Darrell 'Dimebag' Abbott Is Honored On RockWalk

Late heavy metal guitarist 'Dimebag' Darrell Abbott is to be honored with a posthumous induction into Hollywood's RockWalk on May 17th. A bronze bust of the former Pantera and Damageplan guitarist will be unveiled.

Abbott was shot and killed at a Damageplan concert in Columbus, Ohio in December, 2004 by a crazed gunman.

Abbott's bust will be installed along the RockWalk posthumous inductee wall, which also includes Robert Johnson and Elvis Presley.

'Dimebag' Darrell Abbott was born on August 20, 1966 in Dallas, Texas. Born into a musical family, his father was a country and western songwriter and producer.' In 1981, Dimebag Darrell along with his brother, drummer Vinnie Paul, formed what would turn out to be one of the most popular heavy metal bands of the 1990s. Beginning with "Cowboys from Hell", PANTERA touched off a string of classic metal releases; "Vulgar Display of Power" followed and with it, brought the band star status and domination in the hard rock/metal music community for a decade. The band received four Grammy nominations, platinum for "The Great Southern Trendkill", "Cowboys from Hell" and PANTERA's "Greatest Hits" and double platinum for "Vulgar Display of Power" and "Far Beyond Driven", which had its debut at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart. Released in 2000, "Reinventing the Steel" was the final studio effort from the band. Darrell and Vinnie went on to form DAMAGEPLAN, releasing "New Found Power" in 2004. During a DAMAGEPLAN performance in Columbus, Ohio, on December 8, 2004, Dimebag was fatally shot at the age of 38.

The induction event is free and open to the public.