Legendary German metal queen and Warlock frontwoman Doro Pesch has reportedly agreed to fill in for Tim "Ripper" Owens at a handful of Dio Disciples gigs in Europe.  Owens will reportedly be on leave for four dates to attend his daughter's wedding.  Dio Disciples is a collection of former Dio members and fans touring in tribute to fallen Dio / Black Sabbath / Rainbow frontman Ronnie James Dio.  In addition to Owens, the band is normally staffed by Criag Goldy, Rudy Sarzo, Scott Warren, and Simon Wright.

In a recent interview with Rocksalt.mx, Pesch talked about a new song she has written as a tribute to Ronnie James Dio. "I was always such a big [Dio] fan, like so many other people, [I] just adored him and loved him," she said. "But there's one song, we will be working on that and I think it will be wonderful. But I first want to show it to Wendy Dio [Ronnie's wife/manager] and let her listen to it, so that's one thing. I kind of want to make many versions of that song, I think it's beautiful and I like it a lot . . . It's called 'Hero' and it has a beautiful melody and I would like to make many versions of it, like an acoustic version and a full-blown band version and maybe an orchestral version, and we are just working on it. I definitely want to take care of that one - that song's nice. But first I want to let Wendy listen to it. I'm really hoping... but I'm sure she will like it a lot. Every time everybody is listening to it in the studio everybody is crying and so... wow, so touching."

The Dio Disciples shows Pesche will take part in are:

June 29 - Milan, Italy @ Magazzini Generali
July 01 - Bilbao, Spain @ Rockstar Live
July 02 - Madrid, Spain @ Heineken
July 03 - Barcelona, Spain @ Bikini