Darrell+Lance+Abbott

Jose Figueroa per.6

=**INTRODUCTION**=

"Music drives you. It wakes you up, it gets you pumping. And at the end of the day, the correct tune will chill you down." He was a "cowboy from Hell." Darrell Lance Abbott, aka Dimebag, was remembered as "one of the most influential stylists in modern metal." At a very young age he was interested in music, mainly because his father,Jerry Abbott, was a western songwriter and producer. He got the nickname "Dimebag" because of the amount of weed he consumed. He didn't live long with his career because he was shot at a young age.

= = = = = = = = = = =**BACKGROUND**=

Abbott was born on 1966 and died on 2004. He lived in Dallas, Texas. He was born into a musical family because his father, Jerry Abbott, was a country and western songwriter and a producer (Kitts). At the age of twelve he picked up the guitar and started playing. As a child he entered into a lot of local guitar competitions and won most of them (Gulla). He was influenced a lot by Black Sabbath, Kiss, and Van Halen. At first he was known as "Diamond" Darrell because of the flashy style of rock music he played but then they started calling him "Dimebag" Darrell. In the early 80's, he co-formed Pantera with his brother, Paul Vinnie. The band Pantera finally made the jump in 1990 when they completely rejected their early pop-metal style and became more heavy and brutal (Prato). When he started the band he primarily focused on songwriting. His amazing guitar riffs were largely influenced by Toni Lommi of Black Sabbath. Pantera received four Grammy nominations (Cobb). The band became one of the worlds top metal bands. Abbott really loved what he did. He enjoyed playing music and nothing else. When the band broke up in 2003 he didn't really know what else to do so he suffered through depression and drugs. But later got his life together and formed a different band with his brother. The band was called Damageplan. But the band didn't last. In Columbus, Ohio on December 8 of 2004 Abbott, only at age 38, was shot on stage while performing with Damageplan (Cobb). The man that shot him was named Nathan M. Gale. Gale was a huge fan of Pantera. No one is really clear on why he shot him but some say he shot Abbott because he was upset of the band, Pantera, breaking up and he blamed Abbott for it. and others say he shot Abbott because he stole Gale's lyrics and put it into a song of his (Kitts).

=**PERSONALITY TRAITS**=

Abbott's personality was amazing. He was a nice guy. Whenever a fan of his would walk up to him, he would talk to them and hang out with them for a while. He enjoyed his fans. He thanked them for all the support they give him. He once said, "if it wasn't for my fans i wouldn't be here enjoying what i love to do" (Cobb). He also always would prioritize his family first. He always put family first. Whenever he had the chance he would go and meet up with his parents. If his family members needed something he was always there to help. He cared more about his family then his music career. When the guitarist of Metallica got kicked out, the band wanted Abbott in their band but refused when the band said that all they need was a guitarist and not a drummer. Abbott didn't want to leave his brother so he refused the offer and just stayed in Pantera. He was optimistic most of the time (Prato). When his band members didn't believe that their music will get any better or that their fans will dislike their newer stuff, Abbott was there to push them and create the best kind of content they could. He was the kind of guy that was always on top of his game (Cobb). He always did what was suppose to get done. When the band barely releases a new album, Abbott was already making new material or at least had an idea on how he wants the new material to be.

=**OBSTACLES**=

Abbott had many little obstacles in his path and many big obstacles that took him a while to clear. At first when him and his brother wanted to start a band they had trouble trying to find people. Abbott couldn't find a vocalist for his band so he was the vocalist for a while but that didn't really work for him because his vocals weren't strong enough and the type of music the band was playing at the time didn't really fit with the vocals Abbott put in (Kitts). So him and his brother went everywhere and took a while to find a vocalist until one day they finally did. They found someone named Phil Anselmo and he helped carry the band with his vocals. When the band, Pantera, broke up in 2003, Abbott went into depression because his career ended (Cobb). He didn't want to stop doing what he loves to do so he suffered through depression and become an alcoholic. He found his life crumble down when the band fell apart. His brother tried to reason with him but at the time it was no use. His brother tried to tell him that the world isn't over yet and that he could just start a different band but Abbott at the time didn't want to listen cause he thought that his career was over. He was so deep into his depression that he didn't want to believe that the band fell apart. He suffered of alcoholism and drug abuse. After his concerts usually, he witness his friend suffer a drug overdose (Prato). And his vocalist and friend Phil Anselmo made a strange withdraw during the productions of Reinventing the Steel. He went through depression after the production of the album, as he suffered a drought of creativity, which lead to the band he started called Damageplan. After the production of Far Beyond Driven, Phil Anselmo allegedly commented he would beat up Abbott, in which started a contraversy in their relationship and in trying to keep the band together

=**HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE**=

media type="youtube" key="aR8MocpHNIE" width="420" height="315" align="left"Abbott created a band that became one of metal's leading forces (Kitts). He influenced a lot of other bands in the process. He invented an alcoholic beverage called Black Tooth Grin. He was remembered as "one of the most influential stylist in modern metal" (Gulla). Abbott left an impact among fans and artists that have met him. With his skilled guitar work and uplifting personality. His impact will be remembered in the New Wave of Thrash Metal of the 90's. As his technique will be remembered by inspired musicians. His impact has been shown with a band named Avenged Sevenfold. It comes to show how a musician can have his influence yet exist even after death. Its like almost as he is immortal in the hearts of others. As the moment of Thrash Metal exists today, having Abbott's works in Pantera became a major influence (Cobb). His guitar riffs had a lot of attention to the media because his guitar riffs were featured in an episode of Spongebob.

=**REFERENCES**=

Gulla, Bob. "Dimebag Darrell." Sputrikmusic.web. November 21, 2014

Kitts, Jeff. "Dimebag Darrell-Biography." Allmusic.web. November 6, 2014

Prato, Greg. "Dimebag Darrell." Allmusic.web. October 16, 2014

Prato, Greg. "About Dimebag Darrell." MtvartistsBeta.web. October 3, 2014

Cobb, Jennifer, "Abbott, Darrell Lance (Dimebag Darrell)." Texas State Historical Assocation.web. April 3, 2014