Take an Exclusive Look Inside Dimebag Darrell's Home, Just as He Left It

Darrell Lance Abbott (August 20, 1966 – December 8, 2004), best known by his stage name Dimebag Darrell, was an American musician. He was the guitarist of the heavy metal bands Pantera and Damageplan, both of which he co-founded alongside his brother Vinnie Paul. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest metal guitarists of all time.

A son of country music producer Jerry Abbott, Abbott began playing guitar at age 12, and Pantera released its debut album, Metal Magic (1983), when he was 16. Originally a glam metal musician, Abbott went by the stage name Diamond Darrell at the time.

Abbott took up the guitar when he was twelve. His first guitar was a Les Paul-style Hondo,which he received along with a Pignose amplifier on his twelfth birthday.

Influenced by Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Kiss and Van Halen, he would initially spend time in his room standing in front of a mirror holding the guitar while wearing Ace Frehley-style makeup, though he was unable to play the instrument at the time. Jerry learned Kiss songs on guitar in order to teach Darrell how to play them.Darrell also learned from country musicians who recorded at Jerry's studio, such as Bugs Henderson.

Darrell Lance Abbott was born in Ennis, Texas, on August 20, 1966, the second son to Carolyn and Jerry Abbott, a country music producer.His elder brother, Vinnie Paul, was born on March 11, 1964. Abbott's parents divorced in 1979, after seventeen years of marriage,but his family life remained happy. The brothers lived with their mother Carolyn, in a ranch-style house on Monterrey Street in Arlington.Carolyn was supportive of her sons' musical endeavors.Their father Jerry remained in the area after the divorce and Darrell would often go on a bicycle to visit him for guitar lessons "pretty darned regular".

((Pantera (/pænˈtɛrə/) is an American heavy metal band from Arlington, Texas, formed in 1981.The group's best-known lineup consisted of the Abbott brothers (drummer Vinnie Paul and guitarist Dimebag Darrell), along with Brown and Anselmo, who joined in 1982 and 1986 respectively.

Pantera is credited (along with others, such as Testament, Sepultura, and Machine Head) for being part of the second wave of thrash metal scene from the late 1980s to early-to-mid 1990s.Pantera is regarded as one of the most successful and influential bands in heavy metal history, having sold around 20 million records worldwide[4] and having received four Grammy nominations.

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