Dimebag Darrell and John Lennon

From the outside you may not think that these two fine gentlemen would have anything to do with eachother, but if you look a little closer you will see that they were both taken away from this Earth too early, both by deranged lunatics, both shot to death, both murdered in public, both on December 8th. What a crazy day.

John Lennon is one of the most influential musicians that ever lived. His music, the music he made with the Beatles and afterwards as a solo artist and with his wife Yoko Ono, remains some of the greatest music that the world has ever heard. He expanded the way rock music was viewed and he pushed the envelope as far as it could go at the time. He believed strongly in his politics and was not afraid to voice his opinion on any subject. Some people viewed this as arrogance, I believe it was part of his genius. As a small kid I remember my parents playing the Beatles albums all the time. When I got my first record player, the first things I played were Abbey Road and Peter and the Wolf. Throughout my life, his music is music I always go back to and listen to. He was killed in 1980, I was only five but I remember my mom and dad being very saddened by his death. It was a heinous crime committed by a deranged fan. I will not mention his name, because he doesn't deserve it. Every year, on December 8th I listen to as much John Lennon as I can.

In middle school I entered the Metal stage of my life and was listening to lots of Metallica, Slayer, Megadeath, Anthrax etc. One of the bands that I liked most was Pantera. Pure, unadulterated RAGE! One of the main things I appreciated about Pantera was Dimebag Darrell, their unbelievably amazing guitar player. He played so fast and his solos were always mind blowing. And from all the interviews I ever read and saw on TV he seemed to be an earnest, fun loving guy. He did what he did well and was very well respected within the music scene. All he wanted to do was play guitar and have a good time doing so. Pantera eventually disbanded, and Dimebag went on to form Damage Plan, but by this time I'd kind of grown out of my metal phase and wasn't aware of them. But, none the less I was shocked and greatly saddened when he was killed. A "fan" of Pantera, who blamed Dimebag Darrell for the break up of the band, went to a Damage Plan show in Ohio, jumped on stage and shot Dimebag Darrell dead, at point blank range.

Needless crimes robbed the world of two great souls. Take time to remember these guys today and listen to lots of music. Stupid people do stupid things.