Dio karaoke results in metal beatdown

Dio's the last in line for bad karaoke
Dio's the last in line for bad karaoke

Singing a little Dio in a karaoke bar never hurt anybody, right? Wrong.

A Wisconsin man recently became so incensed by what he deemed to be a disrespectful performance of Dio's song Holy Diver that he attacked the singer and a second man.

Police say that Kyle Drinkwine (below, and yes, that's his real surname) had a blood alcohol level more than twice the legal limit when he went apeshit and throttled James Mischler for his allegedly comedic impersonation of onetime Black Sabbath singer Ronnie James Dio.

Attacker first sang Eminem

Mischler might have been egging Drinkwine on, however. Before he was tossed a beating, Mischler heckled Drinkwine's performance of an Eminem song, even ridiculing Drinkwine's oversized crucifix. "I told him he should find a better vending machine for his jewelry," said Mischler.

More than the physical mash-up, Mischler was hurt by the insinuation that he was mocking Dio with his off-key singing. "I genuinely love Ronnie James Dio!" he insisted.

Hey, we have no reason to doubt you. Well, maybe a little

Joe Bosso

Joe is a freelance journalist who has, over the past few decades, interviewed hundreds of guitarists for Guitar WorldGuitar PlayerMusicRadar and Classic Rock. He is also a former editor of Guitar World, contributing writer for Guitar Aficionado and VP of A&R for Island Records. He’s an enthusiastic guitarist, but he’s nowhere near the likes of the people he interviews. Surprisingly, his skills are more suited to the drums. If you need a drummer for your Beatles tribute band, look him up.