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Remembering Dimebag James Greene Jr. “Dimebag” Darrell Lance Abbott was murdered six years ago today in an incident just as shocking and callous as John Lennon‘s murder on the same evening in 1980. Lennon will always get the lion’s share of remembrances every December 8th, but no metal fan should feel any jealousy or bitterness over that. Comparing these guys isn’t just apples and oranges—it’s apples and kumquats. I mean that strictly in artistic terms, of course. By all accounts, Dimebag Darrell was just as outgoing and personable and funny a human being as Mr. Ono, a fact some outside...

Former Korn guitarist and born again Christian Brian "Head" Welch says he wants to save rapper 50 Cent, according to MTV.com. Welch said in an email that while in Israel recently to be baptized, he wrote a song that he described as a "personal letter to 50 from God." Welch added that he will give the song to 50 privately and see how he reacts to it: "If it's a positive reaction and he's willing to talk to me, then I'm not gonna release it, but if the reaction is not positive, I'm going to share it with the world."...

I was telling my son about the band who was shot at a week or so ago, but couldn't remember their name.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The mother of the man who gunned down former Pantera guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott and three others during a concert said her son was discharged from the military because he suffered from paranoid schizophrenia . Mary Clark told Columbus television station WCMH on Wednesday that her son, Nathan Gale, was released from the Marines in 2003 after the military diagnosed the disorder. Gale's rampage ended last week when an officer shot him to death.

Part of the hard work of civilization is teaching young to be able to distinguish between the good and the bad in all aspects of life. If we teach our young children to obey the 10 Commandments and to obey the laws of the land, but don't teach them to realize that Johann Sebastian Bach is superior to Dimebag Abbott, we have failed as parents and mentors. If a person has gone through 12 or 13 years of education and has not developed an appreciation for the greatest artistic achievements of mankind, that education has been an utter failure. While...

Onstage Murder Could've Been Prevented, Security Experts Say Concert venues need trained staff and metal detectors, they insist. The onstage murder of "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott leaves not just Damageplan fans, but concertgoers everywhere, with many troubling concerns. Chief among them was that the tragedy might have been prevented for less than $50, the price of a handheld metal detector. "It should have been a common practice. It should have been something they had," said Paul Wertheimer of Crowd Management Strategies, a consulting firm specializing in concert safety. "If it was used right, it would have caught the gun and you...

The man who shot former Pantera guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott and three other men to death at a nightclub was obsessed with the popular heavy metal band and made bizarre accusations against it, a onetime friend said in reports published Friday. Jeramie Brey said gunman Nathan Gale once showed up at a friend's house saying he wanted to share songs he had written. The pages of lyrics were copied from Pantera, but Gale claimed he had written them, Brey said. "He was off his rocker," Brey told The Columbus Dispatch. "He said they were his songs, that Pantera stole them...

An unlikely assortment of retired neighbors and young fans gathered Thurdsay outside the home of Darrell "Dimebag" Abbott, leaving flowers, a Confederate flag and a poster declaring him "the people's rock star". The 38-year-old guitarist, who was fatally shot during a performance Wednesday night in Columbus, Ohio, was remembered in this semi-rural enclave as an approachable star who never strayed far from his roots in blue-collar Arlington. "He was a hick with an attitude, and I say that respectfully," said neighbor Jim Evans, 63, a retired computer executive who said he frequently walked dogs with Abbott. "We'd talk conservative politics....

GREAT GUITARIST, WE'LL MISS HIM

About 200 people attended a private, two-hour service Saturday for shooting victim Nathan Bray at a funeral home in his hometown of Circleville, about 30 miles south of Columbus. "He'll be in my heart forever," family friend Sherri Jordan said afterward. Funeral services for Erin A. Halk, age 29, of Columbus, were scheduled for Monday (12/13) at Our Lady of Peace Catholic Church in Clintonville. As most fans rushed for the exits after the nightclub shooting that killed five people Wednesday night, a few tried to help and comfort the victims, witnesses and police say. Those included Nathan Bray, a...

According to TotalRock.com, former IRON MAIDEN frontman Paul Di'Anno was attacked during his show in Tel Aviv, Israel on Friday (Dec. 10). A crazed fan apparently got onstage, and lashed out at the shaken singer. Fortunately, Di'Anno suffering only minor injuries, and was able to finish the gig. Di'Anno performed in Israel as part of the Heavy Metal Monsters melodic metal festival, which is scheduled to conclude tonight (Dec. 11) in Haifa, Israel. Di'Anno is reportedly playing a very long set consisting of 70 percent IRON MAIDEN songs and 30 percent his own material.

DALWORTHINGTON GARDENS, TEXAS - An unlikely assortment of retired neighbors and young fans gathered Thursday outside the home of Darrell "Dimebag" Abbott, leaving flowers, a Confederate flag and a poster declaring him "the people's rock star." The 38-year-old guitarist, who was fatally shot during a performance Wednesday night in Columbus, Ohio, was remembered in this semi-rural enclave as an approachable star who never strayed far from his roots in blue-collar Arlington. "He was a hick with an attitude, and I say that respectfully," said neighbor Jim Evans, 63, a retired computer executive who said he frequently walked dogs with Abbott....

Police Officer James D. Niggemeyer shot and killed the gunman, Nathan Gale. Nathan Gale " Dimebag " Darrell Abbott, Lead guitarist Nathan Bray, Fan Erin A . Halk, Club employee Jeff " Mayhem " Thompson, Band crew member Shortly before Damageplan took the stage at the Alrosa Villa, a man approached the band’s bus behind the North Side nightclub. He wanted to know if lead guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott and his brother, drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott, were onboard. Aaron Barns, the heavy-metal group’s sound man, told him the brothers had already gone in the club. "The next time I...

At Least 3 Dead, 4 Wounded In Nightclub Shooting Witnesses: Alleged Gunman Went Onto Stage, Fired Shots POSTED: 10:32 pm EST December 8, 2004 UPDATED: 11:36 pm EST December 8, 2004 COLUMBUS, Ohio -- At least three people died and four others were wounded after a shooting at a Columbus nightclub on Wednesday night, NBC 4 reported. The shooting took place shortly after 10 p.m. at Alrosa Villa, located at 5055 Sinclair Road. Two members of the heavy metal band Damageplan were reportedly shot and killed, including Dimebag Darrell, formerly with the band Pantera, NBC 4's David Wayne reported. The...

VANITY of VANITIES

COLUMBUS, Ohio (Reuters) - A man charged on stage and opened fire at a heavy metal band and fans at a crowded bar, killing four people and wounding two others before being killed by police, officials said on Thursday. Among the dead was "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, guitarist for the band Damageplan, who witnesses said appeared to have been singled out by the gunman and shot several times at close range. Some witnesses told police the 25-year-old gunman, Nathan Gale of nearby Marysville, Ohio, shouted, "You broke up Pantera" before gunning down Abbott and firing at other band members and the...

AN OHIO heavy-metal concert turned into a bloodbath when a crazed man jumped on stage, fatally shot the former guitarist of the legendary rock band Pantera and killed three others before being shot dead by a quick-thinking cop, police said yesterday. The apparent target of the Wednesday-night massacre in Columbus, Ohio, was shaggy-haired guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, 38, playing with his new band, Damageplan, which he formed last year after leaving the Grammy-nominated Pantera. [snip] Fans said the shooter, Nathan Gale, 24, a tall, heavy-set offensive lineman for a semi-pro football team, seemed to be an angry Pantera fan...

When I was thirteen, I had the best group of friends a kid could ask for. There was the goofball, the student, the lackey(s), the rich kid, and a few others who fit the various white suburban archetypes. As every other generation of the twentieth century, music was a large tie that bound us. The various groups of friends in junior high and high school were graphed according to their particular musical preferences, and ours was heavy metal. Not the fun metal of the 80's, but the dark, deep, and passionate metal of the early 90's. The forefront of this...

When I was thirteen, I had the best group of friends a kid could ask for. There was the goofball, the student, the lackey(s), the rich kid, and a few others who fit the various white suburban archetypes. As every other generation of the twentieth century, music was a large tie that bound us. The various groups of friends in junior high and high school were graphed according to their particular musical preferences, and ours was heavy metal. Not the fun metal of the 80's, but the dark, deep, and passionate metal of the early 90's. The forefront of this...