Darrell Lance Abbott
(August 20, 1966 – December 8, 2004),
known professionally as
Dimebag Darrell,
was an
American musician.
He was the guitarist
of the
heavy metal bands
Pantera
and
both of which he
co-founded
alongside his brother
Vinnie Paul.
He is considered
by many
to be one of the
greatest metal
guitarists of all time.
A son of country
music producer
Jerry Abbott,
Abbott began
playing guitar at age 12,
and Pantera
released its debut album,
Metal Magic
(1983),
when he was 16.
Originally a
glam metal musician,
Abbott went by the stage name
Diamond Darrell
at the time.
Two further albums
in the glam
metal style
followed with
Projects in the Jungle
(1984)
and
I Am the Night
(1985),
before original vocalist
Terry Glaze
was replaced by
Phil Anselmo
in 1986
and
Power Metal
(1988)
was released.
The band's
major-label debut,
Cowboys from Hell
(1990),
introduced a
groove metal sound
to which Abbott's
guitar playing
was central.
This sound was refined
on
Vulgar Display of Power
(1992),
and the group's
third major-label record,
Far Beyond Driven,
debuted at No. 1
on the
Billboard 200
in 1994.
Tensions within Pantera
reduced its output
after the release of
The Great Southern Trendkill
in 1996,
and
Reinventing the Steel
(2000)
was the band's
final studio album
before its
acrimonious separation
in 2003.
Abbott subsequently
formed
Damageplan
with his brother
Vinnie Paul
and released
New Found Power,
the band's
only album,
in 2004.
Other works
by Abbott
included a
collaboration with
David Allan Coe
titled
Rebel Meets Rebel
(2006)
and numerous
guest guitar solos
for bands such as
Anthrax.
While on tour with
Damageplan,
Abbott was shot and killed
by a deranged fan
during a performance
at the Alrosa Villa nightclub
in Columbus, Ohio
on
December 8, 2004.
Three others were
shot and killed
before the
perpetrator
was killed
by a police officer.
Abbott was ranked at No. 92
on
Rolling Stone's list of
"The 100 Greatest Guitarists
of All Time"
in 2011,
and No. 19
on Louder's list of
"The 50 Greatest Guitarists
of All Time"
in 2018.
He placed at No. 5
on Gibson's list of
"The Top 10 Metal Guitarists
of All Time"
in 2015,
and the same year
was ranked as the
most influential
metal guitarist
of the
past 25 years
by VH1.
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