Dimebag Darrell

Dimebag Darrell
Abbott performing with Pantera in 1990
Born	Darrell Lance Abbott (1966-08-20)August 20, 1966 Grand Prairie, Texas, U.S.
Died	December 8, 2004(2004-12-08) (aged 38) Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
Cause of death	Murder (gunshot wounds)
Resting place	Moore Memorial Gardens, Arlington, Texas
Other names	Diamond Darrell (1981–1993)
Occupation	Musician
Years active	1981–2004
Partner	Rita Haney (1984–2004)
Relatives	Jerry Abbott (father) Vinnie Paul (brother)
Musical career
Genres	Groove metal heavy metal Southern metal thrash metal glam metal (early)
Instrument	Guitar
Discography	Full list
Formerly of	Pantera Damageplan Rebel Meets Rebel Gasoline
Musical artist
Website	dimebagdarrell.com

Darrell Lance Abbott (August 20, 1966 – December 8, 2004), best known by his stage name Dimebag Darrell, was an American musician. He was the guitarist of the heavy metal bands Pantera and Damageplan, 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.^[1]

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 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.