DIMEBAG's HOLLYWOOD's ROCKWALK Induction: More Video Footage Available

Artisan News Service has posted several video clips from PANTERA/DAMAGEPLAN guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott's induction into Hollywood's RockWalk, which took place Thursday afternoon, May 17 in front of the Guitar Center at 7425 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California. On hand for the ceremony were Ace Frehley of KISS, Kerry King of SLAYER, Jerry Cantrell of ALICE IN CHAINS, Aaron Lewis of STAIND, Scott Ian of ANTHRAX, Zakk Wylde, SHINEDOWN, QUEENSRŸCHE and Dimebag's brother and fellow bandmate in PANTERA, Vinnie Paul Abbott.

At the RockWalk induction each person took the mike and explained why they loved Dimebag so much and how much of a nice person he truly was and how he would always put other people before himself. Vinnie Paul, Jerry Cantrell and Ace Frehley all spoke about how much they miss their fallen brother. The following are excerpts from their speeches:

Vinnie: "I'd like to thank everybody that were close and still are close personal friends of Dime for coming up and sharing their experiences, and helping me get through this, because trust me, this is really tough. I just wanted to say that Dime gave you guys everything he had everyday. He never said 'no' to anything. He was all about entertaining people, and the thing that got him off the most was putting a smile on somebody's face, whether he did it with his guitar, his kindness, everything, so... I guess I'm going to leave it at that."

Frehley: "The first time I met Dimebag we were doing a photo shoot for the cover of Guitar World, and I've heard a lot about this crazy guitar player who is a big fan of mine. He's got my face tattooed on his chest and all this crazy stuff. And we really ended up hitting it off. He's just a really, genuinely a good guy — a great musician."

Cantrell: "I remember seeing him and the band and being blown away. And the thing that a lot of people will... Of course he's an amazing guitar player, and innovator, and a better guitar player by far than I'll ever be, what I'd like to say is about him as a man. I spent a lot of time with Vinnie and Dime at their mother's house in the early, early days. We came out at about the same time. There was nothing false about him. We went through a lot of triumphs, and a lot of lows as well and I consider them family and I'm proud to be in the family."

Scott Ian: "Today is a celebration, and being inducted into this RockWalk is such a cool thing because it celebrates the beauty of the art that Dime was unarguably a master of. The perfection and the power of his music, the music that he created, I mean the legacy is going to last for eternity. I mean we're all here for a reason and that is that Dime was just one motherf--kin hot guitar player. Bottom line."

Zakk Wylde: "The bottom line is Dime will never die. Just like Randy Rhoads, Just like Hendrix. The bottom line is he's in all of us. So give it up for the Dimebag and it's an honor to be here for him."

Kerry King: "Some of you die hard fans already probably know this from the time when I did the lead for 'Goddamn Electric'. Thank you. It was fun in my life too. We're on Ozzfest '99 in Dallas, and I come from my dressing room, I was on the tour, I come from my dressing room into PANTERA's dressing room -- and by PANTERA I mean Vince and Dime. They're in there and their dressing room is bigger than mine, and they're not even on the tour. I don't know how that happened."

Watch the video footage:

* Vinnie Paul, Ace Frehley, Jerry Cantrell on Dimebag: Video
* Scott Ian, Zakk Wylde, Kerry King on Dimebag: Video
* Longtime girlfriend Rita on Dimebag's RockWalk ceremony: Video
* Zakk Wylde talks about performing for Dime: Video
* Wylde on why Dime is worthy of RockWalk: Video
* Zakk Wylde piano Dime tribute: Video

Read more from Artisan News Service: Story#1, Story#2.