Death will arrive at any given day or time; it can be peaceful or just downright brutal. The best thing anyone can do is to live their lives to the fullest. People should fearlessly go out there and follow their passion and dreams. We are never guaranteed a tomorrow. Darrell Lance Abbott aka Dimaond Darrell and Dimebag Darrell is someone that definitely lived his short 38 years to its fullest. Dimebag Darrell is known to be one of the founders of the bands Pantera and Damageplan. He will always remain one of the top guitarists in the metal and rock scene.
He left us on December 8th, 2004. He was performing with his latest band, Damageplan at the Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio. Dimebag was all about playing his guitar, he would never stop for anything which is why that night he (and everyone else) was taken for a disturbingly shocking turn of events. The crowd was cheering on and going wild watching the performance. The band and the crowd were all focused on one thing, the love for metal. Nine years later it’s still so sad to rehash about what happened and still to this day we don’t even know why it really happened. A highly mentally unstable 25 year old, Nathan Gale, heartlessly shot Dimebag during the first song “New Found Power”. No one actually knows why Gale wanted to kill all members of Damageplan that evening. It could have been because he was angry of the breakup of Pantera or he could just have been a delusional crazed person believing that they stole a song from him. What is known is that the lives of 5 people were taken that night including a guitar legend.
- Guitar World (1994)
Dimebag Darrell was born on August 20, 1966 in Dallas, Texas. His father, Jerry Abbott, was a country and western songwriter and producer which was a very big inspiration for him to get into the music business. The question for Dimebag was, what genre of music? He knew he was meant for hard rock the day he discovered KISS. He fell in love with the way Ace Frehley played the guitar. From then on his passion for music and playing never died, it only grew stronger. Dimebag was brilliantly determined and dedicated, he never gave up on his dream and desire to perform.
After winning a guitar talent competition and gaining a lot more self confidence Dimebag took his playing to the next level. In the early 1980’s he co-founded the band Pantera with his brother, Vinnie Paul. In the beginning of Pantera they were trying to discover their sense of style. After a few lineup changes and a more heavier and less glam sound, nine years later they discovered what Pantera was all about when the album Cowboys From Hell released in 1990. This only shows how Dimebag’s dedication paid off. He was a man that would just never give up on what he loves. Cowboys From Hell was just the beginning to show how much Dimebag truly shined. The guitar riffs and solos were heavy and amazing. For Dimebag it wasn’t about the writing or emotion, it was simply about pounding away at the guitar. Dimebag always performed with an immense amount of energy. There was no tired and lazy Dimebag when it came to playing the guitar. There would be times when you would see him perform and say to yourself “how did he do that?!”. He was just simply a guitar god.
- Cowboys From Hell (1990)/ Atco
- Far Beyond Driven (1994) / East West
Dimebag has left his mark on this Earth to show that you should never stop doing what you love. Life is too short, we should always follow with our hearts to do what we want to do. Nothing is guaranteed so why not strive and live to the fullest? Dimebag was fearless, everyone should learn to be fearless just like him. No one should ever give up and always remain dedicated. Dimebag’s life should be a pure example of that. He lived to play and he died playing. Rock on Dimebag, you will always be missed. Blast your speakers to “Domination” and listen to the awesomeness that was and will always be Dimebag.
Written by Zenae Zukowski
Feature photograph from Guitar World March 2008 issue cover
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