Dimebag Darrell was born Darrell Lance Abbott on August 20, 1966 in Arlington, Texas. Darrell and his brother Vinnie were raised in a musical household; their father is country singer and songwriter Jerry Abbott. With his dad so immersed in the music world it was inevitable that the music would rub off of Darrell.

Darrell listened to the music of his dad’s clientele; they ranged from everything from the blues to country. But one day Darrell heard the guitar playing of Ace Frehley of the greatest rock band, Kiss play and soon after that Darrell began to play guitar. Darrell was a quick learner and he became so good at the guitar that every contest he entered he won.

In 1981, Darrell and his brother Vinnie, both blessed with the gift of music began to get into the whole music scene, they formed many bands such as Pantera, DamagePlan and Rebel Meets Rebel.

Dimebag was recognized for his awesome style of playing and he soon appeared in guitar magazine all over the country. He was either endorsing one form of equipment or another or he was mentioned many times in the readers’ poll, often placing in the top spot. Dimebag has often stated that if Ace Frehley never played guitar and he would have never played either.

He even authored a long running column in one of the best selling guitar magazines called Guitar World. Total Guitar magazine featured him in their magazine many times before his death. A year after his death, Total Guitar published a tribute magazine and dedicated it to him.

When Dimebag died in 2004, the music world lost what would have been one of the best guitarists of all time. Fans and the industry alike will miss him.