PHILIP ANSELMO: I Never Got A Chance To Say Goodbye...And It Kills Me

In a transcript of a videotaped statement released to the media Tuesday, Anselmo said: "People want my reaction to what happened. This is about Dimebag Darrell, purely Darrell. It's not about me or some . . . psycho that happened to destroy the most beautiful person, one of my best friends in the world."

Abbott, 38, was shot and killed Dec. 8 while performing with the hard rock band DAMAGEPLAN at a Columbus, Ohio, nightclub. Three other people, including DAMAGEPLAN's chief of security, died after Nathan Gale, 25, opened fire with a handgun. Gale was an ex-Marine and metal fan reportedly angered by the band PANTERA's breakup. He was shot and killed by a police officer responding to 911 calls.

Anselmo and Abbott spent 15 years touring the world together in PANTERA.

PANTERA didn't achieve widespread success until Anselmo, a New Orleans native, joined about 1989. PANTERA sold more than 10 million albums, collected two Grammy nominations and inspired legions of aspiring hard rock bands. But by 2002, Anselmo, Darrell Abbott and his brother Vinnie Paul Abbott, the band's drummer, had become estranged as Anselmo devoted more time to other projects.

In 2003, they confirmed that PANTERA had disbanded, as the two camps exchanged accusations in the hard rock press. Anselmo was at home on the north shore last week when Abbott was killed. As Ozzy Osbourne, Paul Stanley of KISS, Brian May of QUEEN and other rock icons memorialized Abbott, a devastated Anselmo made no public comment until Tuesday.

Anselmo's statement says that "the heavy metal media destroyed PANTERA." He laments that he "never got a chance to say goodbye (to Abbott) in the right way and it kills me, and I'm so sorry."

Anselmo traveled to Dallas for Abbott's funeral. But he ended up not attending "to respect the (Abbott) family's wishes, and they do not want me there. I believe I belong there, but I understand completely."

"I wish his family the least grief they could ever have, and I know it's impossible. Just bless his family, bless his friends. I love him like a brother loves a brother. . . . I'm so sorry to his family and everyone else who was senselessly killed in Columbus, Ohio."

His statement hints at an uncertain professional future.

"This has changed the entire world, and this is the last you'll be seeing of me for a long time."

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