
Dimebag Darrell Was a Legendary Texas One-Man Band—Literally
When you think of some of the biggest musicians to come out of Texas, you think of Willie Nelson, ZZ Top & Pantera. Without a doubt, Dimebag Darrell was one of the greatest shredders that ever existed. "Cowboys From Hell", "Domination", "Walk", "Floods", "I'm Broken"... these are just a FEW songs that show off his incredible talents around a 6 string. But not only did he know how to play, he knew how to sing too.
Here are some examples of Dimebag showing off his multi-instrumental talents
While most Pantera songs had Philip Anselmo on vocals, if you go back to the Power Metal album released back in 1988, Dimebag does have a singing credit on the last song on the album "PST 88". While lyrically it might not be the most "complex lyrical content", Dimebag proved that he can shred on the microphone too. It sounded just as awesome when performed live.
Speaking of live performances, Dimebag showed that he can do a killer James Hetfield impression too. Like in this 1990 performance at the Basement in Dallas, where Pantera did a cover of Metallica's "Whiplash". And if THAT doesn't badass enough, Philip is the one shredding on guitar!
Dimebag would start a bit of a solo career in the 90s; he would record an original song for he Supercop soundtrack in 1996 called "Caged in Rage". The wild part is that Dimebag sung, played guitar...and played every instrument on this song. Yup. No Rex or Vinnie on this song.
Another song that Dimebag played all the instruments & sung lead vocals on was "Whiskey Road"; a song recorded during the 2001 run of their Reinventing the Steel tour. More songs that feature Dimebag on lead vocals include "Twisted", "Dime's Blackout Society", a cover of ZZ Top's "Heard It On the X" (which he recorded with his brother Vinnie), & "Ain't No Struggle" that's included on the posthumous release "The Hitz".
It's been over 20 years but we still miss Dimebag, especially here in El Paso. R.I.P. Dimebag Darrell & Vinnie Paul.

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