Over the past month and a half, the world of heavy metal has lost three musicians: rock legend Ronnie James Dio, Type-O-Negative frontman Peter Steele, and Slipknot bassist Paul Gray.

I can’t honestly say I was a huge Ronnie James Dio fan, and while I’ve always enjoyed his radio hits (“Holy Diver” and “Rainbow in the Dark”), I never delved too deep into the rest of his solo material. Several years ago while writing reviews for Review-o-Matic, Eagle Rock Entertainment sent me a copy of Dio’s Evil or Divine DVD, which I reviewed — man, was that guy a performer. Dio was heavy metal. It’s too bad that most people will remember Dio as “Ozzy’s replacement” in Black Sabbath, because the guy was not only a terrific performer, but a class act to boot. And, whether or not he was technically the first person to do it or not, he gave us the horns.

It was hard to miss Peter Steele when he was on stage; his six-foot-eight stature contributed to his menacing look and his baritone voice. Steele’s band Type-O-Negative had a habit of opening for bands I wanted to see, so even though I didn’t know who they were, in a short period of time I had managed to see Type-O-Negative perform live at least four times. They opened for Ozzy and Sepultura, they opened for Life of Agony, they opened for Pantera … for a while it seemed like they were opening every concert I attended! It wasn’t until the band hit Headbanger’s Ball with their tounge-in-cheek classic “Black No. 1” that they really caught my attention. While I enjoyed the band’s unique sound, I think it was Steele’s sense of humor that kept me coming back to them. (“She’s got a date at midnight with Nosferatu / Oh baby Lilly Munster ain’t got nothin’ on you.”) From drug use to physical abuse, it was obvious to everyone that Steele led a tortured existance, which he often shared through his lyrics.

Of the three, I knew the least about Paul Gray. For many years I was a Slipknot hater, mostly because the music people around me were Slipknot haters. Their music was abrasive and I saw the whole “mask-wearing thing” as a gimmick. I originally skipped the band’s first album and only gave the second one a cursory listen. It wasn’t until the band’s third album that I really paid them any attention — at which point I went back and picked up the first two as well. And although I’ve enjoyed their music for what it is, it’s difficult to make much of a personal connection with a bunch of guys wearing uniforms and masks. I had the opportunity to see Slipknot in concert last year and it was one of the wildest, most energetic live performances I have ever seen. It’s easy to dismiss Gray as a mask-wearing bass player in a band of nine guys … but he was also a husband, an expecting dad, and apparently an all-around nice guy.

(Official non-embeddable video here)