Back in March, metal queen DORO PESCH revealed she has written a new song as a tribute to RONNIE JAMES DIO entitled 'Hero'. She discussed the track with Rocksalt.mx in a recent interview:

"I was always such a big fan, like so many other people, just adored him and loved him. But there’s one song, we will be working on that and I think it will be wonderful. But I first want to show it to Wendy Dio and let her listen to it, so that’s one thing. I kind of want to make many versions of that song, I think it’s beautiful and I like it a lot. And we have some other songs but I don’t know which ones will make the record. Definitely the one for Ronnie; but everything else, we usually write as much as we can and pick and choose the nicest ones."
"It’s called ‘Hero’ and it has a beautiful melody and I would like to make many versions of it, like an acoustic version and a full-blown band version and maybe an orchestral version , and we are just working on it. I definitely want to take care of that one – that song’s nice. But first I want to let Wendy listen to it. I’m really hoping, but I’m sure she will like it a lot, ja. Every time everybody is listening to it in the studio everybody is crying and so – wow – so touching."

Go to this location for the in-depth interview with Pesch.

As previously reported, DIO DISCIPLES – featuring former DIO members Rudy Sarzo (bass), Simon Wright (drums), Craig Goldy (guitar) and Scott Warren (keyboards) - have added Italian and Spanish dates to their European tour. Frontman Tim “Ripper” Owens will be stepping away from the tour at this point to attend to his daughter's wedding, so the band has announced that DORO will be filling in for him on these dates. THE RODS, featuring Ronnie James Dio’s cousin Rock Feinstein, will be joining the tour at the Download Festival, and rock icons ANVIL.

All dates are now as follows:

June

8 - Moscow, Russia, - A2 Club
9 - St. Petersburg, Russia – Kosmonayt
10 - Tampere, Finland - Sauna Open Air Festival
11 - East Midlands, UK - Download Festival
12 - Newcastle, UK - Academy
14 - Glasgow, Scotland - Garage
15 - Wolverhampton, UK - Sleigh Rooms
16 - Manchester, UK - Academy 2
17 - London, UK - Islington Academy
19 - Uden, Netherlands - De Pul
20 - Aschafensburg, Germany - Colos Saal
21 - Hamburg, Germany - Markthalle
22 - Berlin, Germany - C Club
24 - Dessel, Belgium - Graspop
25 - Bochum, Germany - Matrix
27 - Vienna, Austria - Szene Wien
28 - Lucerne, Switzerland - Konzerthaus Schuur
29 - Milan, Italy - Magazzini Generali

July

1 - Bilbao, Spain - Rockstar Live
2 - Madrid, Spain - Heineken
3 - Barcelona, Spain – Bikini