New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Pantera drummer Vinnie Paul has sadly passed away. The 54-year-old musician's passing was confirmed by the band on their Facebook page:
"Vincent Paul Abbott aka Vinnie Paul has passed away. Paul is best known for his work as the drummer in the bands Pantera and Hellyeah. No further details are available at this time. The family requests you please respect their privacy during this time," the statement said.
In addition to being a co-founder of the Grammy-nominated band, Vinnie also played with
Damageplan and Hellyeah.
Back in 2004, Vinnie's brother and band mate Dimebag Darrell was shot and killed onstage during a concert in Ohio.
Biography:
Vincent Paul Abbott, also known as Vinnie Paul (March 11, 1964 - June 22, 2018), was an American musician, songwriter and producer, best known for being the former drummer, and co-founder, of the heavy metal band Pantera. He was a member of supergroup Hellyeah. He also co-founded the heavy metal band
Damageplan in 2003 with his late younger brother, Dimebag Darrell.
Vincent Paul Abbott was born in Abilene,
Texas on March 11, 1964. His parents were Jerry, a country music songwriter and producer, and Carolyn Abbott.
Paul formed the heavy metal band Pantera in 1981 with his brother Dimebag Darrell (then known as Diamond Darrell) and Terry Glaze on guitars, bassist Tommy D. Bradford, and vocalist Donnie Hart. Upon Hart's departure, Glaze assumed vocal duties. In the summer of 1982, Bradford left the band and was succeeded by Rex Brown. The band released three albums with that lineup.
Pantera recruited vocalist Phil Anselmo in 1987. By 1990, the band had been signed to Atco Records and released Cowboys from Hell, which proved to be the band's turning point. Over the course of four more studio records, a live album and a greatest hits compilation, Anselmo and Pantera were nominated for four best metal performance Grammys for the songs "I'm Broken", "Suicide Note Pt. I", "Cemetery Gates", and "Revolution Is My Name".
In 2001, Anselmo decided to put Pantera on hold because of back pain while he toured and recorded with his side projects. Pantera's official disbandment took place in 2003 for several reasons, but mainly because of the ongoing dispute between Anselmo and the Abbott brothers, although Rex Brown remained neutral. In the years to follow, animosity would stir up between Abbott and Anselmo. Anselmo has publicly announced that he wishes for Paul to forgive him and reform a friendship. However, Paul has stated that he was not interested in speaking to Anselmo.
Paul has said that his biggest drum influences are
Peter Criss of KISS and Tommy Aldridge—also mentioning Bill Ward, John Bonham, Mikkey Dee, Alex Van Halen, and Neil Peart.
After the breakup of Pantera, the Abbott brothers formed the heavy metal band
Damageplan with former tattoo artist Bob Zilla on bass and former Halford guitarist Pat Lachman on lead vocals.
Damageplan recorded one album, New Found Power, which was released on February 10, 2004. On December 8, 2004, while on tour to support Damageplan's album, Dimebag Darrell was shot dead onstage by Nathan Gale at the Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio.
Damageplan disbanded shortly thereafter.
After burying his brother, Paul formed Big Vin Records in February 2006 and released
Rebel Meets
Rebel and a DVD, Dimevision, Volume 1. Paul (along with Cristina Scabbia, co-lead vocalist of Lacuna Coil) writes a monthly question-and-answer column in Revolver. Paul maintains endorsement deals with ddrum, Sabian cymbals, and Vic Firth drumsticks. He previously endorsed Tama,
Pearl drums, and Remo drumheads and hardware.
In June 2006, after the death of his brother and an 18-month hiatus, Paul was not sure if he would return to music, but eventually joined in with the heavy metal supergroup Hellyeah, which also features vocalist Chad Gray and guitarist Greg Tribbett from Mudvayne, guitarist Tom
Maxwell from Nothingface, and bassist Bob Zilla from Damageplan, who was called on to replace original bassist Jerry Montano. As of 2016, the group has released 5 albums, with the latest being Unden!able, released in June 2016.
For several years, Paul had been trying to publish a cookbook called Drumming up an Appetite with Vinnie Paul.
In December 2008, he handpicked several of his most memorable drum parts to demonstrate in a promotional video for the drum company ddrum: "Use My Third Arm", "Primal Concrete Sledge", "13
Steps to Nowhere", "Domination", and "Becoming". In 2009, he started American Drummer Champions with the aide of friend and influence M. Ludowise, former Downset drummer.
In August 2013, Paul featured in a music video for
Black Label Society's cover of "
Ain't No Sunshine", appearing alongside a horse-masked Zakk Wylde. Wylde and Paul are well known to be close friends, with Wylde also having been particularly close with Paul's brother Dimebag Darrell before his death in 2004.
Vinnie Paul died on June 22, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada at the age of 54. News of his passing was initially released on the official Pantera Facebook page with no cause of death listed, stating only his association with bands Pantera, Damageplan, and
Hellyeah along with a statement requesting that the privacy of his family be respected.
Paul used Tama drums during the Cowboys from Hell album and tour from 1990 until 1992. On Vulgar Display of Power and Far Beyond Driven albums and tours respectively, he used Remo drums. Paul was endorsed by Remo until The Great Southern Trendkill album, when he changed his endorsement to
Pearl drums. He was endorsed by
Pearl from 1996 until 2008, when he made his latest change to ddrum. Paul has used Sabian cymbals and Vic Firth drumsticks throughout his career. He was also known for using triggered samples mixed with real miked drum sounds during live shows.
Paul also used Evans drum heads, ddrum hardware, ddrum and Roland electronics, Danmar red wood beaters and kick pads, Shure microphones and Neumann sport gloves.
Discography:
Pantera
Metal Magic (1983)
Projects in the
Jungle (1984)
I Am the Night (1985)
Power Metal (1988)
Cowboys from Hell (1990)
Vulgar Display of Power (1992)
Far Beyond Driven (1994)
The Great Southern Trendkill (1996)
Official Live: 101 Proof (1997)
Reinventing the Steel (2000)
Damageplan
New Found Power (2004)
Rebel Meets Rebel
Rebel Meets
Rebel (2006)
Hellyeah
Hellyeah (2007)
Stampede (2010)
Band of Brothers (2012)
Blood For Blood (2014)
Unden!able (2016)
