Musicians across the heavy music community have paid tribute to Dimebag Darrell Abbott on the 8 year anniversary since his passing on December 08th, 2004. Randy Blythe of Lamb Of God had the following to say whilst currently on tour with Dimebag’s brother Vinnie Paul:
“Tonight’s show in Kansas City was an emotional one for us on this tour, especially the Hellyeah guys. Eight years ago (December 8th 2004) a crazy man jumped onstage and killed Darrell “Dimebag” Abbot in front of two members of Hellyeah, one of which, of course, is his brother Vinnie Paul. This night changed EVERYTHING for those of us in metal bands- something had been taken away from us, & it wasn’t just Dime. It was our care free sorta attitude- this sort of thing just didn’t happen in OUR SCENE.
But it did, & we are all the worse for it. Things have changed, but we still are out here. Vinnie & Bobzilla are still out here rocking their balls off- they have my utmost respect for that. I don’t know if I would step foot on a stage again after witnessing & going through what they did.
But they are musicians- plus Dime woulda wanted it that way- you can bet your ass on that. The other day Vinnie came to me & said “Hey man, can we have a few extra moments in Kansas City to have a drink in memory of Dime?” Are you kidding me? OF COURSE. So tonight, the whole damn tour, every member of every band, got up on that stage & had a drink in his honor. It felt like family to me, in those best moments of tour when you all are there together, doing this incredible thing, as a FAMILY.
I wish Dime coulda been there in person with us. But it’s like I said tonight onstage- a mad man’s bullet can take this mortal shell, but TRUE LEGENDS NEVER DIE. We keep them alive, all of us, when we come together band & audience & do this thing we all love so much. RIP Dime– see ya on the other side bro!”
Various fan filmed footage of artists paying tribute by covering Pantera classics can be found below:
