Dimebag Darrell

Abbott was shot and killed by a gunman while on stage during a performance with Damageplan on December 8, 2004. He ranked No. 92 in Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Guitarists and No. 1 in Metal Hammer. In 2012, he was ranked the ninth-greatest guitarist of all time by a Guitar World reader\'s poll.\n', '

Abbott was born in Arlington, Texas on August 20, 1966, the son to Carolyn and Jerry Abbott, a country musician and producer. He took up the guitar when he was twelve, with his first being a Les Paul-style Hondo along with a small amplifier that he received on his twelfth birthday. At age 14, Abbott entered a cassette tape of his playing into a Dallas-area guitar contest. His tape was selected, from over 150 entries, to be in the top 15. Each finalist was invited to the Agora Ballroom in Dallas to play for the grand prize, a new Dean ML. Abbott\'s mother had to accompany him to the club…