—Wendy Dio, John Doran, Andy Gould, Nick Jackson, Dr. Sandy Kapoor, Sheila Melody, Sabrina Ment, Tim Murch, Paul Newman, Adam Parsons, Rick Sales, Scott Sentinella, Robin Shaw, Sharon Weisz and Danny Zelisko—plus a special thank you to Deme Bermudez, Delilah Dio-Gimenez, Omar Gimenez, Mary Kusnier, Marty O’Brien, Paula Newman, Robert Sarzo Sr. and Michael Schreibman for their hard work and commitment in bringing this event to fruition.

Additionally, the Dio Cancer Fund acknowledge and extends its appreciation to the 2024 ROCK FOR RONNIE staff and volunteers: Abbey Pringle, Alex Castino, Amy Nino, Angelica Velezdegro, Ann Webb-Kirkland, Brian Moore, Charlene Ross, Chuck Moss, J Lazarzo, Cindy Zheng, Katie Dunn, PG Brunelli, Craig Newman, Alex Kluft, Scott Mitchell, Scot Kaufman, Maria Ferrero, Diana Atlas, Donna Weiser, Eddie Trunk, Elise East, Gene Kirkland, Griffin Kispert, Jennifer Aloy, Jennifer Nelson, Jessica Kusnier, Kaley Block, Kia Andersson, Kristen Mourad, Lauren Aloy, Lee Hollister, Logan Kusnier, Marina Mann, Matthew Beighley, Max Baruch, Melanie Greenwald, Michael Politz, Michele Coombe, Michelle Prentiss, PG Brunelli, Sarah Weiss, Stefanie Andino, Strummer Escalante, Taylor Sentinella, Teresa Schachtel, Tom Miller, Tyler Newman, Zach Dodge, Zander Schachtel…and anyone else we may have accidentally forgotten to name.