Cheers!

Greetings. On December 8, 1980, John Lennon was shot. On December 8, 2004, Dime Bag Darrell of the heavy metal groups Pantera and Damage Plan, was shot while performing with the latter group in a concert. There are some similarities of these two dying on the same day.

Granted, fans of one probably haven't heard of or liked the music of the other, but these two men were icons, and possibly even legendary, in their own rights. John Lennon was famous from being a Beatle; enough said. Dime Bag, whose real name is Darrell Abbott (pardon any misspellings), was the lead guitarist for the heavy metal groups Pantera (popular in the 80's and 90's), and more recently for Damage Plan.

Dime Bag, as fans called him, was an excellent guitarist. At his death a year ago, I heard that he was on a list of the top 10 or 20 guitarists in the world, at number seven. I'm not a big fan of Dime Bag, but I do like some of Pantera's songs. I remember hearing a story of when Pantera performed in an ampla theater in the Dallas area some years ago. (Warning: not for the easily offended). Dime Bag needed to use the restroom while performing on stage, but instead of interrupting his song, he had someone hold a cup off stage. He kept playing the guitar the whole time he was taking care of business. I've also heard that he was a very approachable guy and not stuck up like some musicians that make it big. I never had the chance to meet him, but my friend Heather, said she's met him at a music store once. She said that he was very nice.

I was never really a big Beatles fan, at least not compared with some people. Sure, I like some of their songs. Who doesn't? But I like mainly music after 1975 or 1980. I do respect John Lennon and the other Beatles, those that have passed on and those that are still here, for what they did as musicians and the impact they had around the world. Even 40 years later, you still hear Beatles songs on the radio, and you probably will for a long time to come.

Two musicians in their own rights, died on the same day. People die everyday, but sometimes these deaths fall on the same day of each other, or have other coincidental similarities.

To those that are or were fans of John Lennon or Dime Bag Darrell Abbott, I say, "Cheers!"