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Darryl Hell (born Darryl Montgomery, also known as DJ Hell) is a musician and multimedia artist who has been involved with multiple groups, including but not limited to Public Disturbance, Sektor 6 Kommunikatons, Abstinence, Emergency Broadcast Network, and Operation Mindwipe. One of his first singles was "My Definition of House Music".^[1]

Discography[link]

with Public Disturbance[link]

• Public Disturbance LP (1983, Mutha Records 003)
• S&M 7" EP (1983, Mutha Records 011)

with Abstinence[link]

• Level 7 appears on the soundtrack to Backyard Glances Alva Skateboards (1987)
• Frigid 12" EP Furnace Records/Silent Records (1994)
• Revolt of the Cyberchrist Furnace Records/Silent Records (1994)
• Theorem Furnace Records/Silent Records (1995)
• The Path of Maximum Resistance s6k media (2005)
• Hellscape compilation (1995, Furnace Records/Silent Records)
  • featured "Interference" & "Screaming Into the Void VSmix: (Virtually Silent Mix)"
• New Industries compilation Dynamica Records, Germany (1995)
  • featured "Frigid Changes"
• Hellscape 2 compilation Furnace Records/Silent Records (1995)
  • featured "Fractured/Assassinate the Beat"
• Operation Beatbox compilation Reconstriction Records/Cargo Records^{[disambiguation needed ]} (1996)
  • featured "Two Three Break"
• Ikebana: Merzbow's Amlux Rebuilt, Reused and Recycled remix compilation Important Records (2003)
  • featured "Freq"
• Path of Maximum Resistance s6k Media (2004)

References[link]

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Melba Moore
Background information
Birth name	Beatrice Melba Smith[1]
Born	(1945-10-29) October 29, 1945 (age 66) New York City, New York, United States
Genres	Pop, R&B, disco, soul, dance-pop, post-disco
Occupations	Singer, songwriter, actress
Instruments	Vocals, Piano
Years active	1970–present
Labels	Mercury Records, Buddah Records, Epic Records, Capitol Records
Associated acts	Freddie Jackson, Van McCoy, Meli'sa Morgan, Kashif
Website	http://www.melbamoore.com

Beatrice Melba Smith^[1] (born October 29, 1945), known by her stage name, Melba Moore is an American disco, R&B singer and actress. She is the daughter of saxophonist Teddy Hill and R&B singer Bonnie Davis.

Early life[link]

Melba Moore was born in 1945 in New York City, New York to parents Teddy Hill and Gertrude Melba Smith, later known as Bonnie Davis. She initially was raised in Harlem, New York until the age of nine when her mother remarried a jazz pianist named Clement Mooreman. Moore attended Newark Arts High School in Newark, New Jersey.^[2] Her mother, Bonnie Davis had a No. 1 R&B hit with "Don't Stop Now", prior to Melba's birth. Although her biological father was Big Band leader and saxophonist Teddy Hill, it was her stepfather Mooreman (who played on "Don't Stop Now") who became a prime influence and encouragement in Moore's musical pursuits and talent, insisting she learn to play the piano. Initially, Moore graduated from college and worked as a music teacher, but soon opted to switch careers. Moore chose her stage name by shortening her stepfather's surname from Moorman to Moore and using her middle name, "Melba".^{[citation needed]}

Early career[link]

Moore began her performing career in 1967 as Dionne in the original cast of the musical Hair along with Ronnie Dyson and Diane Keaton. Moore replaced Keaton in the role of Sheila. In 1970, Moore won a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical for her role in Purlie (she portrayed Lutiebelle). She would not return to Broadway afterwards until 1978 when she appeared (as Marsinah) with Eartha Kitt in Timbuktu!, but left the show after a few weeks and was replaced by Vanessa Shaw. Following the success of Purlie, Moore landed two big screen film roles, released two successful albums including 1970's I Got Love and Look What You're Doing to the Man and co-starred with actor Clifton Davis in the then-couple's own successful variety television series in 1972. Both Moore and Davis revealed that the show was canceled after its brief run when their relationship came to an end. Moore's career faced problems after Moore's managers and accountants left her in 1973. Moore returned to Newark and began singing for benefits. Her career picked up after meeting record manager and business promoter Charles Huggins following a performance at the Apollo Theater in 1974. Marrying in 1975, Moore and Huggins formed Huesh Productions, signing notable R&B artists such as Freddie Jackson and Meli'sa Morgan.

Music career[link]

In 1975, Moore signed with Buddah Records and released the critically successful R&B album, Peach Melba, which included the minor hit, "I Am His Lady". The following year, in 1976, Moore scored her first significant hit with the Van McCoy-penned "This Is It", which reached the Billboard Hot 100, the top twenty position on the R&B chart and also reached the top ten in the UK, becoming her biggest success in that country.yay! In 1976, she scored her third Grammy nomination with the R&B ballad, "Lean on Me", which had been recorded originally by Vivian Reed and later by Moore's idol Aretha Franklin who recorded the song as a b-side to her 1971 hit, "Spanish Harlem". The song is most notable for Moore's extended long note at the end of the track. In 1983, she re-recorded the song as a tribute to McCoy, who died four years earlier of illness. Throughout the rest of the 1970s, Moore struggled to match the success of This Is It with minor R&B/dance hits, gaining another hit with 1979's "You Stepped Into My Life", which was released on Epic Records and hit the top 20 on the R&B charts and also became one of her biggest pop hits.

It wouldn't be until 1982 when Moore started to gain huge success as a singer signing with Capitol Records and reaching the top 5 on the R&B charts with the dance pop/funk single, "Love's Comin' At Ya", which also hit the top 20 in the UK and became a sizable hit in some European countries for its post-disco sound. A string of R&B hits would follow during this decade including 1983's "Keepin' My Lover Satisfied" and "Love Me Right", 1984's "Livin' For Your Love", 1985's "Read My Lips", which later won Moore a fourth Grammy nomination for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance, making her just the third black artist after Donna Summer and Michael Jackson to be nominated in the rock category, and 1985's "When You Love Me Like This". In 1986, she scored two number-one R&B hits, including the duet, "A Little Bit More", with Freddie Jackson and "Falling". She scored other popular R&B hits including "Love the One I'm With (A Lot of Love)" and "It's Been So Long". In 1986, Moore also headlined the CBS television sitcom, Melba (TV show) that debuted the same night as the Challenger explosion and was abruptly canceled shortly thereafter. Her success began to wane as the decade closed, although she managed two further Top 10 R&B hits, "Do You Really (Want My Love)" and "Lift Every Voice and Sing" (which featured such artists as Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Jeffrey Osborne, Anita Baker and Stephanie Mills).

In the mid-1990s Melba Moore traveled with Gospel Play called "Mama I'm Sorry" aside Gospel's sisterly duo of Erica and Tina Atkins that was written and Produced by Michael Matthews.

Current work[link]

Moore returned to Broadway in 1995 landing a part in Les Misérables. A year later, she started her long-running one-woman show, Sweet Songs of the Soul, later renamed I'm Still Standing.

In 2003, Moore was featured in the film, The Fighting Temptations, which starred Cuba Gooding, Jr. and Beyoncé Knowles. In 2007, she landed a role in the Broadway revival of Ain't Misbehavin'.

In 2009 independent label Breaking Records released the EP Book of Dreams, in which Moore was featured. That same year Moore told her life story on TV-One's Unsung and later that year released her first R&B album in nearly 20 years, a duet release with Phil Perry called The Gift of Love.

Moore is currently working on a new album which is scheduled to be released in 2011. The album is being produced by Rahni Song and Dominic McFadden, son of the late Gene McFadden of McFadden & Whitehead. Her song called "Love Is" debuted on the R&B charts in 2011 at #87.

Moore is a born-again Christian.

Awards[link]

In addition to her Tony Award, Moore music career brought additional accolades. She was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1971 for 'Best New Artist'. Her 1975 second album, Peach Melba, saw her get a Grammy nomination. In 1976, she earned another Grammy nomination for Best Rhythm & Blues Vocal Performance - Female for the song "Lean on Me",.^[3] Moore was also nominated for Best Female Rock Vocal in 1986 for "Read My Lips".

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

Singles[link]

• ^1 "Let's Stand Together" and "Take My Love" charted together on the U.S. Billboard Dance chart, but charted separately elsewhere.

See also[link]

• List of disco artists (L-R)
• List of post-disco artists
• List of female movie actors by name: M
• Guests on Soul Train
• List of performers on Top of the Pops
• List of Broadway musicals stars
• List of artists who reached number one on the Billboard R&B chart

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Als, Hilton (8 February 2010). "Critic's Notebook: Let the Sunshine In". The New Yorker 85 (48): 13. http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/notebook/2010/02/08/100208gonb_GOAT_notebook_als. Retrieved 28 September 2011. 

External links[link]

• Melba Moore official website
• Melba Moore's Official Myspace page
• Melba Moore at the Internet Broadway Database
• Melba Moore at the Internet Movie Database
• SoulTracks.com profile of Melba Moore
• Melba Moore @ soulandfunkmusic.com

DJ Hell

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This article is about Helmut Josef Geier. You may also be looking for Darryl Hell.

Helmut Josef Geier, professionally known as DJ Hell (born September 6, 1962 in Altenmarkt an der Alz) is a German house-techno DJ. He is the label boss of International DeeJay Gigolo Records and has been responsible for many of the big records to come out of the electroclash that emerged in Berlin in the mid-nineties. He is seen as the musical initiator of the 80's revival movement later known as electroclash popularizing the music from his hometown Munich from the mid to late 90's.

In 2006, DJ Hell was involved in a German Intel promotional campaign involving five renowned demogroups (Andromeda Software Development, Conspiracy, Fairlight, Farbrausch and mfx), who were set out to create 30-second demos using remixed versions of a DJ Hell track.^[1]

DJ Hell's hit single "Keep On Waiting" released as a 12" as Gigolo 122 reference with a remix by Tomas Andersson and a cover designed by French graphic artist Laurent Fetis "Keep On Waiting" was produced using samples as a basic track from a song titled "Blurb" by a New York based group known as Intense Molecular Activity. IMAs 4 track EP was released in 1980 on an independent label.

From 2007 to 2010 DJ Hell performed at the legendary aftershow parties of Michael Michalsky's cultural event StyleNite during Berlin Fashion Week.

In September 2009, DJ Hell was at the centre of controversy when Felix da Housecat announced that DJ Hell's track "The DJ Ft. P Diddy", from the album Teufelswerk, used content taken without the permission of Felix da Housecat or P Diddy.^[2]

DJ Hell at a FEMEN rally.

DJ Hell financially supports Ukrainian protest group FEMEN.^[3]

Discography[link]

DJ Hell live at Autioriver Festival, Płock, August 8, 2009.

• Geteert & Gefedert (Disko B)
• Mixes Of Gary Numan Vol. 2 (Random Records)
• Repassion (International Deejay Gigolo Records)
• My Definition Of House Music (R&S)
• Red Bull From Hell EP (Disko B)
• Sprung Aus Den Wolken / Butter Säure (Kickin Records)
• Three Degrees Kelvin / Like That! (Magnetic North)
• Ultraworld EP Vol. 1 (Disko B)
• Allerseelen (Disko B)
• Albino EP (Disko B)
• Original Street Techno (Disko B)
• Totmacher (Disko B)
• Totmacher Interpretationen (Disko B)
• Munich Machine (V2 Records, Inc.)
• Suicide Commando (V2 Records, Inc.)
• Copa (Disko B)
• Rock My Body To The Beat (International Deejay Gigolo Records)
• Keep On Waiting (International Deejay Gigolo Records)
• N.Y. Muscle (2003, Motor Music)
• Listen To The Hiss feat. Alan Vega (International Deejay Gigolo Records)
• Je regrette Everything feat. Billy Ray Martin International Deejay Gigolo Records)
• Best of Hell (International Deejay Gigolo Records)
• Fun Boy (International Deejay Gigolo Records)
• Teufelswerk (2009, International Deejay Gigolo Records)
• Teufelswerk House Remixes Part I (2011, Embassy of Music)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official site
• Full discography at Discogs.com

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Dimebag Darrell
Background information
Birth name	Darrell Lance Abbott
Also known as	Diamond Darrell[1]
Born	(1966-08-20)August 20, 1966 Ennis, Texas, U.S.
Died	December 8, 2004(2004-12-08) (aged 38) Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
Genres	Heavy metal, groove metal, thrash metal, southern metal, glam metal
Occupations	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Guitar, vocals, bass guitar, drums
Years active	1981–2004
Labels	Atco, Big Vin, Elektra
Associated acts	Pantera, Damageplan, Gasoline, Anthrax, Rebel Meets Rebel
Notable instruments
Signature "Dimebag" models issued by Dean and Washburn.

Darrell Lance Abbott (August 20, 1966 – December 8, 2004), also known as Diamond Darrell and Dimebag Darrell, was an American guitarist. He was best known as a founding member of the heavy metal bands Pantera and Damageplan. Abbott also contributed to the album Rebel Meets Rebel, a collaboration between Pantera and David Allan Coe. Darrell is considered to be one of the driving forces behind groove metal. Abbott was shot and killed while on stage during a Damageplan performance on December 8, 2004, at the Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio. He ranked 92 in Rolling Stone Magazine's 100 Greatest Guitarists.^[2]

Biography[link]

Early years[link]

Darrell Abbott was born to Carolyn and Jerry Abbott, a country musician and producer.^[3] He took up guitar when he was 12, and his first guitar was a Hondo Les Paul he got with a small amp. Winning a series of local guitar competitions, most notably held at The Agora Ballroom in Dallas, where he was awarded a Dean ML which he sold to Buddy Blaze who put a Floyd Rose bridge on it and gave it Dimebag's signature lighting bolt paint job and then gave it back to him years later.^{[citation needed]} Coincidentally, his father had bought him a cherryburst finish Dean ML standard the morning before the competition.^{[citation needed]}

Pantera[link]

Abbott formed Pantera in 1981 with his brother Vinnie Paul on drums. The band played with acts such as Slayer, Megadeth, Venom, and Metallica, as well as traditional metal bands such as Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Motörhead, and Judas Priest. Pantera subsequently became a key formulator of the post-thrash subgenre of "groove" metal. It would not be until nine years after forming that Pantera saw its first piece of commercial success in its 1990 major label debut, Cowboys from Hell. Pantera's "groove" style came to fruition in its breakthrough album Vulgar Display of Power, released on February 25, 1992, which saw the replacement of the power metal falsetto vocals with a hardcore-influenced shouted delivery and heavier guitar sound. In 1994, Abbott dropped the nickname "Diamond Darrell" and assumed the nickname "Dimebag Darrell." Pantera began to suffer from mounting tensions between band members in the mid-1990s, largely due to vocalist Phil Anselmo's rampant drug abuse. In 2003 the group went on an extended hiatus but never formally broke up.^[4] Anselmo left the band for other projects, such as Superjoint Ritual and Down.

Damageplan[link]

After a year, brothers Vinnie and "Dimebag" formed Damageplan, a heavy metal band which also used the Pantera-style groove metal sound. The Abbott brothers recruited former Halford guitarist Pat Lachman on vocals, and Bob Zilla on bass. Damageplan released its debut album New Found Power in the United States on February 10, 2004, which debuted at number 38 on the Billboard 200, selling 44,676 copies in its first week. When writing music for the new group, "Dimebag" said that "we wanted to stretch out and expand our capabilities to their fullest."^[5]

Other projects[link]

Shortly before singer Phil Anselmo joined Pantera, Abbott was invited by Dave Mustaine to join thrash band Megadeth. Abbott was willing to join, but on the condition that Mustaine also hired his brother Vinnie on drums. As Mustaine had already hired drummer Nick Menza, Abbott stayed with Pantera.

In 1992, Pantera teamed up with Rob Halford (of Judas Priest) for a track called "Light Comes Out of Black". Abbott played all the guitar parts, Rex Brown played bass, Vinnie Paul played drums, Rob Halford sang lead vocals, and Philip Anselmo sang backing vocals. This song was released on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer soundtrack on July 28, 1992. In 1996, Abbott contributed the Ace Frehley song "Fractured Mirror" to the Ace tribute album Spacewalk: A Salute To Ace Frehley. Then in 1997 a new Ace Frehley tribute album called Return Of The Comet: A Tribute to Ace Frehley was released. The two Abbott brothers covered Ace's song "Snowblind" on track 7. On and off between 1996 and the formation of Damageplan, the Abbott brothers and Pantera bassist Rex Brown teamed up with country singer David Allan Coe for a project called Rebel Meets Rebel. The album was released May 2, 2006 on Vinnie's Big Vin Records label.

Abbott played guest guitar solos on several Anthrax songs during their John Bush era: "King Size" & "Riding Shotgun" from Stomp 442, "Inside Out" & "Born Again Idiot" from Volume 8: The Threat Is Real, "Strap It On" and "Cadillac Rock Box" (with a voice intro from Dimebag as well) from We've Come for You All. In an interview, Anthrax bassist Frank Bello said "Darrell was basically the sixth member of Anthrax". Abbott also performed a solo on the titular track of King Diamond's Voodoo album. A sample from a guitar solo by Abbott was used in the Nickelback song "Side of a Bullet", and he also played guitar on Nickelback's cover of Elton John's Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting along with Kid Rock.

In 1999, Pantera recorded a theme tune for their favourite ice hockey team, The Dallas Stars, called 'Puck-Off'. The song was eventually released in 2003 on the album 'Dallas Stars: Greatest Hits'. In 2000, Abbott played the guitar solo on Believer for the new Randy Rhoads tribute album. Vocals were by Sebastian Bach, rhythm guitars by Kane Roberts, drums by Michael Cartellone, and bass by Mike Bringardello. This was the only track that Abbott contributed to on this album.

Shortly before Abbott's death, he went into the studio with a band named Premenishen to do a guest solo on a track titled "Eyes of the South."^[6] He was also confirmed as one of the original guitar player choices for Liquid Tension Experiment by Mike Portnoy.^[7] Abbott's musical roots were in country western music; he supported the local music scene in Dallas and sometimes recorded with local musicians. He played in a country band called Rebel Meets Rebel with country performer David Allan Coe.

In December 2006, a rare track of one of his collaborations was discovered. Abbott had sat in on a recording session with local Dallas musician "Throbbin Donnie" Rodd and recorded "Country Western Transvestite Whore". It features Dimebag on lead guitar and lead vocals.^[8] Abbott and his brother Vinnie Paul along with Rex (during the Pantera Era) and Bob Zilla (Damageplan Era) performed at their New Years party every year under the name "Gasoline", originally the name of a group featuring Dimebag and Vinnie plus Thurber T. Mingus of Pumpjack. Stroker of Pumpjack also played with Gasoline on several occasions. Dimebag, Vinnie and Rex also recorded a cover of the ZZ Top song "Heard It on the X" under the band name "Tres Diablos" for ECW wrestling's Extreme Music soundtrack. In 2012, a previously unreleased track, "Twisted", featuring Dimebag on lead vocals and guitar, was used in a promotional video for Elephant Brand Skateboards' "Dimebag Tribute Skateboard.^[9] "Twisted" was also released as an MP3 download.^[10]

Death[link]

On December 8, 2004, Abbott was shot dead onstage while performing with Damageplan at the Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio. The gunman, Nathan Gale,^[11][12] shot Abbott three times in the head using a 9mm Beretta handgun;^[13] the third shot killed him instantly. Gale continued shooting, killing three others and wounding a further seven. Gale fired a total of fifteen shots, stopping to reload once and remaining silent throughout the shooting.

Jeff "Mayhem" Thompson, the band's head of security, was killed tackling Gale, as was Alrosa Villa employee Erin Halk. Audience member Nathan Bray was killed while trying to perform CPR on Abbott and Thompson. It was rumored that one crowd member leapt in front of the gunman, saving the lives of several band members.^[14] Damageplan drum technician, John "Kat" Brooks, was shot three times as he attempted to get the gun away from Gale, but was overpowered and taken hostage in a headlock position. Tour manager Chris Paluska was also injured.

Seven police officers came in the front entrance, led by Officer Rick Crum, and moved toward the stage. Officer James D. Niggemeyer came in through the back door, behind the stage. Gale only saw the officers in front of the stage; he didn't see Officer Niggemeyer, who was armed with a 12 gauge Remington 870 shotgun. He approached Gale from the opposite side of the stage to avoid hitting the hostage and fired a single shot just as Gale looked towards Niggemeyer, striking Gale in the face with eight of the nine buckshot pellets, and killing him instantly. Gale was found to have had 35 rounds of ammunition remaining. After Gale was shot, some fans jumped on stage and began spitting on and kicking Gale.

Nurse and audience member Mindy Reece, 28, went to the aid of Abbott, and she and another fan administered CPR until paramedics arrived, but were unable to revive him.

In May 2005, Officer Niggemeyer testified before the Franklin County grand jury, which is routine procedure in Franklin County after a police shooting. The grand jury did not indict Niggemeyer, finding that his actions were justified. Niggemeyer received a commendation from the Ohio Peace Officer Training Commission for his outstanding police work in a time of crisis as well as the National Rifle Association award as 2005 Law Enforcement Officer of the Year. The five other officers that were first on the scene received Ohio distinguished law enforcement medals for their efforts. In 2006 James Niggemeyer penned the foreword to a book written about the event.

Early theories of motive suggested that Gale might have turned to violence in response to the breakup of Pantera, or the public dispute between Abbott and Pantera singer Phil Anselmo, but these were later ruled out by investigators.^[15] Another theory was that Gale believed Abbott had stolen a song that he had written.^[16] In the book, A Vulgar Display Of Power, several of Gale's personal writings, given to the author by his mother, suggest that the gunman was not angry about Pantera's breakup or a belief that Pantera had "stolen songs"; instead, the documents suggest that Gale's paranoid schizophrenia caused delusions that the band could read his mind, and that they were "stealing" his thoughts and laughing at him.

Abbott's grave is located at the Moore Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Arlington, Texas. He is buried alongside his mother. He was buried with Eddie Van Halen's black and yellow-striped Charvel electric guitar (sometimes referred to as "Bumblebee"), which was pictured with Van Halen on the inner sleeve and back cover of the album Van Halen II.^[17] Dimebag had asked for one of these guitars in 2004, shortly before he was shot. Eddie Van Halen originally agreed to make Darrell a copy of the guitar, but upon hearing of Abbott's death, offered to place the actual guitar in his casket. Dimebag was buried in a KISS Kasket. Inspired by the rock 'n' roll group KISS, he requested in his will that he be buried in one of the famous coffins. Kiss co-founder Gene Simmons said, "There were a limited number made and I sent mine to the family of 'Dimebag' Darrell. He requested in his will to be buried in a Kiss Kasket, as he sort of learned his rock 'n' roll roots by listening to us for some strange reason."

Influences and guitar skills[link]

Abbott once said in a Guitar World interview that if there were no Ace Frehley, there would have been no "Dimebag" Darrell - he even had a tattoo of the "KISS" guitarist on his chest.^[18] Frehley signed the tattoo in pen ink upon meeting him, at Dimebag's request, and the autograph was later tattooed over.

In the late 1980s, around the time of Power Metal, Abbott often covered songs by guitarist Joe Satriani, such as "Crushing Day". He also incorporated elements of Satriani songs like "Echo" into his live solos as well. Abbott stated in various interviews, that his riffs were largely influenced by Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath. Iommi influenced Dimebag's tunings, which often went down to C# or lower. Pantera covered Black Sabbath songs "Planet Caravan", "Hole In the Sky" and "Electric Funeral."

Abbott cited thrash giants Anthrax, Metallica, and despite a sometimes vicious feud, Megadeth as primary influences. He was also a fan of Slayer and a good friend of Kerry King. Dimebag mentioned in an interview with Guitar World that the clean chord passages in the intro to Cemetery Gates were influenced by the clean chordal passages found in much of Ty Tabor's (King's X) playing. As with Billy Gibbons, Abbott frequently made use of pentatonic scales and pinch harmonics in both his leads and rhythms. Both guitarists employ blues scales, start / stop dynamics and pedal tones, as in Abbott's southern style riff in "The Great Southern Trendkill" and the main riff to ZZ Top's "Tush".

Randy Rhoads-style chord arpeggios can be heard in much of Abbott's playing as well, noted examples being "Floods", "Shedding Skin", "The Sleep" and "This Love". Three of Abbott's solos were ranked in Guitar World magazine's top 100 of all-time: "Walk" (#57), "Cemetery Gates" (#35), and "Floods" (#15).^[19] Abbott stated that "Eddie Van Halen was heavy rock and roll, but Randy was heavy metal".^[18]

Eddie Van Halen, whom Abbott had befriended, placed his original black with yellow stripes guitar (commonly called "bumblebee") into the Kiss Kasket Abbott was buried in. Abbott had mentioned to Van Halen that he liked that color combination the best of the latter's guitars (the guitar appears on the back sleeve of Van Halen's second album Van Halen II) and Van Halen was going to paint one that way for him. Abbott credited Vito Rulez of Chauncy for convincing him to try Bill Lawrence pickups.

Pete Willis of Def Leppard was seen as another major influence for Darrell. In his Guitar World magazine tribute issue, Abbott was quoted as saying, "Man, that first Leppard album really jams, and their original guitarist, Pete Willis, was a great player. I was inspired by him because I was a small young dude and he was a small young dude, too—and he was out there kickin’ ass. He made me want to get out there and play. Def Leppard used the two-guitar thing much more back then than they do now."^[20]

According to an interview with Dino Cazares of Fear Factory, Abbott told him that during the recording of Reinventing the Steel he compared his guitar tone with Dino's. Incidentally, during the making of Fear Factory's Demanufacture, Cazares compared his guitar tone to that of Vulgar Display of Power.

Equipment[link]

Guitars[link]

Dimebag signature guitar.

Dimebag endorsed Dean Guitars since the 1980s, and played a Dean ML guitar with Bill Lawrence pickups. After Dean's demise in 1994 he signed with Washburn, going back to Dean again in 2004.

Abbott co-designed a guitar with Dean just months before his death. Called the Razorback, it was a modified version of the ML. It is more pointed and has extra barbs on the wings. The design spawned variations, such as a 24-fret version, different paint jobs including a flamed maple top with natural finish, EMG pickups, and also helped with the design of the V-shaped version, the Razorback V (lacking the neck-pointing front wing).

Dean issued a tribute guitar to honor Abbott's death, featuring the tribute logo on the neck, a razor inlay on the 12th fret, and hand-painted "rusty-metal"-style graphics. The pickups include a Dimebucker at the Bridge and a Seymour Duncan 59' at the neck. The tremolo is a Floyd Rose double-locking, and the knobs are the Dimebag Traction knobs. They use all-black hardware, and almost all of them have 22 frets, a Floyd Rose tremolo, Seymour Duncan pickups (including the SH-13 Dimebucker) and set-neck construction.

Legacy[link]

Abbott frequently appeared in guitar magazines and in readers' polls, and wrote a long-running Guitar World magazine column, which was compiled into the book Riffer Madness.^[21] He was praised for his tone and was included in "The 50 Greatest Tones of All Time" by Guitar Player magazine.^[22] Remembered for his amiable nature and rapport with fans, Abbott was described by Allmusic as "one of the most influential stylists in modern metal."^[23]

Tributes[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

• Ride For Dime Inc, a nationally registered 501 c 3 charity. Formed in 2005, they are currently running 6 nationwide chapters. They host annual motorcycle runs & concerts, with all proceeds going to Little Kids Rock, and towards funding the Ride For Dime Scholarship Fund. Ride For Dime is the only charity recognized and supported by the Abbott Estate. Visit them at www.ridefordime.org
• Thrash metal band Evile did a cover of "Cemetery Gates" as tribute to Dimebag Darrell.
• Funk metal band 24-7 Spyz paid tribute to Darrell on their album Face the Day with an instrumental song called "Blues For Dimebag".
• Creed and Alter Bridge guitarist Mark Tremonti has a picture under the bridge of one of his PRS guitars showing a tribute to "Dimebag" Darrell.
• Country rock band Cross Canadian Ragweed debuted the song "Dimebag" while on tour to promote the album Garage. The band performed the song live for the first time at the Newport Music Hall in Columbus, Ohio in early 2005.
• Michael Angelo Batio, another Dean guitar endorser, arranged three of Pantera's songs into a medley for a track called "Tribute to Dimebag" in his album, Hands Without Shadows 2 - Voices.
• A live version of Shinedown cover of "Simple Man" is dedicated to Dimebag Darrell.
• Trivium's album, The Crusade, says at the bottom of the final page, "Rest in peace Dimebag Darrell Abbott (1966-2004). Trivium also covered a small section of the Pantera song "Domination" during the Roadrunner United's Concert DVD.
• Disturbed in their 2005 release Ten Thousand Fists stated: "We would like to dedicate this record to the memory of our late fallen brother, Dimebag Darrell, one of the greatest guitar players to ever walk the face of this Earth. During their 2011 performance at Download Festival (UK), the band also dedicated a performance of Ten Thousand Fists to Dimebag." The band also performed a cover of "Walk" during the 2011 tour of Mayhem Festival.
• French metal band Watcha dedicated a song on the album "Phenix" called "Dimebag". The lyrics contain many titles of Pantera albums.
• Guitarist Buckethead wrote "Dime", a song paying tribute to Abbott, which was available for free download shortly after Abbott's death. The song later made it onto Buckethead's album.Kaleidoscalp, titled "The Android of Notre Dame".^[24]
• He Came to Rock is a DVD/book tribute to Abbott released in November 2008. Darrell's brother Vinnie Paul and father Jerry toured to promote the book's release.^[25]
• The booklet in C.O.C.'s In the Arms of God album says "R.I.P. Dime" at the bottom of the last page.
• The song "Side of a Bullet" by Nickelback is a tribute to Dimebag; it takes place in a world where the killer is still alive and has lyrics such as, "He hit the stage so full of rage and let the whole world know it/6 feet away they heard him say/Oh God, don't let him pull it." An unreleased solo recorded by Dimebag, intended for Damageplan, was mixed into the song.
• Metal band Machine Head dedicated a song to Dimebag on their album The Blackening, called Aesthetics of Hate. The song's lyrics are meant as a vicious retaliation against the Christian-conservative website The Iconoclast, which hosted an article of the same name bashing Darrell after his death. Also, on their tour with this album, they honored Dimebag during a concert by taking time to tell Dime's story. "Aesthetics of Hate" remains a mainstay on tour and is always dedicated to the memory of Darrell. Robb Flynn was a friend of Darrell's, who also took the time to remark both on how talented and how generous he was - reportedly, Robb owns a custom-made Washburn Dimebag guitar which was given to him as a replacement after Dimebag broke his touring guitar, but can't use it on stage due to contract disagreements. He used this guitar to record "Aesthetics of Hate". Machine Head have also recorded a cover of the Pantera song "Fucking Hostile" for the Metal Hammer magazine tribute CD.^[26]
• Static-X's album Start A War was dedicated to Dimebag Darrell as it says in the inner booklet of the CD.
• In Avenged Sevenfold's City of Evil album, the song "Betrayed" is labeled as "In memory of Darrell Lance Abbott-"Dimebag Darrell". Avenged Sevenfold also did a cover of the Pantera song "Walk", and played live Mouth For War. During their 2011 performance at Download Festival (UK), Avenged Sevenfold dedicated a live performance of "Betrayed" to both Dimebag and their own fallen band mate The Rev also playing Nightmare
• The 2006 album Garage, by Cross Canadian Ragweed, features the song "Dimebag", which is about "Dimebag" Darrell and makes references to his songs and death.
• Crowbar dedicated their 2005 album Lifesblood for the Downtrodden to Dimebag Darrell.
• Argentinian band Carajo on live performances plays a medley with the songs Domination, Walk, Cowboys From Hell, Five Minutes Alone and Mouth For War.
• In 2006, Malibu punk/metal band 2Cents released Lost at Sea (Atlantic Records), which features a tribute song to Abbott titled "A Song for Darrell Abbott".
• Finnish metal band Kiuas´ song "Bleeding Strings" from their 2006 album Reformation is dedicated to Dimebag Darrell.
• Phil Anselmo's band Down now dedicates the song "Lifer" from NOLA to Dimebag Darrell when performed live.
• Black Label Society now dedicates the song "In This River" to Dimebag.
• Brides Of Destruction paid tribute to Dimebag Darrell on their 2005 release, Runaway Brides, with the track "Dimes in Heaven".
• The lyrics of metal band Abnormality's 2007 song "Visions" are about Dimebag Darrel's death.
• The song "Leave it Alone" (with Jason Bittner, David Ellefson, Tristan "1690" Grigsby, Nick Bowcott and Brian Cashmore) is a tribute to Dimebag Darrell.
• The progressive death metal band Between the Buried and Me did a cover of "Cemetery Gates" on their album The Anatomy of.
• While playing in Hammersmith in 2004, Melodic Death Metal band In Flames played a cover of "Fucking Hostile" and dedicated it to the memory of Dimebag Darrell.
• During Gigantour 2005, Dream Theater did a cover of Pantera's "Cemetery Gates" as a tribute to "Dimebag" Darrel Lance Abbott. As an added bonus, they had Burton C. Bell of Fear Factory, and Russell Allen of Symphony X do guest vocals and Dave Mustaine of Megadeth, do the main solo for the song.
• Brazilian death metal band Krisiun dedicated their 2006 album AssassiNation to the memory of Dimebag and late Vader drummer Doc.
• The 2009 album 11:11 by Rodrigo y Gabriela features a tribute track named "Atman" inspired by Dimebag.
• Ace Frehley's 2009 solo album Anomaly is dedicated to Dimebag.
• Ripper's 2009 album 'The Dead Have Rizen' is dedicated to Dimebag.
• Slayer guitarist Kerry King drinks a shot at the end of live performances as a tribute to Darrell and usually leaves one shot on stage "for Dime".
• Type O Negative played "Halloween in Heaven" off of the Dead Again album as a tribute to Dimebag when playing live.
• Brian Welch (former guitarist of the band Korn) made an only-guitar song dedicated to Dimebag called "Letter to Dimebag".
• The booklet in the Evanescence album The Open Door, in Terry Balsamo's section says "..R.I.P dimebag."
• Guitar Hero II for Xbox 360 has an achievement named "Dimebag Darrell Award", when the player gets a 100-note streak on any song.
• Dimebag is frequently tributed by amateur bands all over the world through covers of Pantera and Damageplan songs.
• A tribute album (known as Getcha Pull: A Tribute to Dimebag Darrell) by UK magazine Metal Hammer honored Dimebag. It came along with the magazine, which went on sale December 16, 2009.
• Blaze Bayley's song Dimebag from his 2012 solo album The King of Metal is a tribute to Darrell and tells the story of his shooting.
• Elephant Brand Skateboards released a Dimebag Tribute Skateboard in 2012. The board features Dimebag Darrell playing a guitar on the bottom of the board. A previously unreleased song, Twisted, that features Dimebag on lead vocals and guitar was used in the skateboard's promotional video.^[9]

Discography and filmography[link]

Abbott performed on Anthrax albums, including Stomp 442 (1995); Volume 8: The Threat Is Real (1998); the Inside Out EP (1998) and We've Come for You All (2003). With Damageplan, Abbott played on the Devastation Sampler (2003) and on the album New Found Power (2004). With Pantera, Abbott recorded a number of albums, EPs, singles, and videos, including Power Metal (1988); Cowboys from Hell (1990); Vulgar Display of Power (1992); and Hostile Moments (1994). He also recorded albums under his own name, including Country Western Transvestite Whore and Supercop Soundtrack (1996) and he recorded a country music album titled Rebel Meets Rebel (2004).

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Dimebag Darrell

• Official Damageplan website
• Official Pantera website
• Official Rebel Meets Rebel site
• Obituary by Sebastian Bach
• Obituary in the Columbus Dispatch