Dimebag Darrell shot and killed five years ago today.

[ABlairican Pie]

It was the day some called The 9/11 of metal.

Five years ago today, Dimebag Darrell, the blazing guitarist of Pantera, was shot and killed onstage while performing with his new band DamagePlan at a club in Columbus, Ohio. The gunman was a psychotic ex-Marine who went on a further shooting rampage at the club, killing several others before he was shot to death by a police officer.

Dimebag Darrell was the last person in the music world you would ever expect to meet such a horrific fate. He was friendly, fun-loving kind of guy who was generous and loved to have a good laugh. His easy-going personality stood in stark contrast to Pantera's intense music and hyper-fast guitar playing. During the 90's, Pantera was practically the only major metal band to sell out arenas and maintain a hardcore following, in a time where metal's popularity took a serious hit in the days of grunge, alternative, and NU-metal. Metallica drastically changed their sound and image then, much to the disappointment of many, but Pantera remained true to their brand of metal.

Unfortunately, by the turn of the 2000's, the band went on an indefinite hiatus due to vocalist Phil Anselmo's desire to branch out into other bands, and his subsequent bad-mouthing of his former band in the press. Realizing that Pantera was at an end, Dime and his brother, Pantera drummer Vinnie Paul decided to form a new band, DamagePlan and pick up where Pantera left off, with an updated sound. The band's debut album, 'New Found Power', was climbing the charts and received much airplay when the tragic incident occurred.

So much remained unfinished by Dime. He was only 38 when he died. Fans and friends miss him terribly. Fortunately, after going through over a year or more of mourning, Vinnie formed a metal supergroup, Hellyeah, with members of Mudvayne and Nothingface. Things may never be the same without Dime, but there are tons of tunes and fond memories of our friend Darrell "Dimebag" Abbott.