DARRELL ABBOTT - PAUL: 'MY LAST WORDS TO DIMEBAG WERE VAN HALEN'

PAUL: 'MY LAST WORDS TO DIMEBAG WERE VAN HALEN'

Rocker VINNIE PAUL has broken his silence about the moments leading up to his brother 'DIMEBAG' DARRELL ABBOTT's onstage murder in 2004. Guitarist Abbott was among those killed when an obsessed fan went crazy at the Alrosa Villa nightclub in Columbus, Ohio during the first song of a Damageplan show in December 2004. And drummer Paul recalls that the last words he and his late sibling said to each other was the name of legendary band Van Halen. He tells British magazine Metal Hammer, "The last thing that really matters to me is the last thing we said to each other before we went on stage. "We were warming up on the side of the stage like we always did and we were both really excited - we only had two shows left and we were gonna be going home for Christmas and to begin work on the second (Damageplan) record. Our code word to let it all hang out and have a good time was 'Van Halen'. And that's the last two words we ever said to each other. I said, 'Van Halen' and he said, 'Van Halen' and we high-fived each other and went on the deck to do our thing "And a minute and a half later I'll never see him again."