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 May 17th, 2007 marks the day that Dimebag Darrell Abbott will be inducted into the Guitar Center Hollywood Rockwalk. Guitar virtuoso Zakk Wylde (Black Label Society, Ozzy) will perform,"In This River" live for his fallen hero and rock brother. Zakk said, "This song will forever remain in the Black Label Society set list."
Dime was born in Dallas, Texas and was the son of county-western singer Jerry Abbott. Dime had many musical influences, including southern rock and country music which he displayed on the collaboration he did with David Allen Coe -"Rebel Meets Rebel." Dime's passionate, aggressive guitar style help put the popularity of guitar solos back in metal. Dime was on tour with his new band Damage Plan, when he was shot and killed onstage by a crazed fan Nathan Gale, at Al Rosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio on December 8th, 2004. He was 38 years old.
As family, friends, and music fans gather to Honor Dimebag Darrell Abbott and celebrate the life and times of one of the greatest guitarists in the Metal World, we will never forgot got how Dime touched the lives of everyone he met.
Although Dime was taken from this world way to early, his star will forever burn bright on Hollywood Boulevard. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Dime's family including Vinnie Paul, and Dime's widow Rita.
GlamMetal.com has put together a very special tribute from members of the Metal community to Honor guitar virtuoso Dimebag Darrell Abbott. We would like to thank everyone, who contributed to this very special Tribute. There response was overwhelming. Dime's legacy will forever live in our hearts, and his music will live on forever through his fans, family, and friends, whose lives he forever touched with his music and magic. One band Dime forever held special in his heart, is Black Label Society. One of Dime's dearest friends Zakk Wylde leads off this very special Dimebag Darrell Abbott Tribute.
Deb Rao- Boston Writer
In Honor Of Dimebag Darrell Abbott August 20th, 1966 - December 8th, 2004
Zakk Wylde (Black Label Society)
Zakk Wylde: "We brought the piano out on the "Shot To Hell Tour". Everybody just chants Dime for twenty minutes. We are doing,” In This River" for Dime. We dedicate this song evry night to Dime. "In This River", will forever stay in the Black Label Society set list. I wrote this song before Dime passed away. I laid him to rest. But ya know looking at these lyrics, this is his song. I never had a brother, but Dime was my brother. The piano songs break up the set. I love doing the unplugged set. Last time, I talked to Dime was when he was up in Boston playing with Damage Plan on the East Coast. He would ask,"How is the family" How are the bambinos?" I would go,"How is Rita"? They were making their way to Seattle and the West Coast. The last thing I ever got to say to Dime was, "I love you Beyond Forever". We were always trading guitars. Dime said, "Wait till you see what I got you. Wait till you see it. I ended up getting the guitar after Dime passed away. He never got the chance to go,” Dude did you dig your guitar"? We would always exchange guitars and stuff like that. Dime was awesome."
Dime had so mnay influences, what are your thoughts on Dime's performance of, "Rebel Meets Rebel" with David Allan Coe, and Vinnie Paul?
WYLDE: It came out awesome. I can remember Dime telling me about it, quite awhile before he passed away. Dime was like, "Zakk wait till you hear this thing." It came really cool." I knew who David Allan Coe was. Dime goes, "Zakk he is like the sweetest guy on the planet, he is super cool, we had so much fun making. it " I think it came out awesome. Everything Dime did came out awesome, so it doesn't matter ya know what I mean?
John JD Deservio (Black Label Society)
On May 17th Dimebag Darrell Abbott will be inducted into the the Hollywood Rockwalk. Would you like to share your thoughts about Dime's Induction.
DESERVIO: He definitely deserves to be there. He was a huge innovator and influenced millions.
As a musician how were you influenced by Dimebag Darrell Abbott?
DESERVIO: His aggressiveness in his song writing and his rhythms were always grooving.
How has the death of Dimebag Darrell Abbott impacted you as a musician?
DESERVIO: I feel it more as a person than anything, he was a beautiful guy and always had a good time. Thats all we can do.as a musician, it made bands and clubs have way more security.
I recently saw you perform in New York. I really enjoyed the special tribute that Black Label Society pays to Dime every night with ,"In This River". The moment is so moving, and to see the fans come together every night and light their cigarette lighters, and to hear BLS perform this song was phenomenal. What special meaning does,"In This River" hold in your heart" Zakk mentioned that this song will forever remain in the BLS setlist.
DESERVIO: Orignally, the song was written before Dime's death. Then it became Black labels tribute to him.The feeling in the building when we play the tune is always special.
Actually you had the opportunity to sing, "In This River" at the special Black Tooth Bash at NAMM. How special was that moment for you?
DESERVIO: I was nervous as hell! I wanted to make sure I did it the justice it deserves.
Zakk Wylde will be performing at Dime's Induction. Will you also be attending?
DESERVIO: Unfortunately, i'll be in Jersey getting ready for the upcoming tour.
As we remember Dimebag Darrell Abbott on this very special induction day on May 17th, what special memory of your friendship with Dime will you forever treasure?
DESERVIO: I'll just remember how happy he always was.
What was it like seeing Dimebag's widow Rita at the Black Tooth bash? She is such a great inspiration to everyone.
DESERVIO: Rita's a sweetheart, it was a tough time for everybody involved, especially Vinnie Paul.
Bassist Rachel Bolan (Skid Row)
Rachel, How wer you influenced by Dimebag Darrell Abbott?
I was influenced by Dime the person. First of all the way he is with fans, is like no other person. Dime would get out of bed with 104 fever to go take a picture with one of his fans, that should be the perimeter that we all treat our fans. I have never seen anyone treat their fans better than Dime. As far as music, the guy was just a genious, with what he did with the guitar. Any musician that doesn't realize that is just not listening. He was without a doubt one of the most creative people that I have ever met in my life. Whether it was on his guitar, or song writing, or him with his stupid ass video camera that would be in your face. You couldn't even take a piss, without him shooting. (Laughter) Then he would ask you the questions. But that was what made Dime so special. He was one of those guys that would do anything for you. iit s such a great loss to music to not have Dime around anymore. I am sure he was just scratching the surface with his talent. Just not to see where it would go fromthe point he got killed is horrible. It was a great loss, but we have his memory and music to listen to. That has to be enough. He was just a really, really special person.
Rachel, Do you have any special tour stories that you would like to share with us about Dime?
BOLAN: Pantera toured with us for a while with,"Slaves to The Grind". It was our first major tour, which was awesome. They were there for most of the tour. Then we brought Soundgarden for three weeks. He would watch us everynight,and we would watch him everynight. After that we stayed in touch a little bit, and went to see him play in Dallas. He was just such a great dude.
Erik Turner (Warrant )
On May 17th Dimebag Darrell Abbott will be inducted into the Hollywood Rockwalk. Would you like to share your thoughts on Dime's legacy in metal with Glammetal.com?
ERIK TURNER:We 'WARRANT' played the Monsters of Rock Italy with Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Testament and Pantera to name a few. We obviously felt a little out of place, but Darrell came by our dressing room & borrowed some Jack Daniels and asked if he could join us on stage when we played Down Boys, he said he liked the song? That was very fucking cool and I will never forget that. I know Jani and Darrell partied a few times over the years after that.
As a guitar player how were you influenced by Dimebag Darrell Abbott?
ERIK TURNER: Darrell was a shredder, I play rhythm guitar for the most part in my band. I imagine Dimebag and I grew up listening to the same bands & guitar players though. 70's Rock, 80's British & American Metal. The biggest influence I would say from meeting Dimebag is just be a cool bro and to be completely saturated in the music you are playing and writing 100% of the time.
How has the death of Dimebag Darrell Abbott impacted you as a musician?
ERIK TURNER: Well it’s a shocking, scary and completely fucked up world sometimes. I still can't believe he's not here. It is great to see Dimebag in all the guitar player magazines and every time I walk into a musical instrument store you see Dimes guitars and images everywhere. Dimebag will live in the minds and hearts of his family and fans forever.
Don Dokken (Dokken)
DOKKEN: Of course I was shocked, when I heard Dime had been killed. I remember getting the phone call, when I was on tour, and I turned on CNN. I played the same place.. It doesn't matter how much security you have, you can be as careful as you want. As we found out on 911. It happens. When there are millions and millions of people out here listening to music, the odds are out of one million people there are thousands of them who are disturbed. Unfortunately, one of these people killed Darrell, and then he killed himself, so we will never know, what was going on in his head.
Now Dokken placed Al Rosa Villa a few times. It was one of the last clubs in the East that catered to 80's music.
DOKKEN: Yes. It is pretty sad when you are just trying to make music and people happy. One person has to ruin it for thousands of people that enjoyed him. It is like the guy who killed John Lennon. The world is not made up of nice people.
Frankie Banali (Quiet Riot)
"There are two specific memories that will forever be indelibly etched in my mind and heart about Dime. The first is when we did a jam for a Randy Rhodes Tribute concert in LA years ago. Dime walks in to the rehearsal studio all full of life and energy, slaps on his guitar and then begins to shred Randy Rhodes solos like he had written them, full of fire and technique and completely lacking in ego. Dime was a star and he shone that evening.
The second was that each time QUIET RIOT played anywhere near their hometown, if both Dime and Vinnie were in town they would make a point and come down to say hello and invite us to have some fun in only ways they could! It always impressed me how down to earth and personable Dime was Vinnie still is.
Dime was a star in life and is now a most precious star in heaven. God bless him and may his family find comfort in their memories."
Jon Levin (Dokken)
On May 17th Dimebag Darrell Abbott will be inducted into the Hollywood Rockwalk. Would you like to share your thoughts on Dime's legacy in metal?
LEVIN: Dime made an incredible mark on metal with his amazing feel, unique style and his awesome guitar tone.
As a guitar player, how were you influenced by Dime?
LEVIN: Dime’s killer guitar sound, awesome stage presence and fluidity on his instrument hit home with me. No question, Dime was one of the greats. He is profoundly missed by all.
Alex Grossi (Quiet Riot)
On May 17th Dimebag Darrell Abbott will be inducted into the the Hollywood Rockwalk. Would you like to share your thoughts on Dime's legacy in metal with us?
GROSSI: I am a huge Pantera fan, I got to meet Dime at NAMM in 2002 and he was by far one of the coolest dudes I have ever met. Just watching his interaction w/ all the kids that were waiting in line to get shit signed was very inspiring You could tell he really liked doing what he did and was 100% genuine about it.
As a guitar player how were you influenced by Dimebag Darrell Abbott?
GROSSI: I remember trying to learn "The Sleep" (which is one of my favorite guitar solos ever) and just being blown away by how great he was at such a young age, he definitely made me practice more!
Troy Patrick Farrell (White Lion)
On May 17th, Dimebag Darrell Abbott will be inducted in the Hollywood Rockwalk. What are your thoughts on Dime's induction, and how will his legacy live on in metal?
Troy Patrick Farrell: I think its great! He sort of approached the guitar with a drummers mentality in my opinion..a very cool honor for him and his fans. Can't wait to see it!
Scott Griffin LA Guns)
On May 17th Dimebag Darrell Abbott will be inducted in the Hollywood Rockwalk. Would you lik to share your thoughts on Dime's legacy in metal.
GRIFFIN: Well, let me start off by not bullshitting and state that I wasn't a big fan of Pantera or Damage Plan or that whole genre of metal. Nothing against Dime or that style, they're just one of those bands that escaped my radar through the cracks. But since his passing I've been introduced to more of his music than before and now see that he was the shit and why people dig him so much. I always knew he must've good because he was always hanging out with Zakk and Zakk wouldn't hang out with a wanker.
How were you influenced as a guitar player by Dime?
GRIFFIN: Probably the biggest influence he's had on me had nothing to do with music per se. But an article that was in a guitar mag where all the top guitarists were giving their advice for keeping up their guitar skills on the road. While everyone talked of playing certain guitar scales or using some product to keep their guitar looking clean, Dime's advice was to always stock up on Pedialite (the babys drink, kind of like Gatorade but for babys) because it was the best thing to drink after a long night of partying since it was full of electrolytes that you need. Now THATS advice that I have taken and actually use! Alex Grossi of Quiet Riot is the guy who told me of this interview and me and him actually came up with a drink made of Pedialite and Vodka in Florida. I'm sure that wasn't Dime's intention in that article but something tells me that he would dig that. RIP Darrell
John 5 (Rob Zombie) "I did know Dime. I knew Dime really well. We were suppose to do a photo shoot together. We were suppose to do a cover together for Total Guitar magazine. We were going to be on the cover and take the picture together. We never got that chance. He was such a great influence on me and such a great guy. It was just such a shame that it happened."
Steve Riley (La Guns) "We were friends with Dime. It is still such a sad story. We were so happy that he got inducted into the Hard Rock Walk of Fame in Texas. He really deserves it. We knew him, but we never really played with Pantera. I know Vinnie and Dime well. he have gone to see them, they have come to see us perform, when we were in Texas. A couple of times, when we played The Whiskey, they have come over. It is a nice friendship. They were such a great band. Everytime we would run into Dime and Vinnie, they were just the best people to be around. We miss Dime bigtime."
Dario Lorina (Jani Lane Band) Dime was a huge influence on my playing! Mainly for the raw power, aggressiveness, and most of all, attitude! May he rest in peace!
Rudy Sarzo (DIO)
SARZO: Dime kindly participated in one of the Randy Rhoads Tributes in the 90's, at The Palace. He was always kind with the fans and an incredible player. In my opinion his guitar playing was deeply rooted the 80's and was able to forge that style of playing into his own and one of the guitar legends of the 90s
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