A YEAR AGO: Dec. 8 marks the one-year anniversary of the murder of “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott. The guitarist of PANTERA/DAMAGEPLAN was shot to death by an enraged fan during a DAMAGEPLAN show in Columbus, Ohio. However, memories of Dimebag continue to burn brightly for friends of the guitarist. Chad Kroeger – frontman, NICKELBACK: “The last time I saw Dime, we were on tour in Dallas. He jumped up on our bus and he’d brought me this little tiny miniature guitar. It almost looked like a ukulele. He goes, ‘I brought you something.’ And I hate when someone gives me a present and I don’t have something to give them back. So, that night, we were both getting pretty sloppy, and I go in the back and I grab my favorite leather jacket. I come out and give it to him and he throws it on. I’m like, ‘There you go. What do you think?’ We were both ecstatic, and I gave him a big old hug. We jumped back into his Escalade, and we’re sitting there, talking for a bit. We were passing this bottle of Jack Daniel’s back and forth. … I tell him I love him and to be careful, and he tells me he loves me and to be careful. I gave him a big old hug and went back to my bus. … That was the last time I saw him, and that’s what I’ll always remember when I think of Dime. I miss him a lot.” So today we in respect we are going to crank up our sound systems and drink JD & coke in celebration of an amazing life. R.I.P. DIMEBAG