The Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund, founded in memory of the late rock music legend, will commemorate the 10th anniversary of his passing and the formation of the charity with an Awards Gala on 2/20 in 2020. The event will take place at The Wiltern in Los Angeles, and will recognize honorees who have played a role in either Dio’s legacy or that of the charity.

The vocals and visuals of Ronnie James Dio with his live band Dio, who performed with him for his last 17 years, will provide the entertainment for the Gala. Local rockers Sadie & the Tribe will also perform, and the evening will include a live auction, a silent auction and a raffle of luxury items and entertainment memorabilia. VIP attendees will be treated to a gourmet dinner with wine pairings.

Eight awards named after songs written by Dio will be presented to the following honorees:

Holy Diver Award: Honoring Rhino Entertainment/Warner Music Group executives Kevin Gore, President, Global Catalog, Recorded Music & Arts Music, Warner Music Group; Mark Pinkus, President, Rhino Entertainment & U.S. Catalog; Jason Day, VP, A&R, Rhino Entertainment; Jason Elzy, VP, Communications & Marketing, Rhino Entertainment; and Brian Dodd, Manager, Global Artist Brand Management, Rhino Entertainment

Killing the Dragon Award: Laura Heatherly, CEO, T.J. Martell Foundation, which is dedicated to funding innovative medical research focused on finding treatments and cures for cancer

King of Rock ‘n Roll Award: Barry Drinkwater, Executive Chairman, Global Merchandise Services Ltd.

Magica Award: Wyn Davis, Dio’s longtime recording engineer and Owner of Total Access recording studios

Master of the Moon Award: Honoring BMG executives Thomas Scherer, EVP, Repertoire & Marketing L.A., Global Writer Services & China; Michael Kachko, SVP, Catalog Recordings; Jeff Christian, Director, Catalog; and Kathy Rivkin Daum, Senior Director, Films

Rainbow in the Dark Award: Mikeal Maglieri, owner of the Rainbow Bar and Grill and Whisky a Go Go on the Sunset Strip

Sacred Heart Award: Dr. David Wong, Professor and Associate Dean for Research, UCLA School of Dentistry and Director for UCLA Center for Oral/Head & Neck Oncology Research

Stand Up and Shout Award: Jeff Pezzuti, CEO of Eyellusion, creators of the Dio Returns! hologram

For tickets go here.

Photo: PG Brunelli

Grammy-nominated DJ/Producer Steve Aoki, 17-time Grammy-winning artist Sting, and platinum-selling trio SHAED have teamed up to release their new collaborative anthem, “2 in a Million.”

An offering from Aoki’s upcoming Neon Future IV LP on Ultra Records, the track features vocals by Sting and SHAED’s Chelsea Lee over Aoki's steady beat, and lyrically grapples with the search for one's soulmate through all of life’s complexity.

The song was added to 35 New Music Friday playlists 12/6 on Spotify, and its accompanying music video mirrors the sentiment of the lyric with its natural progression of the quest for a soulmate.

Aoki said, “I am beyond excited about this collaboration with Sting and SHAED. I’ve been a fan of (Sting) for as long as I can remember, so it’s surreal to have him on one of my songs. What they both brought to the table made for an incredible track."

Sting added, “To me, the greatest element in music is surprise, so I’m always open to collaborate with other artists as you never quite know where it’s going to take you. This sounded like an interesting opportunity and I’m excited for people to hear the new track.”

“We all grew up listening to Sting and The Police,” said SHAED. “He was a huge influence, so when Steve approached us with the collab it was a no brainer. We had the best time working with Steve and Sting and really love this track.”

Seen here with their management and team from Paradigm, are (top row l-r ): Taking Back Sunday's Mark O’Connell and Shaun Cooper, Manager Jillian Newman, Paradigm's Maddie Hansen, TBS' John Nolan, and (front row l-r): Paradigm's Rachel Pestik and Grace Powlas, TBS' Adam Lazzara, and Paradigm's Matt Galle.

Emo heartthrobs Taking Back Sunday, who reached peak chart success back in the mid-2000s, just finished up a worldwide tour celebrating 20 years together, which concluded last week with two sold out nights at Terminal 5 in NYC. With 115 shows in 14 different countries on five continents, the tour sold 134k tickets and grossed over $5m.

This comes three weeks after the news that My Chemical Romance is reuniting for shows in December (with fellow rockers Thursday opening), and a month after the announcement of the big Green Day/Weezer/Fall Out Boy Hella Mega tour next summer. It’s beginning to feel like there is a groundswell of renewed interest in the emotive rock genre, which undisputedly still does very well at the live box office.

TBS’ longtime manager Jillian Newman reports that they are presently talking to potential label suitors. The band's repertoire has 2m Spotify plays per week, along with 31k daily listeners and 73m plays overall on Apple Music. There will be two upcoming holiday shows 12/13 & 14 at Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, NJ, with Canadian girl-rockers The Beaches opening. Newman and agent Matt Galle of Paradigm have been with TBS since the beginning.

There was a time in the early 2000s when every label was pursuing the Long Island, NY natives, who then were locked into a deal with indie Victory Records. They eventually went with Warner Bros., who had a hit with album Louder Now and single “MakeDamnSure.”

Is rock coming back? Exclusively on indie labels, or, like My Chemical Romance now on Warner Records, will TBS find a new major label home? Stay tuned.

If needed, we’ll be at the mall with a swoopy hairdo, trying on skinny jeans at Hot Topic and getting our eyebrow pierced.