I can easily see a thread like this getting out of hand or verging on the disrespectful, so up front I'd like to ask anyone who contributes to do so in a tasteful way.

For myself, the death of Peter Steele, two and a half years ago now, was like a body blow. I'd developed a connection with Type O Negative, like so many fans, in high school, and like many other fans TON served as a gateway into a musical world a bit darker (and a bit more honest) than most popular fare. A little later, when I was musically developed enough to seek out Carnivore, Pete again served as a sort-of mentor at a distance, and again his music played a role in introducing me to a more extreme genre that I perhaps would have never known existed without him. I listen to more thrash than you can shake a stick at today, but Carnivore remains one of my favorite bands in the genre and was the band that showed me there was more to the music than Metallica, Megadeth and Slayer.

His music will always live on, and Peter might have been one of the few artists who can say that they never released a genuinely bad album.

None. I don't really feel a personal or emotional connection with any artist, outside a few of my friends who happen to play in bands. There will always be the sense of what might have been when an artists dies, but that's really it, but for me it really is no different for me for when a band breaks up. Having said that, it is always a sad occasion when an artist dies, as it is when anyone dies.

Ronnie James Dio!
I'm pretty sure if he was alive we'd have a new Heaven and Hell album already!
The man was a god and true to his music. He never evolved much in terms of writing and delivery but you could always rely on a Dio song to take you places. He painted pictures with his words.
I don't feel so sad anymore like I did when I first heard the news. He is at peace and he left behind an incredible legacy!

None really. But Phil Lynott was 36 years old when he died, and I believe he had a lot more to give, metal or not.

Definitely metal. If Deep Purple counts as metal, in my view, so do Thin Lizzy.

Oh, Lizzy is no doubt metal. I meant whatever music he might have done in the future. Like his solo stuff. It's all brilliant.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9n7EstQI5o

Hello everyone!! In my case i was very affected by the death of Chuck Schuldinner, the godfather of death metal, his death was very traumathic and even today I have all his releases with Death as a band and also with Denied Control and Mantra, but I agree about the lost of Ronnie James Dio, it is a big lost for Metal, even here in Cuba, he has a lot of fans including myself.
Greetings and Long Live to Metal, it domains!!!

This, if only because it's the only one I remember really being affected by, following the news since it became publicly known that he had cancer. For most others, either they happened when I wasn't into metal (i.e Cliff Burton), or I only found out long after they happened (i.e Chuck Schuldiner).

Oh, and Jon Lord too, although somehow not to the same extent.

I second Peter Steel, for basically all the same reasons.

I've only been into metal for the past 7 years or so, but Dio's death affected me more than any person that I've never met.

Every now again I'll tear up just listening to Dio. Dude was such a positive inspiration and sent out a great message with his songs.

i remember when Cliff Burton died. That sucked ass. Metallica was going nowhere but up, sky's the limit, and metal itself was getting a lot of attention. Then pow, bus accident. It just seemed like the biggest thing in our little high school metalhead subculture had been torn away.

Also Randy Rhoads. Think what you will about him being overhyped now, but at the time he was a big deal. And a good kid too. I know they were screwing around in the plane, but he didn't deserve to die.

More recently, Vitek and Covan from Decapitated was a blow. I know Covan's not all the way dead, but still. I have little sympathy for those who drink themselves to death or od, but all these bus accidents don't seem fair.

Dio was, and will be, missed, as will Schuldiner to a lesser extent. For me it would be Cliff Burton, because of the timing of his death co-inciding with the period in my life where Metallica were my absolute favorate band. (and there was a lot of other fucked up stuff going on in my personal life back then, too.) Plus, considering his, and Metallica's influence on extreme music at the time, it sent shock waves through the scene- he was just entering his prime whereas Dio had already rocked for a long long time. (yes kids, at one time Metallica were one of the most extreme metal bands out there; although to be fair, by 1986 that wasn't really true anymore.)

Dimebag Darrell incident was tragic!

Chuck Schuldiner. Way too young. I weep at the thought of what masterpieces he was never able to give us.

Most definitely Dio. May he rest in peace.

Definitely Ronnie James Dio. Not only was he one of my all time favorite vocalists, but he was also my idol and I loved watching him talk in interviews as he was extremely intelligent and outspoken. I was devastated when I first heard that he died and very nearly cried over the demise of my hero. R.I.P. Dio.

Dio was the only musician relevant to me that I was aware of at the time they died, and it was kind of a shock. Guy was basically the incarnation of the heavy metal spirit. A real legend and I never got to see him live.

Gonna' go with Dio.Now we'll never get to have a Magica part II.And though it probably would have never happened anyway,there is absolutely no chance of him working with Ritchie Blackmore again.

Hearing Dio die was a total blow, especially since I got into metal only 2 years prior to his death.

I also have to go with Peter Steele. Type O Negative was really the band that got me to delve deeper into dark and heavy music. I also found that I could easily relate with a lot of issues Pete seemed to constantly bring up in interviews as well as in lyrics. I have a Type O tattoo and a Peter tribute tat, but I don't find myself ever mourning over a musician's death. It does bum me out sometimes though that I never will get the chance to watch them live again or hear new music from the band.

I second Chuck, RJD and Vitek. I would also include David Gold from Woods of Ypres, really REALLY unexpected...

Pete Steele. Miss his sense of humor.

Although Dio was getting older and his voice wasn't exactly what it used to be, my respect for the man kept on growing over the last few years of his life. The Heaven & Hell concert in Montreal is one of the greatest show I ever had the pleasure to witness. Although his death wasn't a shock, because I knew it was a possibility with this illness, it felt like losing an old friend.

I remember being stunned by Cliff Burton's death. Metallica was my favorite band at the time. They were just getting in their prime, young and fierce. His death was such a complete surprise. I was only a teenager with very little sense of what death actually means but I remember it felt terribly unfair to me.

I got minorly upset when Dio died, thats about it.

Layne Staley for me was the most impactful. Alice In Chains was a band that spawned in my regional area and I followed them since their 'hair band' days. Layne's voice was my favorite of all - including Dio, Dickenson, and all the rest. Additionally, I had a chance to go see Mad Season in Seattle and it was just a 20-minute drive from where I was and I chose not to. That ended up being one of the last shows Layne ever played. In my entire history of going to concerts, the show I saw in Portland, OR which was the Dirt tour undercard of Soundgarden's Badmotorfinger tour still stands today as my favorite and most cherished show I've ever been to.

Anyone for Quorthon? He wrote the best black and viking metal music. Going through his catalog and witnessing his evolution is a true journey. At the time of his death, he still had Nordland III to put out, and I believe that his output could have gone FAR beyond that. Hell, his side project is also excellent. Quorthon's 'Album' has some of the best hard rock tracks I've ever heard, and the song 'Boy' is right up there with some of his best work under the Bathory moniker. He was too young, but he left behind better work than I could ever dream to.

Denis D'Amour (Piggy) of Voivod for me, he was such a profound influence and an otherworldly, creative player who I enjoyed for most of 20 years. I never tired of anticipating what he'd come up with next.

Quorthon and Dio.

Oh shit, how did I forget Dimebag? That was genuinely upsetting.

I have to go with Mieszko Talarczyk from Nasum. The circumstances of his death were just so tragic.

Quorthon and Dio were the only two so far that truly hit me and i still think about from time to time, especially realizing how much time has already passed with both.

Dimebag Darrell probably shook me the most. I was getting ready for school and my mom came and says something along the lines of, "the news said someone shot and killed some guitarist for a band I think you listen to." I couldnt fucking believe it. This was when Pantera was a big part of my listening, and he remains one of my absolute favorites when it comes to his lead work.

the other would be Vitek from decapitated. Luckily I got to see both Covan and Vitek play a show in houston texas about a year before the crash happened. Fucking killer show - Decapitated, Suffocation, Hypocrisy, and Fear Factory headlined. Fear factory could not compete with the intensity of the three previous bands.. I left about 3 minutes into the first song.

Sarmak of Lycanthropy's Spell. He was so young and would have probably continued to make amazing black metal material. Really is unfortunate.

Chuck Schuldiner, Dio, Dimebag and David Gold. I could say so much about all four men, but all of their music and lyrics has influenced me immensely. I felt they were all taken away much too soon.

Hearing of Dio's death was a real "fuck cancer" moment for me. If I recall correctly, he was making a great recovery.

Peter Steele, Layne Staley, Chuck Schuldiner...such originals, they definitely had much much more in them. And @Einzige just like you, Type O's music matters a lot to me, a lot.

Steele and Dio are the only major deaths I've been around for, really. I was a Carnivore and Rainbow fan at the times of their deaths (I was still indifferent to TON and hadn't delved in Dio beyond Rainbow), but at the time, it was just a little sucky. I was pretty numb from depression and family deaths, and it wasn't until I really learned about the history of these musicians that it got to me. If I were born just a couple years earlier, they probably would have been much bigger blows.

Despite the fact I didn't live through either of their careers, I really wish Audie Pitre and Phil Lynott were still alive. I love most everything these two have done.

Peter Steele. Without a doubt.

Type O's music has been, without any question whatsoever, the most influential creative force for me. Musically, and otherwise.

I've had some of my best moments with that band. Listening to them after falling in love with someone, after getting my heart broken, through my battles with addictions and family problems and depression is what got me through an immense amount of darkness. I've written some of my most creative poetry and stories when I listened to them while I took a break from writing, I've had amazing nights of drinking and socializing with Steele and company, and they were a backdrop for some of the most ecstatic and beautiful moments I've ever experienced. Never has a band before (Bowie is maybe the exception) completely captured the entirety of life so wonderfully. Steele was an incredible wordsmith, facing demon after demon with mock grimace, and working his way through his own torturers with that wry sense of humor.

He was a real gem of a human being, and someone who understood real depression, real sadness. But, he also got the essence of life. Within Type O's depressive crushing atmosphere was that ever present hopefulness, those little funny lyrics, his ultimate conversion before death, the soaring melodies and orchestration. Steele had a way of saying "Yeah, life is crushing and hard and fucking brutal and no one really cares, but damn man, you just gotta laugh at it sometimes because we persist through this chaos". Fuckin' A.

Yeah, it's ridiculous to mourn the death of someone who you don't know personally, and a lot of you are saying that. But, how do we not know them? Don't we know musicians in an incredibly personal and intimate way? They create from their most introspective moments these amazing pieces of art and then put themselves out there vulnerably and bravely, hoping that someone else out there will connect with it the same way they did. The bond between artist and fan is something that is terribly close, I think, at least philosophically.

I saw them live about six months before his passing. He looked better than I've ever seen him, and I've seen them dozens of times. He was alert and while he was drinking, it wasn't nearly the whole bottle (his normal quota). They played every song I hadn't heard them play in years, even playing "World Coming Down" and "September Sun" and closed not with "Black No. 1" but with "Hail and Farewell to Britain". We knew tat these song choices were not by accident. It's like they all knew this was going to be the last tour, and judging by the insanely emotional reaction by the crowd, maybe we knew too. We all shared, during that final chorus of "Hail and Farewell" a moment. We took our glasses to the ceiling and sang along, all of us drinking and swaying, hell there were even strangers with their arms on each other's shoulders - mesmerized by that awesome melody.

We all shared one last drink with our good friend Pete, and I wouldn't have wanted to share that drink with anyone else.

He really was a giant among men.

You completely nailed it here, Frog.

For me, the metal death that affected me the most was that of Dio. Funnily enough, I didn't know his music by the time he died, but when I learned of his passing, not much later I started listening to everything with him behind the mic. Slowly started to explore all the releases that featured him; first his solo records, then his stuff with Black Sabbath, and finally, his Rainbow material. Man, I wish I could listen to Stargazer for the first time again..... I mean, after working my way backwards through his discography, and reaching this beautiful, titanic monolith of a song, I got it. When he recited "I see a rainbow rising" as the piece faded away, I finally understood that this incredibly talented, humble and humane person (he was much more than just a musician) was gone. Gone forever, and he wasn't coming back. Stargazer is one of the few select songs that has managed to actually make me cry, and I'm not ashamed of admitting it. Dio deserves every tear shed for him, even if it's those of a South American stranger who never even met him in person.

Ronnie James Dio. While yes, I didn't know the man personally (obviously), I'd hoped that RJD would've fought the cancer that he died from or lived a few more years. I only properly got into metal a year or 2 before his death and I found his death to be upsetting for that reason.