Darrell Lance Abbott AKA Dimebag Darrell was very well known. Especially for his amazing guitar playing he was in two heavy metal bands (Pantera and Damage Plan.) What most of you didn't know is that Dimebag was in a country band called Rebel Meets Rebel. Dimebag started playing guitar when he was twelve, Shortly after picking up the guitar he started entering talent shows. Eventually after he entered so many shows and won the judges decided it was unfair to the other contestants that he won all the time. Just about three years later he started Pantera with his brother Vinnie Paul. Pantera was great but it took them 9 years to put out their debut album. They stayed together as a band and put out so much more great music until 2003. Thats when they split up because the band had a big falling out. After the band split up Dimebag and Vinnie Started a new band called Damage plan. Their band was preforming in Columbus, Ohio a year after the band started when an enraged pantera fan named Nathan Gale got up on stage and claimed that Dimebag ruined pantera. After stating this gale pursiued in his actions and shot Dimebag Darrell five times and once in the head. before nathan killed himself he took three other life with him ( two fans, and damage plan guitar tech.) since Dimebags death he has had many tribute songs in his honor. Including; side of a bullet by nickel back, In this river by Black Lable Society,Buckethead. Dimebag's shooting is VERY similair to John Lennon's. Think about they were both shot by crazied fans and on the same day also.
Kurt Donald Cobain was born in aberdeen, washington According to his Aunt Mari, "he was singing from the time he was two. He would sing Beatles songs like 'Hey Jude'. He had a lot of charisma from a very young age." On Kurts 14 birthday his uncle gave him the choice of either a guitar or a bycicle; of course Kurt chose the guitar. quickly picking up on it he played covers from AC/DC and The Cars. After learning a Couple cover songs he began writing his own things. When Kurt entered Highschool he couldn't find anyone to join a band with him and that's all he really wanted to do. Later down the road while chilling out at the melvins band practice he met a man named Krist Novoselic. It took a very long time for Kurt to convince Krist. But one Kurt gave him a Recording of his last band "Fecal Matter" Krist was in. And this is where nirvana Started. for the first few years it was only Kurt and Krist they had to rotate as drummers but finnaly they found a drummer named Chad Channing he recorded the album "bleach" later on Kurt and Krist realized they didn't like Chad's style so they hired Dave Grohl. In 1992 they played for a gay rights benefit Soon after Kurt recived death threats. On march 4, 1994 Kurt was diagnosed with bronchitis and severe laryngitis. After this he got into drugs BAD Courtney Love and friends arranged an intervention. During the intervention Kurt "walked outside to have a cigarette." But he actually ran away. On april third courtney hired a private investigator to find Kurt. On april 8th Kurt was found dead he shot himself in the head with a shotgun. The coroner stated Kurt had been dead since april 5th. On april 10th their was a public vigil held for Kurt in seattle more than 7,000 mourners made it to the vigil.
Buddy Holly September 7th, 1936- February 3rd, 1959
Born on September 7th, 1936 as Charles Hardin Holley in Lubbock, Texas to parents Lawrence Odell Holley and Ella Pauline drake on Labor Day, buddy an American singer, songwriter and a pioneer of rock and roll. Buddies years active were from 1955-1959 before he passed away in an airplane crash at the age of 22. Holly was described by critic Bruce Eder as “The single most influential creative force in early rock and roll. His works and innovations inspired and influenced both his contemporaries and also later musicians. Holly turned to rock music after seeing Elvis Presley sing live in Lubbock in early 1955. Buddy was being signed on to a contract, on February 8th, 1956 on which his last name was misspelled as “holly”. That spelling was then adopted for his professional career. Holly then formed his own band, though at the time had no name. It was later called “the crickets”
John Winston Ono Lennon October 9, 1940 - December 8, 1980
John Lennon was in two bands. In the beginning, he was in a band called he quarrymen. Shortly after this band started it evolved into The Beatles. This band was very successful in the time they were together they put out 19 albums and 49 of their songs made it on the radio. In 1970 the band split up due to many problems, although many people wrongly blame Yoko Ono whom John had had an affair with and later married. On December 8th, 1980 a man named Mark David Chapmen, who had been stalking john since October, asked John for his autograph and received one. He later caught up with john and shot him in the back four times. John was rushed to the hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival.
Johnny Cash February 26, 1932 - September 12 2003
Johnny covered alot of genres in his music like Rock N' Roll, Folk, and Country. As a singer johnny came out with 96 albums. Johnny cash was a very successful singer 153 of his songs made it on the radio some of the popular ones include "Ring of fire.", "Folsome prison blues.", "Walk the line." "A boy named sue." and thats just a few there were many more. In 1997 Johnny was diagnosed with Shy-Drager Syndrome, a disease that attacks the cells in your brain and makes it hard to move. Later on the disease altered into Autonomic neropathy wich affects your internal organs. Cash held onto his life for six whole years then his wife June carter passed away. Only a short for months later Johnny passed away to be with June again. If it wasn't for johnny cash's rebellious image we would have never had the punk movement.
James Marshall Hendrix November 27, 1942 - September 18, 1970
Jimi was and american guitarist, singer and a song writer, he was considered to be one of the best guitarist in the history of rock music. All though jimi was an amazing guitarist he only realesed 3 albums 12 of his songs made it on the radio. In 1968 Jimi and a close friend invested an a music studio called electric lady studios. Sadly jimi died at a very young age he was only 28 years old. some people belive that this is the reason he only came out with three albums. If Jimi was still alive today he would probably have many more albums. The cause of his death is still unknown today.
Freddie Mercury September 5, 1946 - November 24, 1991
Freddie was a british musician, he was known for his rock band Queen. he was the front man when you heard the name Queen you would automatically think of the energetic Freddie. As a band Queen came out with 14 albums. 48 of their songs played on the radio including "Another one bites the dust." "We are the champions." "bohemian Rhapsody." And their are many more Way to many to list on this. In 1987 Freddie's Partner Jim Hutton announced that freddie was diagnoised with AIDS. Freddie died on november 24, 1991 at the age of 45 due to bronchial pneumonia resulting from the AIDS. After Freddie passed away Queens album sales went up Dramatically since his death Queen has sold 32.5 million albums.
Bradley James Nowell February 22, 1968 – May 25, 1996
Bradley Nowell was the singer and lead guitarist to the very popular band Sublime. The band only realesed 3 albums and 8 singles. The moscot for their band was Bradley's dog Lou Dog named after his grandfather. On May 25, 1996 after a show in petaluma the band schudualed to go up north. It didn't go like the band had planned. That morning one of the band mates found brad falling out of his bed and figured that he was just drunk. But when Brad woulden't wake up they investigated closer to see that brad had a green film around his mouth. After this it became obvious that Brad overdosed on heroin. After Brad's death the band's manger said "The surviving members of Sublime had no interest in continuing to perform and record under the 'Sublime' name. Just like Nirvana, Sublime died when Brad died" Brad had a wife and a child name Jokob James Nowell
James Douglas Morrison December 8, 1943 - July 3 1971
Jim morrison is what people called him. He was the lead singer in the doors. people say that he was one of the most charismatic frontmen in rock music. Jim was also a poet, a writer, and a film maker. The doors was a pretty succsessful band. They came out with 9 studio albums. 16 of their songs made it on the radio for everyone to hear. Their most popular song was "break on through." Jim died at a very young age. He was only 28 when he passed away. On july 3, 1971 Jim was found in a bathtub in his Paris apartment dead. There was no autopsy done on his body wich left many qeustions about how he died. Some people say it was a heart attack, others say it was a herion overdose. But i dont think anyone knows for sure.
Layne Thomas Staley August 22, 1867 - April 5, 2002
Layne was an american rock singer for the band Alice In Chains. This band formed in Seattle, Washington. They came out with four studio albums some of their most well known songs would have to be "Man in the box." "Rooster." "Heaven beside you." And there are many more. They had 21 singles make it on the radio. On april 19th 2002 someone called the police and reported that they hadent heard from Layne in a good two weeks. As reported by Rick Anderson "When police kicked in the door to Layne's apartment on April 20, there, on a couch, lit by a flickering TV, next to several spray-paint cans on the floor, not far from a small stash of cocaine, near two crack pipes on the coffee table, reposed the remains of the rock musician." Layne died after doing a mixture of herione and cocain. When his body was found he was only 86 pounds. The coroner estimated that he died on april 5th. After Layne's death alice and chains got a new singer and continue preforming together. Since his deth many well known bands made tribute songs such as "The day seattle died" by cold. Also "4/20/02" by Pearl Jam. And many more including some Black Lable Society. In memory of Layne's death they started a Layne Staley fund. Wich helps out drug addicts
John Henry “Bonzo” Bonham- May 31st, 1948-September 25th, 1980
An English drummer and songwriter Bonham played in a number of different bands before joining the band Led Zeppelin. The band had broke the attendance record in 1973 for the largest concert attendance for a single artist (Tampa 1973) they also were the first artist to release and achieve multi-platinum status for an album with no test on the packing for their fourth album, when coda was released in 1982, all nine other albums were in the Billboard top 100 again, the most for a single artist ever. Bonham passed away at the age of 32 years old. He consumed forty measures of vodka which resulted in pulmonary edema, water logging of the lungs caused by inhalation of vomit. His legacy will live on forever he was, best known as the drummer of the band Led Zeppelin. He was known for his fast right foot, distinctive sound and feel for the groove. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest drummers in the history of rock music by other musicians and commentators in the industry, and one of the most important and influential musicians of his era. He was described by the Encyclopedia Britannica as the perfect model for all hard rock drummers that have followed him.
Stevie Ray Vaughan October 3, 1954 - August 27, 1990
Stevie was mostly well known for his amazing skills in guitar playing. At the early age of seven is when Stevie first picked up a guitar, he also sang. He came out with six studio albums before his death. Stevie was on tour with Double Trouble and Eric Clapton. While they were flying to the next venue in very dense fog the pilot was not familiar with the area. What the pilot didn't know was that just past the lift off zone was a three hundred foot hill. The helicopter crashed right into the hill killing the pilot and the four passengers including Stevie. After Stevie's death many people made tribute albums dedicated to him. In Texas they literally have a Stevie Ray Vaughan day they celebrate it on his birthday. In the city of Austin they have a memorial statue of him and has been said to be the most popular tourist attraction.
Cliff Lee Burton February 10, 1962 - September 27, 1986
Cliff was a bassist for the heavy metal band Metallica. While he was in the band they produced three studio albums. This is opinion but those were the best three albums
Randall William "Randy" Rhoads December 6, 1956 - March 19 1982
Rhoads was born on December 6, 1956. He had an older brother Kelle Rhoads and a sister Kathy Rhoads. When he was a baby his father left but kept in touch over the years. His mother owned and ran the Mousonia School of Music, in Hollywood California since 1949. when he was six years old he learned to play the guitar he learned to plat folk and classical music on the guitar but Rhoads always leaned more towards metal and hard rock.
Rhoads was apart of a band called Quit Riot they played in small bars and local parties in Hollywood. They were able to land a record deal with the Japanese Lable CBS/Sony Records. They were released in Japan, in 1979.
In 1979, Ozzy Osbourne formed a new band, in a interview with Raw Power Magazines Ozzy stated that he was looking for a new band member a guitar player. Rhoads name was suggested in the interview and the next day he had a audition and only playing on riff he was put in the band. They departed to the U.K to record in November. There band known as Blizzard of Ozz at that time recorded there album also called Blizzard of Ozz. Rhoads guitar playing changed to because of so much freedom he had. He was encouraged to play what ever he wanted. The band released two singles “Mr. Crowley and “Crazy Train”. The band went on many tours around the UK.
On Thursday March 18, 1982, Rhoads played his last show at the Knoxville Civic Coliseum in Knoxville Tennessee. The band was going to a festival in Orlando, Florida they stopped at a private estate belonging to Jerry Calhoun. They decided to go on a joy ride in a plane even though Rhoads was terrified of flying but he decided to go anyway because he wanted to take and aerial photograph. As they landing they tried to contact the tour bus because it was in the way but before they reached them the left wing of the plane ran into the tour bus sending the plane spinning and Rhoads and two other people were killed instantly the plane got on fire and the only way to identify the bodies was through dental records. Rhoads funeral was held in the First Lutheran Church in Burbank, CA. He was buried where his grandparents were in Mountain View Cemetery in San Bernardino. California. He was only 25 years old when he died.
way but before they reached them the left wing of the plane ran into the tour bus sending the plane spinning and Rhoads and two other people were killed instantly the plane got on fire and the only way to identify the bodies was through dental records. Rhoads funeral was held in the First Lutheran Church in Burbank, CA. He was buried where his grandparents were in Mountain View Cemetery in San Bernardino. California. He was only 25 years old when he died. 
