DIMEBAG DARRELL - Girlfriend Of 20 Years Lashes Out At PHIL ANSELMO In Guitar World Interview
January 9, 2008, 16 years ago
MTV’s Headbangers Blog has issued the following report:
In a startling new interview in the March issue of Guitar World, the late Dimebag Darrell’s girlfriend of 20 years, Rita Haney, accuses DOWN frontman Phil Anselmo of indirectly causing Dime’s murder at the hands of gunman Nathan Gale on December, 2004 at a DAMAGEPLAN concert in Columbus, Ohio.
The exclusive interview was conducted nearly three years to the day of Dimebag’s murder, which Haney says wouldn’t have happened had Anselmo never quit PANTERA.
“The guy wouldn’t have been after Vinnie and Darrell if Pantera had not broken up,” she told Guitar World and added, “If Phil Anselmo hadn’t quit Pantera, Darrell wouldn’t have been playing in that s–thole where that guy could get to him.”In addition to lashing out at Anselmo, Haney criticizes Damageplan singer Pat Lachman, who was allegedly overstepping his boundaries and threatening the future of the band prior to Darrell’s murder.
“I remember in his final days, Darrell was calling me a lot and he told me that he didn’t know what to do about [vocalist] Pat Lachman,” Haney told Guitar World. “Pat said that he didn’t want to sing any Pantera songs, but he knew what he was getting into when he joined the band. It got to the point where Darrell blew up completely. He said, ‘Look, if I want a dickhead for a singer I’ll call up Phil Anselmo! I can at least make money with that motherf—er.’ ”The full interview with Rita Haney is available in the March 2008 edition of Guitar World, which hits newsstands January 15th.
