ROCK FOR RONNIE Brings in $100,000 to Benefit Ronnie James Dio Stand Up & Shout Cancer Fund, Photos, Video
- The Metal Voice
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
The annual ROCK FOR RONNIE Concert in the Park has found a new home at the lawn adjacent to the Autry Museum of the West in Griffith Park, where it held this year’s event on Sunday, May 18, 2025 and brought in over $100,000 for the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund (www.diocancerfund.org). Veteran singer Sebastian Bach headlined the lineup, which also included Dio Disciples, Count’s 77, Kill Devil Hill, southern rock band Jason Charles Miller, Anita Squeeze and an All-Star Jam. Entrepreneur, author and producer Ahmet Zappa hosted the event.
Photos by Gene Kirkland
Dr. David Wong of the UCLA School of Dentistry accepted a check for $25,000 to advance his team’s research to develop a simple, non-invasive saliva swab test for early cancer detection. Because cancer fingerprints are seven times more prevalent in saliva than in blood, this research is crucial to early cancer diagnoses
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Sebastian Bach took the stage backed by Matthew Galeos, Fede Delfino and Bach’s son Paris on drums, and later in his set welcomed his 12-year-old stepson Trace to join him for his iconic “Youth Gone Wild.”
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Closing out the afternoon of music was the traditional All-Star Jam, this year featuring local favorites Led Zepagain for a special appearance in addition to Doug Aldrich (Dead Daisies, Dio, Whitesnake); Marten Andersson (Lita Ford); Ira Black (Dio Disciples, Vio-Lence); John Bush (Armored Saint); Jeremy Colson (Steve Vai, Billy Idol); Robbie Crane (Warrant); Phil Demmel (Kerry King, Category 7); Marc Ferrari (Keel); Julia Lage and Brit Lightning of Vixen; Mandy Lion; Tommy London (Sirius XM); Bill McBride (sponsor); Mike Mangin (The Cult); Sean McNabb (Dokken, Rhino Bucket); Keith Nelson (BuckCherry); Dug Pinnick (Kings X); Rudy Sarzo (Quiet Riot, Dio); Matt Starr (Ace Frehley, Mr. Big); Jeff Tortora (Blue Man Group); Neil Turbin (Death Riders, Anthrax); Ricky Warwick (Thin Lizzy, Black Star Riders); Chas West (Bonham, Moby Dicks); and Carlos Zema (Immortal Guardian), among others.
(Photo by PG Brunelli)
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ROCK FOR RONNIE's new location at the park adjacent to the Autry Museum offered a beautiful setting for an afternoon of exciting live music and fun for the whole family. Also, there were a raffle, silent and live auctions, merchandise sales, food trucks, assorted vendor booths selling unusual crafts and other items and artist meet and greets.
The specially-created “Garden of Hope” provided the opportunity to make an “I Rock For” dedication to someone who has battled, survived or succumbed to cancer. It was filled with tributes by the end of the afternoon.
Sponsors lending their invaluable support to the 2025 ROCK FOR RONNIE include marquee sponsors Motӧrhead Whiskey and White Hag Beer in addition to Archie's Ice Cream (Shant Keuilian); Liquid Death Mountain Water (Blasko); HOP WTR (Ryan Haggerty); Marquis Sugar Free Mate Beverages (Nicole Like); Celsius (Marissa Rossi); Total Wine and More; Smart & Final; In ‘N Out Burger; Street Food Cinema (www.streetfoodcinema.com); Adam Parsons Entertainment; The Ivy in Ojai; Christine Cardoso-Moore/Keller Williams Realty; McBride Wealth Management (Bill McBride); Mates Studios (Bobby and Jenny Brunner); Chipster PR; BMG; DW Drums; Valley Relics Museum; Skateboard Marketing; Get On the Bus video channel (https://getonthebus.com/); Randy Rhoads family (Kathy, Kelle and Richard); Road Radios (Jeremy Schilling, Rebecca Meick); and Cleopatra Records.
ROCK FOR RONNIE also wishes to thank the following companies and their staff members for their support and services: Guardian Distributors of Los Angeles (Jaie Neubauer); BevNomad (Steve Kwapil, Tara Moreland, John Giarrante and John Graham); All Valley Rentals (Rob and Amanda Dickey); Clair Global (Paul Newman and Jesse Grace); Kapoor Medical Group (Sandy Kapoor and David Saviola); Diamond Environmental Services (Lorena Parada); North Hollywood Ice (Bobby Benedetto); Salt N’ Pepper Food Truck (Armando Melendez); Screamer Magazine (Dave Castagno, Laura DeGaetano, Don Duree, Noah Ferguson and Kurt Nelson); Licorice Pizza Records (Deanna Khachikian, Grant Parsons, Kerry Brown); MetalBabe Mayhem (Alison Cohen); A&G Rock (Monte Christo); Howard Teman; Jason Charles Miller; Foot Buddys (Karlon Dawson); Hollywood Book and Poster (Scott Tisch); Coffee Bean Truck (Peter B); Mr. Charlie's (Taylor McKinnon); Birrieria Lamera Del Valle (Gabby Valentin); Potato Square LA, and EMTs: Becky Rossiter-Moon, Paul Uhl, Steve Jackson, Kimi Bond and Lyle Weiser.
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, Diana DeVille, John Doran, Andy Gould, Nick Jackson, Dr. Sandy Kapoor, Sean McNabb, 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, Marty O’Brien, Paula Newman, Ahmet Zappa, Brendan Smith 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 2025 ROCK FOR RONNIE volunteers: Jennifer Aloy, Lauren Aloy, Jeff Baker, Bella Beuder, Kaley Block, Sophia Cabacungan, Trina Campbell, Jessica Chase, Karlon Dawson, Zachariah Dodge, Linda Harris, Mike Harris, Jennifer Hernandez, Lee Raymond Hollister, Naomi Jawasoki, Scot Kaufman, Ann Kirkland, Mary Kusnier, Julieann Lazaro, Nicky Lovell, Marina Mann, Sheila Melody, Sabrina Ment, Bryan Moore, Chuck Moss, Jenn Nelson, Paul Newman, Paula Newman, Tyler Newman, Johnny Nieto, Brian O'Callahan, Michelle Parisi, Michelle Prentiss, Teresa Schachtel, Zander Schachtel, Scott Sentinella, Taylor Sentinella, Nicole Slatin, Carmelina Rosa Sotelo, Katie Strayhorn, William Strayhorn, Stephanie Taylor, Amber Trillo, Lyle Weiser, Sharon Weisz…and anyone else we may have accidentally forgotten to name.
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