All proceeds benefit the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund
PINZ Bowling Center in Studio City, California, was filled on November 13th with rock musicians, bowling enthusiasts and Dio fans for the annual Bowl for Ronnie Celebrity Bowling Party, benefiting the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund (www.diocancerfund.org). With sponsor lanes and spectator tickets officially sold out well in advance, the event brought in over $85,000 for the music industry cancer charity.
Broadcast personality Eddie Trunk, who is heard on SiriusXM’s 103 Faction Talk channel, hosted once again and bowled with his team of celebrity musicians comprising Black Sabbath’s Geezer Butler; Brent Woods (Gene Simmons, Chevy Metal, Sebastian Bach); Shavarsh “Shavo” Odadjian of System of a Down, Nuno Bettencourt (Extreme) and Rick Thomas of Truckee, California, who prevailed as the highest bidder in the charity’s eBay auction for a place on Eddie’s team.
Other attendees this year included Doug Aldrich (Dio, Dead Daisies, Whitesnake); Dennis Atlas (Toto); Sebastian Bach as well as his bandmate Frederico Delfino; Ira Black (Dio Disciples, Vio-Lence); Rob “Blasko” Nicholson (Ozzy Osbourne); Leah Bluestein (Eagles of Death Metal); Ann Boleyn of Hellion; Graham Bonnet (Rainbow, Michael Schenker Group); Bobby Brown, who attended with his wife Alicia Etheredge-Brown and singer Macy Gray; Jacob Bunton (Steven Tyler, Billy Idol); John Bush (Armored Saint); Gilby Clarke (Guns N’ Roses); Fred Coury (Cinderella); Daniel Dekay (Midnight); Taime Downe (Faster Pussycat); Matt Duncan (DC4); Bjorn Englen (Dio Band, Soul Sign); Marc Ferrari (Keel); Damon Fox (Bigelf, The Cult); Alex Holycross (Native Howl); Dino Jelusick (Whitesnake); Alistair (AJ) James (Steven Adler); Adam Jones (Tool); Danny Koker and Stoney Curtis (Count’s 77 and Counting Cars on the History Channel); Oni Logan (Lynch Mob, Dio Disciples); Paul Masdival (Cynic); Sean McNabb (Dokken, Quiet Riot); Billy McNicol, Bhargav Choudhury and C.J. Wilson of the Billy McNicol Band; Jason Charles Miller; Victor Orlando (GAP Band); Jeff Pilson (Foreigner); Rowan Robertson, Scott Warren and Simon Wright of the Dio band; Chaz Ruiz, Rob Jones and Tommy Gardner of Yachtley Crew; Robert Sarzo (Hurricane); Howie Simon (Winger, Starship); Glen Sobel (Alice Cooper); Michael Sweet (Stryper); George Thorogood; Brian Tichy (Whitesnake); Neil Turbin (Anthrax); Chris Velez (Persekutor); Chas West, T-Bone Andersson, Jason Cornwall and Dave “Chili” Moreno of Westbound; Jordan Ziff (RATT); musicians Kenny Aronoff, Neal Carter, Gus Dubbern, Jason Ebs, John Heintz, Marco Minnemann and Matt Starr; Keith Cunningham, Stew Herrera and “Full Metal Jackie” Kajzer of KLOS Radio; Larry Morgia, Chris Parker, Chris Porridge, Todd Savran, Scott Waters and Jordan “Junkman” West of the newly relaunched KNAC.com; DJ Will; Regina Banali, Rita Haney, Riki Rachtman and artist Robert Vargas; producers Wyn Davis and Jay Ruston; actors Ali Afshar, Al Coronel (“The Last Ship”) and Star Fields (“Sons of Anarchy”) and filmmakers Myles Erfuth and Mark Jewusiak.
The Board of Directors presented Dr. David Wong, whose team at the UCLA School of Dentistry has had the support of the Dio Cancer Fund for its research in the development of salivary biomarkers for gastric cancer detection since 2016, a check for an additional $25,000 toward his team’s research on a simple, non-invasive saliva swab test for early cancer detection.
Following an interlude of feverish, highly competitive bowling, the winning teams were presented with trophies by Wendy Dio and Eddie Trunk. The Dean Schachtel Award for the Highest Individual Score (199) went to Mike Knutson of the Pants Optional team.
The Steve Strange Award for the Highest Celebrity Score (179) was won by Stoney Curtis of Count’s 77, who played on the Rolling Bones team, with Brian Tichy and DJ Will right behind him with tied scores of 177 each.
The special King of Rock & Roll Award, created to acknowledge above and beyond support for the Dio Cancer Fund, was presented to Barry Drinkwater and Benny Lindstrom of Global Merchandising Services.
Regina Banali, widow of Quiet Riot drummer Frankie Banali, announced the new Frankie Banali Award, to be given annually to a celebrity who has continually and generously supported the Dio Cancer Fund with their time and efforts. The inaugural award went to Dio drummer Simon Wright.
The Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund was formed in memory of the legendary rock singer Ronnie James Dio, who lost his life to gastric cancer in 2010. A privately funded 501(c)(3) charity organization dedicated to cancer prevention, research and education, the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund has already raised over $2 million in its history. Monies raised have been committed to the cancer research work of the T. J. Martell Foundation for Cancer, AIDS and Leukemia Research, the gastric cancer research unit of the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, where Ronnie was treated for gastric cancer during the last six months of his life, and other cancer research projects. Since 2016, the Dio Cancer Fund has committed funds to support the research of Dr. David Wong and his team at the UCLA School of Dentistry in developing a simple, non-invasive saliva test for the early detection of cancer, which is in keeping with the Fund’s mission of cancer prevention, research and education.
