Early years

Darrell Lance Abbott, also known as "Diamond Darrell","Dimebag Darrell", "Dimebag" or simply "Dime" (August 20, 1966 – December 8, 2004) was an American guitarist, best known as a founding member of the heavy metal bands Pantera and Damageplan. He also performed in the southern rock band Rebel Meets Rebel.
Darrell was born to Carolyn and Jerry Abbott, a country musician and producer.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, where in one he was awarded his first Dean ML. Coincidentally, his father had bought him a cherryburst finish Dean ML standard the morning before the competition, so he only had a few hours of playing time on it. These and another contest prize, his first Randall amplifier, are the two staples of his style and sound.
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. He was praised for his tone and was included in "The 50 Greatest Tones of All Time" by Guitar Player magazine. Remembered for his amiable nature and rapport with fans, Abbott was described by All music as "one of the most influential stylists in modern metal.

Pantera and Damageplan

Abbott formed Pantera in 1981 with his brother Vinnie Paul on drums. The band began in a glam metal style, but by the late '80s showed a greater influence from thrash metal acts such as Slayer, Megadeth, and Metallica, as well as traditional metal bands such as Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Motorhead, Venom, 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 broke up.[7] Anselmo left the band for other projects, such as Superjoint Ritual and Down.
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."[8]
Abbott was also an avid consumer of alcoholic beverages, as exemplified by his invention of a cocktail known as the "Black Tooth Grin".[9] The drink consists of one shot of "Crown Royal" whiskey, and generally with or accepted without an additional shot of Seagrams 7 whiskey, with a 'dash' of just enough Coca-Cola to darken the whiskey's color.

Other projects

Shortly before singer Phil Anselmo joined Pantera, Abbott was invited to join Dave Mustaine's 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 while 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 in 2000. The album was released May 2, 2006 on Vinnie's "Big Vin Records" label.
Abbott played guest guitar solos on several Anthrax songs from 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 a recent interview Anthrax bassist Frank Bello said "Darrell was basically the sixth member of Anthrax". Abbott also performed a solo on the titular track from King Diamond's Voodoo album. A sample from a guitar solo by Abbott was used in the Nickelback song "Side of a Bullet" and 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 (not the Ozzy Osbourne album). Vocals were by Sebastian Bach, Rhythm Guitars were by Kane Roberts, Drums were by Michael Cartellone and the Bass was 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."[10] He was also confirmed as one of the original guitar player choices for Liquid Tension Experiment by Mike Portnoy.[11] Abbott's musical roots were in Country Western music; he supported the local music scene in Dallas and would sometimes record with local musicians. He played in a country band called Rebel Meets Rebel with country performer David Allan Coe. Three of Abbott's solos from Pantera songs ranked among Guitar World magazine's top 100 of all-time: "Walk" (#57), "Cemetery Gates" (#35), and "Floods" (#15).[12] In December 2006 a rare track of one of his collaborations was discovered. Abbott 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.[13] 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", which was originally and previously a project involving 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.

Death

On December 8, 2004, Abbott was shot onstage while performing with Damageplan at the Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio.
The gunman was Nathan Gale[5][14] who shot Abbott five times, including once in the head, killing him instantly, and then continued shooting - killing three others, and wounding a further seven. Gale fired a total of fifteen shots, taking the time 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 Dimebag and Mayhem.[15] 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.
Five 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 never saw 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, striking Gale in the face with 8 of the 9 buckshot pellets. Gale was found to have 35 rounds of ammunition remaining.
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 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 A Vulgar Display of Power: Courage and Carnage at the Alrosa Villa.
Early theories of motive suggested that Gale may 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.[16] Another theory was that Gale believed Abbott had stolen a song that he had written.[17] In the A Vulgar Display Of Power book, 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 about 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 Charvel Hybrid VH2 - a black and yellow Frankenstrat guitar, also known as "Bumblebee," that was pictured with Van Halen on the cover of the album Van Halen II - because Dimebag had asked for one in 2004, shortly before he was shot. He was buried in a KISS Kasket.

Influences and guitar skills

Abbott once said in a Guitar World interview that if there was no Ace Frehley, there would have been no "Dimebag" Darrell - he even had a tattoo of the "KISS" guitarist on his chest (in an interview asking why he chose to become a guitar player Abbott said that when he was young his father asked him if he wanted a BMX bike or a guitar for his birthday and he chose the BMX but after listening to a Black Sabbath album for the first time he went to his father to try to trade the bike for the guitar).[18] Ace signed the tattoo in pen ink upon meeting him, at Dimebag's request, and then the autograph was painstakingly tattooed over soon after, so as never to be washed off.
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 also 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."
He also cited thrash giants Anthrax, Metallica and, despite a sometimes vicious feud, Megadeth as primary influences. He was also a great 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 slide guitar in both his leads and rhythms. Both guitarists employ blues scales, start / stop dynamics and pedal tones, as in Dimebag'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 Dimebag's playing as well, noted examples being "Floods", "Shedding Skin", "The Sleep", and "This Love". He also stated that "Eddie Van Halen was heavy rock and roll, but Randy was heavy metal".[18] Eddie Van Halen, whom Abbott had recently befriended, placed his original black with yellow stripes guitar (commonly called "bumblebee") into the Kiss Kasket. Abbott had mentioned to van Halen that he liked that color combination the best of the latter's guitars (this 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 also credited Vito Rulez of Chauncy for convincing him to try Bill Lawrence pickups. According to an interview with Dino Cazares then 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 against that of Vulgar Display of Power). Abbott co-designed a guitar with Dean just months before his death. Called the Razorback, it was a modified version of the ML 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).. It is more pointed and has extra barbs on the wings.
Pete Willis of Def Leppard was also seen as another major influence for Darrell. On 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." [19]
Dean issued a tribute guitar to honor his 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 DiMarzio Super Distortion 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.

Guitars

Dimebag was a major endorser of Dean Guitars since the 1980s, and is best known for playing a Dean ML guitar with Bill Lawrence L500XL pickups, which he would install in a reversed position to have the "hot" blade facing the neck. Dimebag used Dean Guitars from the early days with Pantera
When Dean Guitars went out of business he switched to Washburn from 1995 to 2004. In late 2004 he switched back to Dean Guitars who were back in business.
Seymour Duncan manufactures a signature pickup co-designed by Dimebag, the SH-13 Dimebucker. He proudly endorsed the pickup manufacture, but continued to use Bill Lawrence pickups in most of his personal guitars.
Several months before his death, Darrell ended his long relationship with Washburn, cutting short the Washburn custom shop production of 100 Southern Cross guitars. He became a Dean endorser once again, coinciding with founder Dean Zelinsky's return. Dean built him a brand new signature guitar; the Dime O' Flame, which he began using live.
As a tribute to him, in 2005 Dean Guitars released the new Dime Tribute line of ML guitars. These guitars come in various models, ranging from lower price models to higher end models with SH-13 Dimebucker's, a Floyd Rose bridge, and set neck construction. In his last few weeks with Dean, Dime helped design a guitar that he called the Razorback. After his death, Dean continued with the Razorback project and dedicated them to the memory of him. During the height of Dimebag's fame, he also worked together with MXR and Dunlop to produce the MXR Dime Distortion and the Dimebag "Crybaby from Hell" Wah respectively.

Amplifiers and cabinets

Throughout his career, Darrell has used a range of different amplifiers. For the majority of his time in Pantera and Damageplan, he used Randall amplifiers and cabinets, with occasional effects.
A few weeks before his death, Darrell left Randall Amplifiers. Dimebag had always sworn by his solid-state Randalls, but in late 2004 he switched to Krank Amplifiers, which were purely tube driven. He planned to redefine his very own sound by developing the Krankenstein. He used the MXR Zakk Wylde Overdrive with the Krank amps.
• Randall RG100es/RG100HT heads and cabinets
Glam-era (1981-1988) Cowboys From Hell (1990), The Great Southern Trendkill (1996)
• Randall Century-200 heads and cabinets
Vulgar Display Of Power (1992), Far Beyond Driven (1994), Reinventing The Steel (2000)
• Randall Warhead X2 heads and cabinets
New Found Power (2004) • Modified Krank Revolution(prototype to the krankenstein) heads and cabinets
(late 2004)
• Dime used Celestion speakers and sometimes vintage Jaguar Speakers in his cabs, when he used krank, he used the Eminence Speakers Texas heat speakers in his cabs.
• Dime (when he received them) had huge stacks of Randall Warhead amps and cabs, but he never recorded anything with them but did use them live for his clean tone.
Dimebag used dr guitar strings from 1995 up until death. He used many gauges but most normally used his DBG10-46 hi voltage electric guitar strings.

Effects

Dimebag used a range of different effects during his career. He used both rack-mounted and pedal effects including:
• Furman PQ4 Equalizer (1990 - 1995)
• Furman PQ3 Equalizer (1996 - 2004)
• MXR 6-band Graphic Equalizer (the blue one)
• MXR Flanger/Doubler (Blue-faced rack unit)
• MXR Zakk Wylde Overdrive
• BOSS NS-2 Noise Suppressor
• BOSS CE-1 Chorus
• Korg G1
• Korg AX30G and AX100G
• E-Bow • Electro Harmonix Electric Mistress Flanger/filter matrix
• Electro Harmonix Soul Preacher compressor/sustainer
• Lexicon Effect Modules
• Digitech Whammy (x2)
• Vox wah
• Rocktron guitar Silencer
• Dunlop Rackmount wah
• Dunlop Octave Fuzz & Wah (prototype)
• Whirlwind A/B Selector
• Roland AP2 Phase ii Pedal

Magazine appearances

Abbott frequently appeared in guitar magazines, both in advertisements for equipment he endorsed and in readers' polls, where he was often included in the top ten metal guitarist spots. In addition, he wrote a long-running Guitar World magazine column, which has been compiled in the book Riffer Madness (ISBN 0-7692-9101-5). As well as he, been voted into the Guitar World Hall of Fame.
Total Guitar frequently featured him and wrote about him in the months leading up to his death. One year after his death, they made a tribute issue. The January 2008 issue of Metal Hammer was also dedicated to him. In the March 2008 issue of Guitar World Abbott was featured on the cover story "Dimebag, The Untold Story," and interviews with his then-guitar techs Grady Champion, Rita Haney and older brother Vinnie Paul Abbott. The January 2010 Guitar World commemorative issue features interviews with Dime's dad and Pantera's manager, Walter O' Brien. The January 2010 issue of Revolver Magazine is loaded with interviews from the remaining band members of Pantera on Dimebag and creating Vulgar Display of Power. It also comes loaded with Pantera memorabilia and rare photos from the Pantera vault.

Tributes

• 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.
• A live version of Shinedown's 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)"
• 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"
• In the Limp Bizkit song "The Priest" you hear the lyrics "I see someone in rage killing Dimebag on stage...".
• French metal band Watcha dedicated a song on the album "Phenix" called "Dimebag". Lyrics contains many titles of Pantera soundtrack.
• 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, entitled "The Android of Notre Dame".[20]
• 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.[21]
• 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," who hosted an article of the same name bashing Darrell after his death. Also, on their tour with this album, they honored Dimebag during concert, by taking time to tell Dime's story. "Aesthetics of Hate" remains a mainstay on tour and is always dedicated in memory of Darrell. Rob Flynn was a friend of Darrell's, who also took the time to remark both on how talented and how generous he was - reportedly, Rob 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.[22]
• 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". Also Avenged Sevenfold did a cover of the Pantera song Walk.
• The 2006 live album Garage by Cross Canadian Ragweed features the song "Dimebag" which is about "Dimebag" Darrell and makes references to his songs and death.
• 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.
• Leave it Alone (with Jason Bittner, David Ellefson, Tristan "1690" Grigsby, Nick Bowcott and Brian Cashmore) - 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.
• The 2009 album 11:11 by Rodrigo y Gabriela features a tribute track named "Atman" 'inspired by Dimebag Darrell never to be forgotten lead guitarist in Pantera and Damageplan, who was tragically murdered onstage in 2004' [23]
• Bullet For My Valentine did a cover of the Pantera song Domination.
• The popular video game Guitar Hero II lists all of the guitarists of the bands featured in the games, and at the very end it says "R.I.P. Dimebag".
• Ace Frehley's 2009 solo album Anomaly is dedicated to Dimebag.
• The artist Kat created an original painting "Razorback" in memory of Dimebag Darrell and all musicians who lost their lives prematurely.
• 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 plays "Halloween in Heaven" off of the Dead Again album as a tribute to Dimebag when playing live.
• The video game character Axel Steel from Guitar hero III has an alternative outfit that highly resembles Dimebag, featuring camouflage shorts, sneakers and a goatee with a red tip.
• 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.Pdimebag.."
• Detroit groove-metal band Myth Not Man ends every one of their shows with a cover of the Pantera song "Becoming" in tribute to Dimebag Darrell's influence on their guitar player's (Joey Davis') style and their music.
• In the computer game Brütal Legend, the Ormagöden loading icon is replaced by a Dime icon on December 8th.
• A song on Guitarist Michael Angelo Batio's new album "Hands without Shadows 2 - Voices" titled "Tribute to Dimebag" where he covers Pantera's "cowboys from hell"
• At the bottom of the track listing of Ace Frehley's album Anomaly (album) it says "dedicated to Eric Carr and Dimebag Darrell"
• A tribute album by UK magazine Metal Hammer will pay tribute to Dimebag. It will come along with the magazine, which goes on sale December 16, 2009. The tracklisting is as follows:
1. Zakk Wylde - Suicide Note Part 1
2. Machine Head - Fucking Hostile
3. Malefice - I'm Broken
4. Avenged Sevenfold - Walk
5. Evile - Cemetery Gates
6. Five Finger Death Punch - A New Level
7. Biohazard - Mouth for War
8. Sylosis - Strength Beyond Strength
9. Chimaira - Slaughtered
10. Unearth - Sandblasted Skin
11. Throwdown - Becoming
12. Kiuas - This Love
13. This is Hell - Rise
14. Nonpoint - 5 Minutes Alone*
15. In Flames - Fuckin Hostile/Behind Space

Discography and filmography

Main article: Dimebag Darrell discography and filmography
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 Damage plan, 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 entitled Rebel Meets Rebel (2004).

References

1. ^ "Dimebag Darrell". http://www.deanguitars.com/dime/dimepast/pages/dimebag.htm. Retrieved 02-08-2009.
2. ^ "PANTERA: DIMEBAG's Book Hits The Shelves". http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=11088. Retrieved 02-08-2009.
3. ^ Blackett, Matt (October 2004). "The 50 Greatest Tones of All Time". Guitar Player 38 (10): 44–66.
4. ^ Prato, Greg. "((( Dimebag Darrell > Biography )))". allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:09fqxql0ldde~T1. Retrieved 2010-01-27.
5. ^ a b "Former Friend: Gunman Obsessed With Pantera", Associated Press, December 10, http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,141121,00.html
6. ^ "Dimebag Darrell - Biography". http://www.cmt.com/artists/az/dimebag_darrell/bio.jhtml. Retrieved 02-08-2009.
7. ^ VH1. (2006). Behind the Music. [TV series].
8. ^ Wiederhorn, How (2004-01-08). "Damageplan put Pantera behind them with New Found Power lol". VH1. http://www.vh1.com/artists/news/1484223/01082004/damageplan.jhtml. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
9. ^ "MTVNews.com: Remembering Dimebag". Mtv.com. http://www.mtv.com/bands/d/damageplan/news_feature_120505/. Retrieved 2010-01-27.
10. ^ The band consists of two of Abbott's cousins (bassist Heather Manly and guitarist April Adkisson). This song (track 2) can be found on Premenishen's debut album, 'Symphony For The Freaks'.
11. ^ Mike Portnoy FAQ, Mike Portnoy.com. Retrieved 29 January 2007.
12. ^ "100 Greatest Guitar Solos - Tablature for solos 11 - 20". Guitar.about.com. 2009-11-02. http://guitar.about.com/library/bl100greatesta.htm. Retrieved 2010-01-27.
13. ^ [1][dead link]
14. ^ New York Times: "Darrell Abbott, 38, a Guitarist Featured in Heavy-Metal Bands, Dies"
15. ^ "Three Years After DIMEBAG's Murder: Missed Opportunities Abound". Blabbermouth. http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=86362. Retrieved 2009-03-31.
16. ^ Dimebag Darrell killing 'not motivated by Pantera split', NME.com. Retrieved 31 March 2009.
17. ^ Nightclub Shooter Said Pantera Stole His Lyrics, wftv.com. Retrieved 10 July 2008.
18. ^ a b Guitar World, vol. 5 No. 4, April 1994
19. ^ Kitts, Jeff (2008-09-10). "Dimebag Darrell: Dime’s Dozen". Guitar World. http://www.guitarworld.com/article/dimebag_darrell_dime%E2%80%99s_dozen?page=0%2C1. Retrieved 2010-01-27.
20. ^ "Buckethead - Kaleidoscalp Review". sputnikmusic. 2007-07-20. http://www.sputnikmusic.com/album.php?albumid=18798. Retrieved 2010-01-27.
21. ^ "Dallas - DC9 At Night - Vinnie Paul Abbott Came to Rock Best Buy, and Totally Succeeded". Blogs.dallasobserver.com. 2008-11-24. http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/dc9/2008/11/dimebag_darrells_family_signs.php. Retrieved 2010-01-27.
22. ^ "Machine Head - Diary - 2009". Machinehead1.com. http://www.machinehead1.com/diary.html. Retrieved 2010-01-27.
23. ^ "Rodrigo y Gabriela". Rodgab.com. http://www.rodgab.com/1111.html. Retrieved 2010-01-27.

Steve Ray Vaughan

WHAT IS your definition of a musical legend? Is it someone who has peer respect? Someone who has the virtuosity-like command of his instrument? Someone who has the ability to mesmerize the crowd? Someone who inspire others? Someone who makes a comeback after succumbing to substance abuse? Or is it someone dies in his peak leaving a strong legacy?
By any of these benchmarks, Steve Ray Vaughan (SRV) is a guitar legend. Born in 1954, SRV formed his blues-rock band Double Trouble in late 1970s. His distinctive sound, partly due to his use of heavy 13 gauge strings, his battered Fender (which he affectionately referred to as his No. 1), his fiery live performances and of course, his trademark cowboy hat had made him a strong local draw by the early 80s. However, he was still an underground wonder desperately trying to make it big time.
In the summer of 1982, SRV got his break at the Monteux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. Although he played songs like “Pride And Joy”, “Texas Flood”, “Collins Shuffle” (all future hits) as if there was no tomorrow, the audience was indifferent and couldn’t care less. With each passing song, the crowd grew restless and began booing and hissing; they just could not bear the fact that there was a white man on the stage playing electric blues. By the time his set over, SRV was heartbroken and bewildered.
Fortunately, also in the audience were David Bowie and Jackson Browne. They were so enthralled by his raw talent and his unbounded passion that Bowie asked him to guest on his Lets Dance album and tour, while Brown asked Stevie to record in his studio (free of charge). It was in Brown’s studio that Stevie recorded his debut album Texas Flood.
Released in 1983, Texas Flood won both critical acclaim and commercial success, with the song Pride and Joy reaching the top 20-s. The follow-up albums couldn’t stand the Weather (1985) and Soul to Soul (1985) met equal success. In 1985, he returned to Monteux not as the up-and-coming player he had been 3 years back, but as a headliner of the Blues Night at the Festival. The crowd, now familiar with Stevie’s songs treated him as a guitar god and gave him a hero’s welcome. With every passing day, SRV’s popularity was increasing and it seemed as if nothing could stem the tide of his growth.
However, the fast life that came along with the stardom took its toll on SRV and he started turning to drugs and alcohol for solace. By 1986, he had become so mired in substance abuse that he collapsed on stage. Later the year he checked into rehab and successfully recovered from his addictions. Upon returning, he recorded In Step (1989) which won him a Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Record.
On August 26, 1990, he played what would become his last concert. At Alpine Valley Music Center, Stevie Ray Vaughan captivated the audience with his repertoire of songs like “Couldn’t Stand the Weather”, “Pride and Joy”, “The Things I used to do”, “Cross Fire” and concluded with a thrilling version of “Sweet Home Chicago” with other Blues legends like Buddy Guy, Eric Clapton, Robert Cray and his Brother Jimmie Vaughan. The very next day, the helicopter carrying him out of the event crashed and led to an untimely death. His death was likened by one critic to that of “a soldier who makes it through a war without a scratch, and then is killed on his way back home”.
Robert Cray famously said, “There will be a thousand guitarists who can play the same songs as Stevie, but there will never be anyone who can play them with the same fire”. While his potential got snuffed in its prime, SRV’s legacy still lives on. A string of posthumous releases following his death, including a duet album Family Style with Jimmy Vaughan on 1990, met with strong commercial success. Jimmy Vaughan later recorded Six Strings Down, a tribute to SRV, which featured song by his influences (Albert King, BB King) and his peers (Robert Cray). Since 1991, the state of Texas has been celebrating October 3 as Stevie Ray Vaughan Day. In 1992, Fender released SRV signature Stratocaster and in 1994, his statue was placed at Auditorium Shores in Austin Texas. His influence on up and coming guitarist cannot be underestimated; he is credited by artists ranging from as diverse backgrounds as Mark Cole of Charge and Kenny Wayne Shepherd as being their prime influence.

EVOLUTION OF THE MASKMEN

Slipknot was brought together by Paul with Shawn along with Andres Colsfni (ex-singer) in Des Moines, Iowa in 1995. The band has been through the changes since then to reach the current 9 member status it has now. Slipknot considers them as a family unit and each of the nine members are assigned a number between 0-8. The group masqueraded the metal scene in their individual masks, each representing a personality, and their draping jumpsuits. Rather than hiding themselves, slipknot feel they are showing their true personalities and inner selves with the masks which also add to the flavor and intensity of the music due the sheer awkwardness of the masks. The band started wearing the mask when Shawn (no.6), one day brought a clown mask he had to their practice. After that other members brought what they had and thought reflected their individual personalities. Just as what many bands do, slipknot’s music also has evolved. With their music their masks also had evolved. But this doesn’t mean that they’ve donned a new mask but they’ve stuck to their original theme and made some changes only. Looking back at the old day’s mask and the new one they have, one can point out the differences easily.

BURZUM

The Mystery Project

Ever since its origin, everything has been mysterious with Burzum, from the fantasy its music is said to create, to the controversial arrest of Varg Vikernes, the only man behind the whole project. Burzum, one of the earliest Scandanavian Black Metal Bands had its origin in Norway in 1987. As a solo-project of Varg Vikernes (aka Count Grishnackh), Burzum is regarded as one of the most notorious band in the scene of Norwegian Metal espicially due to the arrest of Vikernes for the murder of Oystein Aarseth ( Euronymous ) of Mayhem and controversial incidents including arson of churches and involvement in Anti-Christian movements.

Varg Vikernes was first involved in a band named Kalasnikov ( later named Uruk-Hai) which he left because he thought that the bandmates were just of the normal sex, drugs and rock n roll attitude and he needed some serious and dedicated bandmates. That was when he met the band members of Old Funeral ( Later Immortal) and involved in it from 1989 to 1991 which he then left because he thought it transformed from a cool technocrash band to a boring Death Metal group.

After leaving Old Funeral, Varg brought the concept of Burzum into existance inspired by the magic of fantasy. He thought that Burum would act as a vessel to stimulate the fantasy of mortals by leading their spirits to a higher musical altitude which would be based on fantasy and magic. The term Burzum literally means Darkness in Judeo-Christianity terms but that darkness of Christianity stood for light in terms of Varg. Even the nickname Grishnackh which Vikernes had taken was inspired by the famous J.R.R.Tolkien fiction “The Lord of the Rings”. The reason of popularity of the music of Burzum is its so-called magic of fantasy. As Varg himself states “The songs are spells and albums are arranged in a special way to make the spells work”. According to him, the albums are made to be listened in the evenings when sun beams can’t vaporize the power of magic, preferably during bedtime before falling asleep. The songs are arranged to prepare, exhaust and then calm down the listener. Whether the spells work or not varies upon the listener. According to Varg, the project is not like other braindead drugs, sex and rock n roll attitude bands who just play to laid and get popular. The music of Burzum seeks impressions from Norse mythology, pagnism and Tolkien Fiction. Varg himself regards the music of Burzum as monotonous, mostly uncomplicated and also melancholic. According to Varg, the whole message of Burzum is summed up in the first track from the Aske album, “Feeble Screams from the Forests Unknown” and all other songs are just regarded as footnotes of the song.

Black metal was on the rise in Norway around the late 80’s. It was a period of bands like Darkthrone, Enslaved, Myhem, Morbid Angel, Death and others when Burzum entered the scene. Burzum debuted its first self-titled album Burzum/ Aske in 1991. The reason Burzum came to so much focus in the early 90’s apart from the music it created was the controversy that surrounded Varg. Varg was imprisoned in 1993 for the murder of Oystein Aarseth (Euronymous) of another popular Norwegain Black metal band, Mayhem; arson of 4 churches and storage of 150 kg. of explosives which brought the end of so-called Golden era of Burzum. Though the government and media describes the murder as an intended murder with an incomprehensible motive, Varg denies the accusations and describes that Euronymous’ murder was done for the sake of self-defense.and it was Euronymous who had actually plotted to kill him. Many fans of the Scandanvian metal scene regarded this murder the result of the power struggle and idealogical differences between the two popularly rising bands in the scene. Others regarded it as a trifle over the sum of money that Varg had lent to Euronymous for his DSP ( Deathlike Silence Prductions) records through which Burzum had released its previous albums too.
Although the golden era of Burzum ended with the imprisonment of Varg for 21 years, the albums and songs Burzum created are still regarded as the best of Black metal. The first mini-LP Aske (1991) evokes a dark and emotional despair that is suppresed fear within human existance. Vocals are lengthly screams that spread the hoarse demon screech over several notes. On being asked about his best album, Varg refers to Hvis Lyset Tar Oss (1992) because of its originality, consistency and closest to what he wanted to achieve when he made and recorded it. He remarks, “This album is the first album I played music, instead of just playing different instruments”. In Det Som En Gang var (1994), the music is dark, simple and rough but well played and obviously planed and sensed. Filosoferm (1995) includes the first ever Burzum track, Dunkelheit (the German version for Burzum). The album was mixed/ produced while Varg was in prison. Living and hypnotic music radiates from the simple, defintive riffs with a flexible technique that smears a disorted flow of notes into chords and melodies. Daudi Baldrs (1997) approaches to a more complex ideal of song stucture and the songs range from the pop-like melodic tendencies of the previous Burzum album to classically-inspired ambient looping sructures. Hlioskjalf (1999) sounds as if Burzum hs evolved from raw black metal to an atmospheric style of classical music that reflects powerful concept and design. So every new album gives a sense that Burzum has grown into a more mature Ambient Black Metal band.
In October 2003, Vikernes failed to return to his low-security prison in Tonsberg, Norway after having been granted a short leave. After hijacking a car, Varg was pprehended by the police. He was caught with an unloaded assult rifle, a handheld GPS system, military uniforms, and camouflage clothes. He received an additional senence of 13 months for the incident, and has been moved to a maximum-security prison in Trondheim. Tough laws have changed since his imprisonment and the new laws suggest his release around August 2006, Varg isn’t much positive about his release. Burzum has released its two ambient albums, Daudi Baldrs and Hlioskjalf in prison which boh focus on Norse mythology. In prison, Varg devotes his time espicially in studing ancient Aryan and Pagan religion and complains that he has been denied with facilities and equipmensts to create music. He has also published two of his books, Vargsnal I and II along with other shorter works namely Irminsul and Germansk Mythologi og Verdensanskuelse. He denies himself of being a Satanist as reffered by many media and says he neither believes in God nor Satan. On being asked his plans for the nearest future, he comments that apart from the computer programming and translating books, he plans to buy a small farm somewhere in Norway and live there, write books, make music, enjoy nature, get some peace and so forth.
I wonder how winter will be with a spring that I shall never see
I wonder how might will be with a day that I shall never see
I wonder how life will be with a light I shall never see
I wonder how life will be with a pain that lasts eternally
(Beholding the Dughters of the Firmament)
Albums:
1. Aske (Ash or Cinder)
2. Hvis Lyset Tar Oss (If The Light Take Us)
3. Det Som En Gang Var (What Once Was)
4. Filosofem (Philosofem)
5. Daudi Baldrs (The Death of Baldr)
6. Hlioskjalf (Hidden Opening Intro Asgardr or Secret Ritual-Site)

LORDS OF CHAOS VIII

SOUNDLY TRASHED
The late ‘80’s saw the brief ascendancy of Trash Metal, exemplified by bands like Anthrax, M.O.D., Metallica, and even the more extreme slayer. In Europe, the German groups Kreator and Sodom left a strong mark, along with Swiss ensemble Celtic Frost, who started out as the seminal outfit Helhammer. Sodom toyed with satanic themes on their first few albums, and band members adopted pseudonyms of “Angelripper”, “Witchhunter”, and “Grave Violtor”-the last of these bearing an ominous ring in light of the real life activities Black Metallers would partake in a few years later. Helhammer/Celtic Frost flirted with darker occult subjects for lyrical fodder, but eventually turnd into something resembling a metalized Art Rock band. Like any style hyped incessantly by the music industry, Thrash Metal’s days were ultimately numbered. The genre became too big for its own good and major labels scrambled to sign Thrash bands, who promptly cleaned up their sound and lost their original focus in self-indulgent demonstration of technical ability.
Peter Steele of gothic Metal band Type O Negative (and former front-man of the late 80s neo-barbarian Speed Metal act Carnivore) accurately characterizes Thrash Metal as a form of “urban blight music”, a pale-faced cousin of Rap. His remark is astute and it wasn’t long before Thrash bands like Anthrax actually began collaborating with Rappers and incorporating elements of Hip Hop into their songs. The less compromising underground watched such developments with dismay, and eagerly awaited for its phoenix to arise from the ashes of the now dead Thrash.
Innovation in the larger forms of music have almost always come at the hands of the fans – fans who pick up instruments of their own, determined to do one better over their mentors, or disgusted with seeing their favorite music swamped in the wake of commercial sell outs and corporate record labels meddling in the affairs of the underground. Speaking about the longevity of extreme Metal, Abaddon of Venom observes, “This kind of music always fractures, but the most important thing is that it, from the fans which keeps it together. It’s the power of the fanbase that will always keep it there”.
DEATH THRONES
Concurrently emerging in the both the U.S. and Europe, Death metal was the antidote the underground had awaited, reintroducing a sense of immediacy and danger otherwise lost after the early demise of Thrash. Death Metal took the speed of both Hardcore and Thrash to build its skeleton and fleshed this out with churning, down-tuned guitars and a growling style of singing which provided a dramatic antithesis to the falsettos and high-pitched lead vocals dominating mainstream Metal at the time. Death Metal’s subject matter was not far off from that of the Misfits, but instead of B grade ‘50s horror, one now found the Z-grade slasher movie violence of the ‘70s and ‘80s served up in endless rotation. Songs detailing infinite varities of murder, torture, rape and dismemberment were spewed out from the going Army of Death Metal acts around the globe. The related genre of grandcore, more heavily indebted to the politics of English anarchist and “peace punk” pioneers like Crass and Rudimentary Penni, produced its own massively popular Extreme Noise Terror, Napalm Death and Carcass and the latter are noteworthy for their graphically nauseating cover art on records like Symphonies of Sickness – collaged photographs of butchered meat and human autopsy photos, accompanied by lyrics drawn from text book on medical pathalogy.
The two world capital of Death Metal were the unlikely locations of Tampa, Florida and Stockholm, Sweden. From these extremes of fire and ice, the genre produced its most influential acts, Entombed, Hypocrisy, Dismember and Unleashed from Sweden; Morbid Angel, Death, Obituary and Deicide from the Swampy neither world of Florida. Other areas of the States also spat out bands of notoriety – misogynist gore fans Cannival Corpse from the upstate New York, equally rude and savage Autopsy from California – but the true aforimentioned cities had specific recording studios and record poducers which indelibely shaped the sonic boundaries of the genre. Death Metal eschewed the theatrics of its musical predecssors, instead opting for a “dude next door” look which remainded unchanged on stage or off. Ripped geans or sweatpants, high-top sneakers and plain leather jackets became the Death Metal uniform, and band members were assured of neighbour being recognised by fans of the street since they looked no different than a thousand other sallow-faced urban hoods.
A few exceptions came from the overtly Satanic bands who made up a small segment of Death Metal overall. The flamboyant singer of Deicide, Glen Bentton, Ceremoniously branded upside-down cross into his fore head, threw bloody antralis into concert crowds, and sported homemade armor on stage; fellow Floridians Morbid Angel begain donning paramilitary clothes for their live appearances, courting a neo-fascist demeanor, and reinforcing it with inopportune and illiberal comments on magagine interviews. For the most part however, the genre rested on its laurials of unbridled sonic brutality and lyrical glorification of all things morbid and decaying.
As Death Metal gained momentum, only a few bands from the Thrash days remaind who commanded any respect from the younger generation. Slayer continued to be reverted as godfathers of the scene, and in turn the band kept fans interested as they shifted subject matter from juvenile Satanism to an open-ended fascination with violence in general. Serial killers, genocide, religious persecution and other apocalyptic topics all became grist for Slayer’s lyrical mill. Additionally they often employed the long standing Metal tradition of invoking specters of Nazism and fascism in their lyrics and packagings. Slayer’s fans were dubbed the “slaytanic Wehrmacht”. Nazi eagles were incorporated into the band’s logo, songs were penned about Josef “angel of death” Mengele, and Jeff Henneman adorned his guitar with photos of concentration camp corpses. They gained an added following from neo-Nazi skinheads as a result, but it would be difficult to take much of this seriously upon closer examination of the group – despite his last name there is nothing remotely “Aryan” about lead singer Tom Araya, who in fact comes from a Hispanic South American background.

Origin of the band names

DEICIDE:
Decide was formed in Florida in 1987, first playing under the name Carnage. After Glen Benton joined, the name was turned to Amon. During this time they released two demos: Feasting the Beast (1987) and Sacrifical (1989). In 1989 the band’s name was changed to Deicide by force of Roaddrunner records, as Amon was the name of the house in the King Diamond album “Them”. Deicide literally means “killing of god”.



OPETH:
The name Opeth was taken from the book Sunbird (1972) by author Wilbur Smith, and was originally spelled Opet. In the book, Opet is the city of the moon.



ATHEIST:
The legendary progressive metal band Atheist was originally founded under the name R.A.V.A.G.E. (which stands for Raging Atheists Vowing A Gory End).


AMON AMARTH:
The Viking metal band Amon Amarth took its name after a location in J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Middle –earth”. The name “Mount Doom” in Sindarin.

Randy's birth place

Randall William Rhoads was born on December 6, 1956 at St. Johns Hospital in Santa Monica, California. With one brother (Doug) and one sister (Kathy), Randy was the youngest of three. When Randy was 17 months old his father, William Arthur Rhoads, a public school music teacher, left and all three children were raised by their mother, Delores Rhoads.

Passion of Randy Rhoads

Randy started taking guitar lessons around the age of 6 or 7 at a music school in North Hollywood called Musonia, which was owned by his mother. His first guitar was a Gibson (acoustic) that belonged to Delores Rhoads father. Randy and his sister (Kathy) both began folk guitar lessons at the same time with Randy later taking piano lessons (at his mother’s request) so that he could learn to read music. Randy’s piano lessons did not last very long. At the age of 12, Randy became interested in rock guitar. His mother, Delores, had an old semi-acoustic Harmony Rocket, which at that time was "almost larger than he was". For almost a year Randy took lessons from Scott Shelly, a guitar teacher at his mother’s school. Scott Shelly eventually went to Randy’s mother explaining that he could not teach him anymore as Randy knew everything that he (Scott Shelly) knew. When Randy was about 14, he was in his first band, Violet Fox, named after his mother’s middle name, Violet. With Randy playing rhythm guitar and his brother Doug playing drums, Violet Fox were together about 4 to 5 months. Randy was in various other bands, such as "The Katzenjammer Kids" and "Mildred Pierce", playing parties in the Burbank area before he formed Quiet Riot in 1976 with longtime friend and bassist Kelly Garni. Randy Rhoads and Kelly Garni (whom Randy taught to play bass guitar) met Kevin Dubrow through a mutual friend from Hollywood. How they actually got together is a different story with many variations:

Audition of Randy and Kelly

The two contacted Kevin Dubrow went to his house to "audition" him but originally weren’t interested in having him as a vocalist. Kevin kept calling Randy and Kelly until they eventually decided to try him out as a vocalist. Andy and Kelly Garni auditioned Kevin Dubrow in Delores Rhoads kitchen. Kevin sang for them, and then said something to the point of, "well if you don’t like me just say so and I’ll leave." Randy and Kelly decided to work with him though they would have to "work some things out”. Andy Rhoads called Kevin Dubrow, they decided to get together to see about putting together a band. Randy went to Kevin’s house with his guitar and an amp. As Randy began to play, Kevin began to hear the best guitarist had ever heard.

The chances of Randy Rhoads

Around that same time Randy began teaching guitar in his mother’s school during the day and playing with Quiet Riot at night. Originally called "Little Women", Quiet Riot got their "new" name from one of Kevin’s friends from the band Status Quo. Quiet Riot were quickly becoming one of the biggest acts in the Los Angeles area and eventually obtained a recording contract with CBS/Sony records, releasing two full length l.p.s and one e.p. in Japan. Quiet Riots two records, Quiet Riot 1 (1978), which was originally recorded for an American record label, and Quiet Riot 2 (1979), received rave reviews in the Japanese press, claiming them to be the "next big thing". Unfortunately these recordings were never released in the United States. While there were plans for Quiet Riot to tour Japan, their management turned down the offer and Quiet Riot stayed in the United States continuing to sell out college and high school auditoriums as well as clubs in the Los Angeles area. About 5 months before Randy left Quiet Riot, he went to Karl Sandoval to have a custom guitar made. Several meetings and drawings later they would ultimately create a black and white polka dot flying "V", a guitar that would become synonymous with the name Randy Rhoads. The guitar would cost Randy $738.00 and was picked up by Randy on September 22, 1979. (September 22, 1979 saw Quiet Riot playing at the "Whiskey a go-go" in Los Angeles, California. So chances are that was probably the first place he ever played that guitar in front of an audience.)

The audition for Ozzy band

In the latter part of 1979, at the request of a friend (Dana Strum), Randy went to audition for a band being put together by former Black Sabbath lead singer, Ozzy Osbourne. As the story goes: Ozzy had auditioned just about every guitarist in Los Angeles and was about to go home to England, the hopes of a new band washed away. Enter Randy Rhoads. Randy wasn’t completely interested in auditioning, he was happy with his current band and thought that this "audition" wouldn’t amount to much. As with Kevin Dubrow, Randy's first meeting/audition with Ozzy Osbourne has a few variations:

Randy, the member of Ozzy Osbourne band

Randy walked into Ozzy hotel room late one evening with a guitar and a small Fender practice amp, plugged in and started tuning his guitar. He did a few warm up exercises and got the job as Ozzy Osbourne lead guitarist at age 22. Ozzy was first introduced to Randy in a bar where someone introduced him to Ozzy as his "next guitarist".

Rehearsal in Los Angeles

With Ozzy Osbourne, Randy Rhoads and bassist Dana Strum (Slaughter), all that was missing was a drummer. Randy Rhoads brought in a friend of his, Frankie Bannalli (Quiet Riot, W.A.S.P.), and the band began to rehearse in Los Angeles for a short time. However, when it became time to go to England, where Ozzy's albums would be recorded, the record company could only obtain a work permit for one non-English band member, Randy Rhoads.

The new band of Randy

Randy was whisked off to England shortly before Thanksgiving of 1979 where, at Ozzy's home in Wales, the two began to write the "Blizzard of Ozzy" album and audition musicians to fill out the band. While the band rehearsed at "John Henrys", a rehearsal hall in London, the earliest public performances of Randy Rhoads and Ozzy Osbourne came after they’d complete a song then go to a local pub to play the song for whoever was there. One such song, Crazy Train, appeared to get the audience moving, leading them to believe that they "had something". With ex-Uriah Heap members: Lee Kerslake (drums) and Bob Daisley (bass), the Ozzy Osbourne Band entered Ridge Farm Studios in Surrey, England on March 22 of 1980 and began recording for almost a month.

The first album of Randy Rhoads and their shows

"Blizzard of Ozzy" was originally to be mixed by Chris Tsangarides who was fired after one week because Ozzy felt that it "was not happening" with him. Max Norman, Ridge Farm Studios resident engineer, was then hired to pick up where Chris left off and would play an integral part of both Ozzy Osbourne studio albums and the live e.p., as well as later down the road with "Tribute". After the finishing touches had been put on "Blizzard of Ozzy", Randy Rhoads returned home to California in May of 1980, where he teamed up one last time with the members of Quiet Riot at the Starwood club in Hollywood for their final show. However, this would not be the last time he played with Quiet Riot bassist Rudy Sarzo, who would later join Ozzy Osbourne band just before the start of the United States Blizzard of Ozzy tour. Once back in England, the Ozzy Osbourne Band surfaced for their first "official" show on September 12, 1980 when 4,000 fans broke the box office record at the Apollo Theatre in Glasgow, Scotland. "Blizzard of Ozzy" went straight into the U.K. charts at number 7 as they toured around the United Kingdom for close to three months playing 34 shows.

The customized guitar of Randy Rhoads

December of 1980 brought Randy Rhoads back home to California for Christmas. Once again Randy wanted a custom guitar built, this time he went to Grover Jackson of Carvel guitars, about a week before Christmas. With a drawing scribbled on a piece of paper, Randy Rhoads and Grover Jackson created the very first "Jackson" guitar to ever be made. Randy’s white "flying V" type guitar was yet another guitar that would become synonymous with the Randy Rhoads name. The finished guitar was sent to Randy in England about two months later.

Another album of Randy’s band

During the months of February and March of 1981, the Ozzy Osbourne band once again entered Ridge Farm Studios to record their second album titled: "Diary of a Madman". With an impending United States tour to follow soon after the recording of "Diary of a Madman", the actual recording of the album became rushed. (Randy’s solo on "Little Dolls" was actually a "scratch" solo and was not intended to be the solo for the finished song.) None of the band members could be present for the mixing of "Diary of a Madman", which only furthered their already mixed feelings of the album.

The existence of Randy’s customized guitars

Ultimately they came up with a variation of his white "Jackson" only with a more defined look to the upper wing of the guitar. Randy would receive this guitar, the 2nd Jackson ever made, just before the start of the "Diary of a Madman" tour. At the time, there were three guitars being made for Randy. He received the first one, the black custom, as they continued to finish the other two. (Unfortunately, one of the "two" guitars, that were being built for Randy at the time of his death, was accidentally sold at a NAMM show by Grover Jackson. The "third" guitar, which Jackson stopped, working on at the time of Randy's death, is currently owned by Rob Lane of Jacksoncharvelworld.com.)

The biggest selling pictures of Randy

Ironically, as with Quiet Riot, Randy Rhoads guitar playing would be heard on two full length albums and one e.p. while in Ozzy Osbourne band. The "Mr. Crowley" e.p. featured live performances of three songs (including: "You said it all", previously unreleased) recorded in October of 1980 in South Hampton, England, during the United Kingdom "Blizzard of Ozzy" tour. ('You said it all' was actually recorded during the band’s sound check, with the crowd noise added at the time of mixing.) It was said that at that time the "Mr. Crowley" picture disk became the biggest selling picture disk of all time and even earned a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Tour of Randy to United States

With the release of the Ozzy Osbourne Band's second album, "Diary of a Madman", Ozzy Osbourne and Randy Rhoads (the only original member of Ozzy’s band) along with Rudy Sarzo and Tommy Aldridge traveled to Europe in November of 1981 for a tour that would end after only three shows. The tour had to be cancelled after Ozzy collapsed from both mental and physical exhaustion. The entire band went back to the United States so that Ozzy could rest. They would come back a little over a month later with a four month United States tour to start December 30, 1981 at the Cow Palace in San Francisco and a single (Flying high Again) that was making its way up the charts.

Tour of Randy to United States

With the release of the Ozzy Osbourne Band's second album, "Diary of a Madman", Ozzy Osbourne and Randy Rhoads (the only original member of Ozzy’s band) along with Rudy Sarzo and Tommy Aldridge traveled to Europe in November of 1981 for a tour that would end after only three shows. The tour had to be cancelled after Ozzy collapsed from both mental and physical exhaustion. The entire band went back to the United States so that Ozzy could rest. They would come back a little over a month later with a four month United States tour to start December 30, 1981 at the Cow Palace in San Francisco and a single (Flying high Again) that was making its way up the charts.

Randy’s other interest

With all of this going on around him, Randy Rhoads interest for classical guitar was consuming him more each day. Often times Randy would have a classical guitar tutor in each city the band played. It became common knowledge that Randy wanted to quit rock and roll temporarily so that he could attend school to get his masters in classical guitar. Randy also wanted to take advantage of some of the studio session offers he was receiving.

Last show of Randy Rhoads

March 18, 1982, the Ozzy Osbourne band played what would be their last show with Randy Rhoads at the Civic Coliseum in Knoxville, Tennessee. From Knoxville, the band was headed to Orlando, Florida for Saturdays "Rock Super Bowl XIV" with Foreigner, Bryan Adams and UFO. On the way to Orlando they were to pass by the home of bus driver Andrew C. Aycock, who lived in Leesburg, Florida, at Flying Baron Estates. Flying Baron Estates consisted of 3 houses with an aircraft hanger and a landing strip, owned by Jerry Calhoun, who along with being a country & western musician in his earlier days, leased tour buses and kept them at the Estate. They needed some spare parts for the bus and Andrew Aycock, who had picked up his ex-wife at one of the bands shows, was going to drop her off in Florida.

Randy’s arrival in Leesburg

The bus arrived at Flying Baron Estates in Leesburg at about 8:00 a.m. on the 19th and parked approximately 90 yards away from the landing strip and approximately 15 yards in front of the house that would later serve as the accident site. On the bus were: Ozzy Osbourne, Sharon Arden, Rudy Sarzo, Tommy Aldridge, Don Airey, Jay Duncan (their tour manager), Wanda Aycock, Andrew Aycock, Rachel Youngblood and Randy Rhoads. Andrew Aycock and his ex-wife, Wanda, went into Jerry Calhoun’s house to make some coffee while some members of Ozzy Osbourne band slept in the bus and others got out and "stretched". Being stored inside of the aircraft hangar at Flying Baron Estates, was a red and white 1955 Beech model F35 (registration #: N567LT) that belonged to Mike Partin of Kissimmee, Florida. Andrew Aycock, who had driven the group’s bus all night from Knoxville and who had a pilot’s license, apparently took the plane without permission and took keyboardist Don Airey and the bands tour manager up in the plane for a few minutes, at times flying low to the ground. Unbeknownst to anyone at the time, Andrew Aycock medical certificate (3rd class) had expired, thus making his pilot’s license not valid.

The accident of Randy Rhoads

Approximately 9:00 a.m. on the morning of March 19th, Andrew Aycock took Rachel Youngblood and Randy Rhoads up for a few minutes. During this trip the plane began to fly low to the ground, at times below tree level, and "buzzed" the bands tour bus three times. On the fourth pass (banking to the left in a south-west direction) the planes left wing struck the left side of the bands tour bus (parked facing east) puncturing it in two places approximately half way down on the right side of the bus. The plane, with the exception of the left wing, was thrown over the bus, hit a nearby pine tree, severing it approximately 10 feet up from the bottom, before it crashed into the garage on the west side of the home owned by Jerry Calhoun. The plane was an estimated 10 feet off the ground traveling at approximately 120 - 150 knots during impact. The house was almost immediately engulfed in flames and destroyed by the crash and ensuing fire, as was the garage and the two vehicles inside, an Oldsmobile and a Ford Granada. Jesse Herndon, who was inside the house during the impact, they escaped with no injuries. The largest piece of the plane that was left was a wing section about 6 to 7 feet long. The very wing that caught the side of the tour bus was deposited just to the north of the bus. The severed pine tree stood between the bus and the house.

The people who survived in accident

Ozzy Osbourne, Tommy Aldridge, Rudy Sarzo and Sharon Arden, who were all asleep on the bus, were awoken by the planes impact and (at first) thought they had been involved in a traffic accident. Wanda Aycock had returned to the bus while keyboardist Don Airey stood outside and witnesses the accident, as did Marylee Morrison, who was riding her horse within sight of the estate. Two men, at the west end of the runway, witnessed the plane "buzzing" the area when the plane suddenly "went out of sight" as it crashed.

The Catastrophic event

Once outside of the bus the band members learned of the catastrophic event that had just taken place. The bus was moved approximately 300 feet to the east of the house that was engulfed in flames. The band checked into the Hilco Inn in Leesburg where they mourned the death of Randy and Rachel and would wait for family members to arrive. While Orlando’s "Rock Super Bowl XIV", scheduled for later that day, was not canceled, the Ozzy Osbourne band would not play and the promoters offered refunds to all ticket holders.

The Tribute to Randy Rhoads

Randy Rhoads guitar playing, however, could not be silenced as "Tribute" was released in 1987. "Tribute", recorded live, much of it in Cleveland, OH on May 11, 1981 and Randy’s solo in Montreal in July of 1981, continued to earn him recognition as a guitar virtuoso. Ozzy Osborne’s first two solo albums featuring Randy Rhoads have sold over 6 million copies combined.