Every guitar hero has a hero of his own. For Darrell “Dimebag” Abbott of Pantera, that hero was Eddie Van Halen. And in the last weeks of Dimebag’s life, Eddie made him a promise that would end in one of the most moving gestures rock music has ever seen.
“Van Halen” before every show
Dimebag never hid how much Eddie meant to him. He said Eddie was to his generation what Jimi Hendrix had been to the one before. He listened to Eddie’s playing before heading out on stage, and he and his brother, drummer Vinnie Paul, had a ritual. Right before a show, they would say “Van Halen” to each other, high-five, and go do their thing.
The parallel was hard to miss. Van Halen had two brothers, Eddie on guitar and Alex on drums. Pantera had two brothers too, Dimebag on guitar and Vinnie on drums. Some people even called Pantera the Texan Van Halen.
Of all of Eddie’s records, Van Halen II was the one Dimebag loved most. And of all of Eddie’s guitars, his favorite was the one pictured on that album’s back cover: the black-and-yellow striped guitar fans call the Bumblebee. Eddie put it together himself around 1979, using Charvel parts.
Meeting his hero
In late 2004, Dimebag and Vinnie went to see Van Halen in Midland, Texas. According to Dimebag’s longtime girlfriend, Rita Haney, it was the first time he ever got to meet Eddie.
Heavy metal guitarist Nick Bowcott, a close friend of Dimebag’s, later shared what happened next on the Van Halen Stories Podcast. Eddie had just released a limited run of Charvel EVH Art Series guitars, each one inspired by his classic striped designs. They sold out almost instantly. Dimebag wanted a Bumblebee version badly. He asked Eddie’s guitar tech, Matt Bruck, whether he could get on a list in case anyone canceled, and said he would pay whatever it cost.
Then Eddie himself came over. According to Bowcott, Eddie told Dimebag he could have one, that he was not paying for it, and that there was one condition:
“You have to come to my house and I’ll stripe it for you personally.”
Dimebag called Bowcott afterward, overjoyed, and told him the whole story about how great Eddie had been to him.
December 8, 2004
That visit to Eddie’s house never came. On December 8, 2004, just weeks after that meeting, Dimebag was killed onstage while performing with his new band, Damageplan, at a club in Columbus, Ohio. He was 38 years old.
Vinnie Paul later remembered that before they walked out that night, the two brothers did what they always did. They said “Van Halen,” high-fived, and went on stage. Those were among the last words Dimebag ever spoke.
“I brought this for your brother”
In the days that followed, Rita Haney and Vinnie Paul talked about which guitar should be buried with Dimebag. Then Eddie Van Halen called. He wanted to bring a guitar.
Rita expected the Art Series copy Eddie had promised. That is not what he brought. Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante was sitting with the Pantera family when Eddie walked in carrying an old, worn guitar case. Eddie crouched down beside them, told them how sorry he was, opened the case and said he had brought it for Vinnie’s brother. Inside was the original Bumblebee, the very guitar from the back of Van Halen II.
Rita later told Billboard that Eddie explained it simply: an original should have an original. Eddie could not bring himself to go inside the funeral parlor to see his friend. As Rita remembered it, he said:
“I want to remember him like he was that night I met him.”
Dimebag was laid to rest in Arlington, Texas, in a KISS Kasket donated by Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, with Eddie’s Bumblebee beside him. At the memorial, Eddie told the crowd of friends, family and fans that he was there for the same reason as everyone else, to give some love back.
More than a guitar
Eddie Van Halen had only known Dimebag in person for a few weeks. But he understood what that guitar meant to him, because it had once meant the same thing to Eddie: the moment a young player builds something of his own and finds his sound.
He could have kept one of the most famous guitars in rock history. Instead, he gave it to a fan who had become a friend. Eddie Van Halen died in October 2020. The Bumblebee rests with Dimebag in Texas.
Do you remember where you were when you heard about Dimebag Darrell? Share your memories of Dime and Eddie with us.