And it still stings.
"Dimebag" Darrell Abbot grew up in Texas, the son of a Carolyn and Jerry Abbot (a record producer/country musician) which is where the Abbott brothers must have scored some of their musical talent.
Jerry Abbot owned the recording studio (Pantego Sound) where young Darrell started doing piano overdubs for other artists as an intern, though he was still a fan of KISS and Van Halen.
“I grew up a heavy metal kid and we are a heavy metal band,” Abbot told Guitar World in a 1994 interview “I know it’s not fashionable, but I’m proud to say that’s what we are and that’s what we do. It kills me when I see some metal band trying to pass themselves off as an ‘alternative band.’ Well, dude, they can join the pack, but we’ll remain true to our roots while shit keeps twisting around us.”
Dimebag Darrell first gained notoriety as guitarist of the metal band Pantera, along with brother/drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott, bassist Rex Brown, and singer Phil Anselmo.
Pantera made a "breakthrough" in 1990 with Cowboys From Hell, their first album with Atco Records after self-releasing four albums. Cowboys from Hell surprisingly charted at 117 on the Billboard charts.
Pantera went mainstream when their third major release Far Beyond Driven became the first metal record to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 charts.
Pantera would go on to sell 500,000 copies in two months based on relentless touring and a loyal fanbase, but with virtually no radio play at the time.
By the year 2000 the band was experiencing a decline in record sales, though they were playing arenas (not clubs) all over the world. Older and now hugely successful, the passion from Pantera members seemed to have declined some.
With Phil Anselmo and Rex Brown seemingly focused on smaller projects, Dimebag put together DamagePlan with brother Vinny Paul, Bob Zilla and singer Pat Lachman.
DamagePlan carried a little more excitement than the last couple of Pantera albums did, but musically DamagePlan could not live up to the worst Pantera album, a credit to why people still talk about Pantera, and how good Pantera was.
Damageplan was touring small clubs to promote their debut album New Found Power when a show in Columbus, Ohio changed everything. As soon as the concert began, a man named Nathan Hale burst from behind a wall of amps and immediately took aim at Dimebag Darrell, shooting him in the back of the head and instantly killing him with a Beretta 9mm handgun.
Hale then began shooting other members of the crew before putting drum tech John "Kat" Brooks in a headlock and taking him onstage as a hostage.
The police arrived less than 180 seconds later.
James Niggemeyer was the first officer on the scene and crept into the club with no backup, only a 12 gauge shotgun.
"I could see he was holding a hostage around the neck and still had a gun, so I knew that I didn't want that hostage to be killed," Niggemeyer told MTV. "When he put the gun to the hostage's head, it became a now-or-never scenario: Do I let him shoot the hostage in front of everybody? Or do I take what I feel is the best shot to try to keep the hostage from being killed?"
Officer Niggemeyer knew he had a hard decision to make.
“I knew from that distance I could shoot the suspect, as long as I aimed high enough and wouldn’t hurt the hostage,” Niggemeyer also told MTV News in 2005. “At that point, almost immediately, I fired.”
While more deaths were avoided thanks to the fast acting officer, the tragedy is still felt today by metal fans, bands, and even the former police officer.
In 2011, officer Niggemeyer left the Columbus police force and has since admitted to having PTSD and anxiety as a cause of the incident. Meanwhile, Vinnie Paul and the remaining members of Pantera are still not on speaking terms.
