DIMEBAG's Longtime Girlfriend Speaks About Honorary Stage At DOWNLOAD Festival

June 10, 2007

Rita Haney, longtime girlfriend of slain PANTERA guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, has spoken to NME.COM about her joy at the renaming of Download festival's second stage in his honor.

"Dimebag" Darrell Abbott was shot dead by paranoid shizophrenic Nathan Gale while playing with his band DAMAGEPLAN at the Alrosa Villa in Ohio on December 8, 2004.

"It's nice that everyone here remembers him as well," Rita explained, "When I found out, it really made me smile. It was a good thing to wake up to."

She was first informed that the stage had been re-named via Dimebag's brother and ex-bandmate, Vinnie Paul. Haney has since been invited to the U.K.'s Download festival as a guest of honor by event promoters Live Nation.

She sees a lasting testament to the legendary metal guitarist in the bands who continue to mine his sound. "There are a helluva lot of bands who are influenced by Darrell," she said. "His musical legacy is massive."

Find more on

Prev More News Next

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).