Dimebag Darrell
Every month we like to take a look back at some of the musical great who, in their short lives made such a huge contribution to music, and remember why we loved them before they were taken from us far too soon.
This month we honour the late Pantera legend, Darrell Lance Abbott, also known as "Diamond" Darrell, "Dimebag" Darrell.
Early life
Born to Carolyn and Jerry Abbott, Dimebag took up guitar when he was just 12 years old, and through sheer dedication and talent, he won a series of local guitar competitions, where in one he was awarded his first Dean guitar.
Keen to pursue a life with his beloved guitar, Dimebag formed Pantera in 1981 along with his brother, Vinnie Paul thrashing around on the drums as they tried to produce a glam metal style of music.
However, by the late 1980’s, their love for thrash metal began to dominate their sound and they started to draw influence from acts such as Slayer, Megadeth, Exhorder and Metallica, as well as traditional metal bands such as Black Sabbath and Judas Priest - all bands that they could proudly stand shoulder to shoulder with now.
Musical Success
Dimebag and his bandmates first got their taste of success in 1990, with their major label debut, Cowboys from Hell and later saw their unique style begin to shine through on their real breakthrough album, Vulgar Display of Power, which was released on February 25, 1992.
However, their happy heyday was fairly short-lived because by the mid nineties, tensions between the group started to run high as Phil Anselmo became more and more reliant on drugs, and eventually, in 2003, the group decided to call it a day, with each member going on to focus on other projects.
Keen to stay in a band with his brother, Dimebag went on to for Damageplan with Vinnie - a Heavy metal band which also used the Pantera-style groove metal sound and recruited former Halford guitarist Pat Lachman on vocals, and Bob Zilla on bass.
But our favourite Dimebag fact doesn’t relate to his epic music history, in fact it’s the fact that he invented his very own cocktail, thanks to his love of alcohol! The drink consists of one shot of "Crown Royal" whiskey, and generally with or accepted without an additional shot of Seagrams 7 whiskey, with a 'dash' of just enough Coca-Cola to darken the whiskey's colour known as the "Black Tooth Grin".
Death
Dimebag’s death was one which shocked the world over, not because it came out of the blue, but because he was shot by a fan at one of his own gigs.
On December 8, 2004, Darrell was performing on stage with Damageplan at the Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio, when a mentally ill former US Marine named Nathan Gale shot him five times in the back of the head, killing him instantly.
Abbott's grave is located at the Moore Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Arlington, Texas and he is buried alongside his mother. He was buried with Eddie Van Halen's Charvel Hybrid VH2 (also known as Bumblebee), Van Halen's black and yellow Frankenstrat (that was the actual guitar pictured with Eddie on the cover of the album Van Halen II) - because Dimebag had asked for one in 2004 before his death.
One this is for sure, as Walk continues to be one of the greatest rock anthems of all time, Dimebag Darrell will never be forgotten.
FemaleFirst - Ruth Harrison