Dimebag Darrell

At 38 years old, Dimebag Darrell has this physical status:

Darrell Lance Abbott (August 20, 1966 – December 8, 2004), best known by his stage name Dimebag Darrell, was an American singer and songwriter.

He was the guitarist of the heavy metal bands Pantera and Damageplan, both of whom he co-founded alongside his brother Vinnie Paul.

He is regarded as one of the key factors behind groove metal's rise, and he is one of the most influential guitarists in heavy metal history. Jerry Abbott, a son of country music producer Jerry Abbott, began playing guitar at the age of 12, and Pantera introduced Metal Magic (1983), when he was 16.

Abbott, who was originally a glam metal singer, went by the stage name Diamond Darrell at the time.

In 1984 and 1985, two more albums in the glam metal style were released, before original vocalist Terry Glaze was replaced by Phil Anselmo in 1986 and Power Metal (1988) was released.

Cowboys from Hell (1990), the band's debut on major labels, introduced a groove metal style to which Abbott's guitar playing was integral.

This sound was developed on Vulgar Display of Power (1992), and the group's third major-label record, Far Beyond Driven, debuted at No. 4 on December 9, according to the company's third major-label record, Far Beyond Driven. In 1994, Billboard 200 had one of the Billboard 200.

Tensions in Pantera dropped after the introduction of The Great Southern Trendkill in 1996, and Reinventing the Steel (2000) was the band's final studio album before its traumatic separation in 2003.

Abbott and his brother Vinnie Paul formed Damageplan in 2004 and the band's first and only album.

Abbott's other recordings include a 2006 exhibit with David Allan Coe titled Rebel Meets Rebel (2006), as well as numerous guest guitar solos for bands like Anthrax.

While on stage with Damageplan at the Alrosa Villa nightclub in Columbus, Ohio, Abbott was shot and killed by a deranged fan on December 8, 2004.

Before the perpetrator was killed by police, three others were killed in the shooting.

Abbott was ranked No. 1 on the charts at the time. On Rolling Stone's list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" in 2011, 92nd. In 2018, 19 on Louder's list of "The 50 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" list.

He came in No. 26. In 2015, Gibson ranked 5 on Gibson's list of "The Top 10 Metal Guitarists of All Time" and the same year was ranked as the most influential metal guitarist of the past 25 years by VH1.

Early life

Darrell Lance Abbott was born in Ennis, Texas, on August 20, 1966, his second son to Carolyn and Jerry Abbott, a country music performer. Vinnie Paul, his older brother, was born on March 11, 1964. Abbott's parents divorced in 1979 after seventeen years of marriage, but his family life remained good. On Montere Street in Arlington, the brothers and their mother Carolyn lived in a ranch-style home. Jerry's father Jerry was not living far away, and Darrell would get on his bike and go over for guitar lessons "pretty darned regular." Carolyn was also supportive of her sons' musical endeavors.

Darell's father has been described as the "only one [who] knows what inspired and inspired Darrell's obsession with music and the guitar." Darrell's career as a guitarist began in 1981 when he gave him his first batch of lessons.

When he was twelve, Abbott took up the guitar. On his twelfth birthday, he owned a Les Paul-style Hohner, which he received with a Pignose amplifier. Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Kiss, and Van Halen's influencer, though he was unable to play the instrument at the time, he would first spend time in his room holding the guitar while wearing Ace Frehley-style makeup. Jerry learned Kiss songs on guitar in order to show Darrell how to play them. Darrell also learned from country artists who recorded in Jerry's studio, such as Bugs Henderson.

Vinnie had been playing the drums before Darrell received his first guitar. Darrell had previously attempted to play the drums; Vinnie later said, "I just got better than him and wouldn't let him play them anymore." "Smoke on the Water" was the Abbott brothers' first jam session. They were inspired by Alex and Eddie Van Halen, and Vinnie said in a 2016 interview that they were "inseparable" after they began playing music together.

Abbott, a student at the Agora Ballroom in Dallas, in which Dean Zelinsky, the director of Dean Guitars, was one of the judges, was one of the judges. Abbott's mother took him to the hospital because he was too young to enter on his own. He received the tournament, but Zelinsky recalled that "Abbott] blew everyone away." Abbott also won many other guitar tournaments in the area, but was eventually asked not to compete and instead judge the competitions so that others would win.

Personal life

Abbott grew up in the same neighborhood as his longtime companion Rita Haney, whom he first met at the age of eight. They first appeared in 1984. The couple never married. In a 2006 interview, Haney said, "We didn't believe in the marriage thing." Why can someone you don't know tell you it's OK to be with someone you don't know?

We didn't need the middleman!

We had a one-on-one with the guy upstairs.

Abbott bought a house with Haney in Dalworthington Gardens, Texas, just a short distance from his hometown Arlington, Texas. Abbott raised a pet goat on the property and dyed its goatees like his own. His neighbors recalled him as friendly. One neighbor who often walked dogs with Abbott said he "was a hick with a smile," and I say this respectfully. We'd be discussing conservatism politics. He was a major, major promoter of George Bush."

In 1996, Darrell and Vinnie founded the Clubhouse, an all-nude strip joint in north-west Dallas. Vinnie's initial plan was a rock-and-roll-themed golf course with "a strip joint at the nineteenth hole," but the actual expense of a golf course was prohibitively costly. The Clubhouse was patronized by many artists who toured in the area, including Black Sabbath, Kiss and Metallica, as well as NASCAR drivers, recreational golfers, and Dallas Cowboys and the Dallas Stars (whose battle song, "Puck Off," was written and produced by Pantera). The Abbott brothers held a party for the team at Vinnie's house after the Dallas Stars defeated the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals. After Guy Carbonneau threw it out of a window into a swimming pond, Vinnie later said the Stanley Cup was dented during the party, but it missed the pool and fell over the edge. During the Stars' triumph, the brothers also performed on a float.

Source

Music career

Pantera was established in 1981. Vinnie was invited to perform with his peers Terry Glaze (guitar), Tommy Bradford (bass), and Donny Hart (vocals). Vinnie accepted the invitation, but only on the condition that Darrell would also join the band. Glaze later admitted that they were uncertain about this offer because Darrell "wasn't very strong" and that, two years their junior, "was a little skinny, scrawny dude," but eventually agreed. When Dave Mustaine asked Darrell to join Megadeth, he made the same request in 1989. Darrell, who had already recruited drummer Nick Menza and decided not to fire Vinnie, stayed with Pantera. Hart left the band and was replaced by Glaze on vocals, while Rex Brown took over Bradford's place as bassist.

Abbott used to perform lead guitar with Glaze, but soon assumed lead guitarist status as a full-fledged musician. "Abbott] just morphed over a six-month period," Glaze said. ... He might have played "Eruption" and "Crazy Train" after he came out. In reference to the Kiss song "Black Diamond," Abbott adopted the stage name "Diamond Darrell."

Pantera was originally inspired by Kiss, Van Halen, and Judas Priest; as a result, it was image conscious: the members wore spandex, makeup, and hairspray on stage. The band has signed to Metal Magic Records, which was created by "Jerry Eld'n," an alias of Abbott's father Jerry. When Abbott was 16 years old, Pantera released Metal Magic, the first album to be released in 1983.

Abbott's solos "tend to be asymmetrical," according to a review in the Texas-based music magazine Buddy's November 1983 issue, because the old theory of musical thought, consisting of alternating messages of appropriate responses, is dismissed and replaced by authoritative delivery of the player's own interpretation of what should happen.

In 1984 and 1985, Pantera developed Projects in the Jungle and I Am the Night. Both albums were released in the glam metal style and were similar to Shout at the Devil's Crüe, although I Am the Night had a slightly different sound than previous releases. The Abbott brothers began listening to bands like Metallica and Slayer around this period. Darrell was particularly taken by Metallica's Ride the Fire (1984).

Glaze was dissatisfied with the Abbott brothers' inability to make a more prominent sound; he later said he didn't want to go that far. If the guitar was the focal point, I didn't like it as well, as the Metallica songs." His resignation in 1986 was due to this conflict, as well as a labor union.

In late 1986, Glaze was replaced by Phil Anselmo. This new lineup appeared on Gold Mountain Records for a brief period, but Power Metal (1988) on Metal Magic appears on Metal Magic. "We wanted to change our look and make us sound like Bon Jovi," Abbott said, which is not quite up to date. Anselmo did not write any of the lyrics for Power Metal, and the band was still trying to distance themselves from glam metal, but the album showed a stylistic shift. Abbott's "speed riffs" were one of the band's "most appealing parts," according to Bradley Torrance's review of the album. "Darrell has always been chunking those riffs right from the start," Brown said in a 1988 interview. But with Phil in the band, we have a chance to make those riffs happen, rather than having some gay artist over the top of them."

Pantera began a collaboration with Concrete Management's Walter O'Brien and Andy Gould. Gould called Brian Slagel of Metal Blade Records and asked him to sign Pantera as Concrete was Managing other bands under Metal Blade Records. Slagel, who turned down the bid, was too much for the $75,000 requested for a new album. The Metal Blade debacle was one of many early rejections for the band. After Atco's talent scout Mark Ross was impressed by one of the band's live performances, Pantera eventually signed a major-label contract with Atco Records.

On July 24, 1990, Cowboys from Hell was announced. Terry Date was the first choice for producer, but Lynch Mob's Wicked Sensation was chosen instead. Date – who was hired to produce Cowboys from Hell on account of his involvement with Soundgarden, Metal Church, and Overkill – was also responsible for Pantera's next three albums. The evolution of what would become Pantera's familiar sound was portrayed by cowboys from Hell, in which Abbott's guitar playing was crucial. The album, which was self-described as "power groove," became a "blueprint-defining" work for groove metal, a sub-genre of thrash metal with the heaviness and intensity of thrash metal, but played at a slower speed. The addition of Southern rock elements was mixed into the tune; Pantera's "groove" is often attributed to the Abbott brothers' obsession for ZZ Top. In 1993, the Cowboys from Hell was awarded gold and platinum in 1997.

Pantera was one of 200 shows in support of Cowboys from Hell as it toured for nearly two years. Abbott spent the majority of the 1990s touring, as a wild figure on tour and a heavy drinker. Pantera released its second major-label album in less than two months. Vulgar Display of Power, a 1992 unveiling of the groove metal sound, was announced on February 25, 1992. The band had hoped to produce a heavier album than Cowboys From Hell, but Anselmo had absolutely embraced a hardcore-inspired shouted vocal performance. Abbott created the majority of the riffs and song arrangements, and Brown later attempted to blend his guitar with Brown's bass to create what Brown later described as "one massive tone." At No. 1, the Vulgar Display of Power debuted at No. 1. The Billboard 200 was 44 on the chart for 79 weeks, and it stayed on the top for 79 weeks. In 2017, the newspaper was ranked No. 1 in the United States. Abbott's "serrated rhythms and squealing solos" are ranked ten on Rolling Stone's list of "The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time," with Abbott's "serrated rhythms and squealing solos highlighted.

Abbott had changed his appearance by the time of his Vulgar Display of Power's appearance to that he'll maintain for the remainder of his life. He wore a dyed goatee, a razorblade pendant (in honor of Judas Priest's British Steel), cargo shorts, and sleeveless shirts. Abbott chose "Dimebag Darrell" instead, after being concerned that "Diamond Darrell" no longer fit his image or sound. Anselmo's name was first used. It was in reference to Abbott's refusal to accept more than a penny bag (slang for $10 worth) at a time—as he didn't want to be found with the drug on hand.

Pantego Sound, the Abbott brothers' father Jerry's recording studio, had all of Pantera's albums before 1994. It was conveniently located a short distance from the Abbotts' house. Jerry closed Pantego Sound and opened Abtrax in Nashville, Tennessee, as he attempted to fulfill his desire to become a country songwriter after Vulgar Display of Power was announced. Far Beyond Driven, Pantera's third major-label album, was released at Abtrax. In a 1994 Guitar Player interview, Abbott said, "We were fuckin' flying [to Nashville] for three weeks at a time, writing songs and cutting them." Members spent the bulk of their downtime in each other's hotel rooms taking drugs rather than following their normal routines as they did when recording at Pantego Sound. They mixed the album at Dallas Sound Labs, which was nearer to their house. Far Beyond Driven first appeared on EastWest Records on March 15, 1994. In the first week, it sold 186,000 copies, making it the first week at No. 1 in the United States. It has since been dubbed the heaviest album to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, and it has since been described as the heaviest one to debut at No. 1. 1.

The band was supposed to take a more commercially-friendly route before the unveiling of its debut. Pantera, on the other hand, wanted something heavier than Vulgar Display of Power. In 1994, Abbott said, "We're over topping ourselves." Most bands come out with a heavy catalogue, but it gets smaller and lighter as the band gets older. You're stuck on the first album, wishing and wishing. We aren't talking about it, but it isn't what we're about."

Anselmo's constant back pain inspired Far Beyond Driven's lead single "I'm Broken." Anselmo began heavy drinking alcohol, painkillers, and eventually heroin to ease the pain during the tour of Far Beyond Driven. He would travel on his own tour bus and isolate himself from the other band members until twenty or thirty minutes before they were supposed to perform. In a 2014 interview, Anselmo said he would drink "complete bottle of Wild Turkey every night before a show to dull the pain," and he often interrupted the performances by ranting on stage. Darrell, Vinnie and Brown's recordings for Pantera's upcoming album, The Great Southern Trendkillkill, were held separately, while Anselmo recorded the vocals at Trent Reznor's Nothing Studio in New Orleans. Abbott played with new guitars during the recording; he said in 1996 that he wrote "Suicide Note Pt." "It's the first time he played a twelve-string guitar, which Washburn Guitars had sent to him. Abbott also saw riffs he'd composed in the pre-Anselmo period, and he'd previously recorded a 90-minute loop of it as a lullaby for his girlfriend.

The Great Southern Trendkillkill was released on May 7, 1996. It reached its high point of No. 58. Billboard 200, 4th on the chart, has been on the chart for 13 weeks. Pantera's most experimental album is included in this collection, and it includes some of the band's lowest-tuned songs. Following the band's appearance at the Dallas Starplex Amphitheatre, Anselmo overdosed on heroin on July 13, and was medically dead for "four to five minutes." He recovered quickly and appeared at the band's next show in San Antonio two days afterward, but the incident also left a lasting scarcity in the band. In 1995, Anselmo recorded NOLA, the debut album of one of his team's Downs in 1995, and he had sponsored the tour with a 13-show tour. The other Pantera members were initially unperturbed by Anselmo's side projects; Abbott explained at the time: "Phil's a pianist and he likes to stay busy."

The touring for The Great Southern Trendkill widened the band's internal split, and the recording sessions for their new album, Reinventing the Steel, were exhausting. "It was like pulling teeth to get [Anselmo] down to the studio," Vinnie said in an interview after the album's debut. He didn't like any of the stuff, and it was always like this head-butting tournament." Carolyn, the Abbotts' mother, was also diagnosed with lung cancer and died six weeks later on September 12, 1999, according to the recording. This had a major effect on the brothers, especially Darrell. On March 21, 2000, the Steel Reventing was announced. "We still play lead guitar, but bands hardly ever play lead guitar anymore," Abbott said of it. Dude, who was back in the seventies, if you couldn't play the guitar or sing, you were lost. Now music is so straightforward: all you've got to do is tune your guitar to an open chord and then jump around. Reinventing the Steel reached its high point in No. 1 with The Great Southern Trendkill, a classic. 4 on the Billboard 200.

Pantera was in Ireland on September 11, 2001, and they were about to begin a European tour. The tour was cancelled and the participants returned to Texas, where they promised to take a short hiatus due to the September 11 attacks. Down II: A Bustle in Your Hedgerow, which featured Brown on bass, was Down II: A Bustle in March 2002. Superjoint Ritual, another of Anselmo's bands', has released its debut album, Use Once and Destroy, two months later. After the tours supporting Down II and Use Once and Destroy were concluded, the Abbotts expected that Pantera would resurrect in 2003. Rather, Anselmo's second album with Superjoint Ritual, A Lethal Dose of American Hatred (2003). Darrell also received a phone call from Brown, who said he did not return to Pantera. The break between Pantera and the Great Southern Cowboys was marked by the introduction of The Best of Pantera: Far Beyond the Greatest Hits! on September 23, 2003.

Abbott was angered by Pantera's demise; he believed that everything he had worked for had been "ripped out from under [him]." The Abbott brothers decided to form a new band after the continuing Pantera without Anselmo has resulted in a long and expensive court contest over the company's ownership of the "Pantera" brand. In February 2003, they recorded demos at Darrell's backyard studio. Patrick Lachman of Halford joined as a vocalist and Bob Kakaha was recruited on bass, and the band's contract with Elektra Records was signed later in 2003. The band's name was originally New Found Power, but the band later decided on Damageplan. New Found Power took over as the name of the band's debut album, which was released on February 10, 2004. Pantera's big-label launches did not do well: it sold 44,000 copies in its first week to debut at No. 1: it was not near to the success of Pantera's commercial success: it did not reach No. 1: in its first week. The Billboard 200 was 38 on the Billboard 200, and by December, it had sold only 160,000 copies.

The majority of the 2004 disasterplan visited Devastation Across the Country. The band toured nightclubs around the country in an effort to resurrect a fan base. The members had intended to record a follow-up album. This did not transpire due to Abbott's murder at a show in Columbus, Ohio, on December 8, 2004.

While growing up as their parents were avid followers of the artist, the Abbott brothers listened to "Jack Daniels If You Please" as introductory music for Pantera shows. Darrell first met Coe in 1999 at one of his appearances at Billy Bob's Texas. Darrell waited in an autograph line to introduce himself and give Coe his phone number after the show. They developed a friendship and Coe began spending time at Darrell's house, where the Abbott brothers and Coe performed in Darrell's backyard studio. Brown was recruited to play bass, and the band sporadically recorded from 1999 to 2003. Rebel Meets Rebel, the resultant album, was released on Vinnie's Big Vin Records on May 2, 2006. Rebel Meets Rebel, according to Megan Frye of AllMusic, is "groundbreaking" in that it will please fans of both country and metal because the music is simultaneously both styles – it's never a fusion, they simply exist together."

Abbott and the other Pantera members performed together with Rob Halford on "Light Comes Out of Black," which was released on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer soundtrack in 1992. Abbott performed lead vocals and guitar under his own name on his album "Caged in a Rage." It appeared on the soundtrack to the 1996 film Supercop. Abbott sounded "oddly similar to Rob Zombie" on "Caged in a Rage," according to AllMusic's Adam Greenberg.

"Under Fire" and "Riding Shotgun" from Stomp 442 (1995), "Inside Out" and "Born Again Idiot" from Volume 8: The Threat Is Real (1998), and "We've Come for You" and "Cadillac Rock Box" from We've Come for You (2004). Due to Abbott's frequent appearances, Anthrax's Scott Ian referred to him as the "sixth member" of the band. Abbott also appeared on "Worth of the South" (2004) by Premenishen, a band that starred Abbott's cousins Heather Manly and April Adkisson on bass and guitar respectively. Vinnie was given permission by Darrell's widowhood to use outtakes of Darrell's solos from the Vulgar Display of Power and Far Beyond Driven album "Side of a Bullet," as a tribute to his tribute track "Side of a Bullet." On the soundtrack to Charlie's Angels: Complete Throttle, Darrell was a friend of Nickelback's Chad Kroeger and had performed a solo for Nickelback's "Saturday Night's Alright for Battle" on Nickelback's "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" on Nickelback.

Each New Year's Eve, Darrell and Vinnie appeared on Gasoline. Gasoline mainly performed covers of artists like Ted Nugent and Pat Travers, but also wrote "This Ain't a Beer Belly" and "This Ain't a Gas Tank for My Love Machine" and "Get Drunk Now." Gasoline was once a Drowning Pool support act. "Country Western Transvestite Whore," a song that Abbott produced with local Dallas musician Throbbin' Donnie Rodd, was released in 2006. Abbott appears on lead guitar and vocals throughout the film. "Dime's Blackout Society" (2010) and The Hitz (2017), a five-track EP, are among Abbott's posthumously released works.

Source