The March issue of Guitar World Magazine is a tribute to “fallen guitar heroes”. People included in the issue are “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott, Randy Rhoads, Steve Clark, and Jimi Hendrix among others.

This issue is full of articles, pictures, and even full page adds in tribute to Dimebag from companies that he worked with. It also contains a transcription of ‘Cemetery Gates’ from the ‘Cowboys from Hell’ album. According to the letter from the editor, the “Tribute To Fallen Guitar Heros” issue has been planned for quite some time, and a Dimebag feature was planned as one of the only stories in the issue about a “living” guitar hero. That all changed when he was killed on stage by some nut who managed to get through security, jump on stage, and shoot him at point blank range on December 8, 2004 in Ohio.

Oddly, I had never listened to Pantera until after the news of the shooting. A few days later, I bought their Greatest Hits album just to see what the “big deal” was. I found it odd that his death was being compared to the death of Randy Rhoads as far as the impact it had in the industry. Five weeks later and a lot of album purchases, I’ve been on a steady diet of Pantera and DamagePlan. He was a really incredible player. More than that though, it seems, from all of the things written about him over the last month or so was that as a person he really touched a lot of lives.

This magazine is a really great tribute to those who have touched our lives through their music. It was really fun to read and reflect on all of the people appearing in this issue.