Late Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell’s partner Rita Haney shared New Years Eve party photographs with Foo Fighters members Dave Grohl and Nate Mendel.
Haney wrote on Instagram, “Happy fukking New Year’s fukkers!!! Thank you everyone for being so amazing and loving Dime like I do!!! @dimebagdarrell @dimebash #dimebash2019.”
The photos are hilarious and weird, with Grohl sticking his tongue out in the third photo of the Instagram photo album.
Dimebag was tragically shot to death at a concert in December 2004. His brother and Pantera bandmate Vinnie Paul died last summer. They are buried next to each other in Texas.
Pantera were metal icons in the 90’s and 80’s, befriending Grunge legends like Dave Grohl and Alice In Chains’ Jerry Cantrell.
Grohl credited Pantera in a Rolling Stone interview for his open door policy backstage at shows.
“There was an Ozzfest in England in 1998, and Korn canceled. So we got the call. It was Slayer, Pantera and Black Sabbath. We had to go on after Pantera. I was so terrified: ‘There’s gonna be a riot. I’m gonna get drawn and quartered. No one’s going to like our band.’
“But we played, and I looked to the side. The guys from Pantera are watching us and singing the lyrics to our songs. Afterwards we made friends with Pantera. I was nervous and scared; I didn’t think I fit in. But they were so open to us. That backstage hospitality we try to have – it all came from Pantera. [Guitarist] Dimebag Darrell was the nicest fucking guy in the world. He could walk in and do a shot of Crown Royal with Justin Bieber, with Rick Nielsen, with James Brown – he was everybody’s best friend. And you could feel that energy when he was playing.
“After that day, I was like, ‘From now on, everybody’s allowed in this room. I don’t care if it’s Britney Spears.’ I became the backstage best friend. Whenever I showed up at a festival, the first thing I’d do is grab a bottle of whiskey and go knocking on doors to see who the funniest people are. You’d be surprised who the real fucking nutcases are.”
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