Black Tooth Grin: The High Life, Good Times and Tragic End of Dimebag Darrell Abbott

This is the first biography of "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, the revered guitarist for Pantera, who was murdered on stage by a deranged fan in 2004. "Black Tooth Grin" is the first book to document the life and times of "Dimebag" Darrell, the Texas-bred pioneering lead guitarist of the million-plus selling heavy metal band Pantera, who was tragically murdered on stage in 2004 by a deranged fan - 24 years to the day after John Lennon met a similar fate. Darrell Abbott began as a teenage guitar prodigy enamoured of Kiss in Dallas, Texas. The son of an accomplished local country musician, Darrell and his brother Vinnie formed a number of metal bands before starting Pantera with livewire vocalist Phil Anselmo. Within a few years superstardom followed, as did years of bad behaviour, long nights of partying and endless touring for an increasingly frenetic audience (Pantera shows were legendary for their enormous, tremendously aggressive mosh pits). Through it all, Dimebag remained the most beloved figure in metal; a guitar hero to hundreds of thousands of teenagers, and all who knew him comment on his gregarious, friendly personality, as well as his enormous tolerance for large quantities of alcohol. Dimebag was all about good times, so when Phil Anselmo's abrasive personality and heroin addiction made it impossible for Pantera to continue, he and Vinnie started Damageplan. It was while on tour with the new band at a show in Ohio that Nathan Gale, a deranged ex-marine who was angered over the break-up of Pantera and who was also under the delusion that Pantera had stolen his lyrics, leapt on stage and opened fire, killing Dimebag and two audience members before police arrived and felled him with a shotgun blast to the head. Dimebag was buried in a Kiss casket donated by Gene Simmons, holding Eddie Van Halen's iconic yellow-and-black striped Fender Stratocaster guitar. The book is named after the "Black Tooth Grin", a mixture of Crown Royal or Seagram 7 whisky and cola, which was the band's drink of choice.

Author Biography

Zac Crain is a music journalist who has written for American Way and Spin. He lives in Dallas, Texas.