Dimebag Darrell inducted into RockWalk

Late Pantera and Damageplan guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott was posthumously inducted into the Hollywood RockWalk on Thursday (May 17th), in a ceremony attended by his brother and drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott, their father Jerry Abbott and Dimebag's longtime girlfriend, Rita Haney. Musicians in attendance included Alice In Chains' Jerry Cantrell, Anthrax's Scott Ian, former Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley, Slayer axeman Kerry King and Black Label Society/Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Zakk Wylde, who performed a song called "In This River" that was dedicated to Dimebag.

A bronze bust of Dimebag was unveiled during the ceremony and later installed on the RockWalk's posthumous inductee wall, alongside luminaries such as Elvis Presley, Jimi Hendrix and Robert Johnson.

In conjunction with the RockWalk ceremony, an auction of guitars hand-painted by musicians including Ozzy Osbourne, Rob Zombie, Slash, James Hetfield, Dave Grohl, Tom Morello and more was held Thursday night at the House of Blues in Hollywood, raising more than $66,000. All proceeds will go to Little Kids Rock (LKR), a non-profit music education program that provides free instruments and music lessons to public school students.

An all-star Dimebag Darrell tribute concert was held Thursday night, also at the House of Blues.

The guitarist was shot to death on December 8th, 2004 by a disturbed gunman during a Damageplan concert in Columbus, Ohio.