Vinnie Paul, legendary drummer of iconic heavy metal band Pantera, passes away aged 54

Legendary drummer Vinnie Paul has died. A statement issued by Vinnie Paul’s family read as following, “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.” [caption id=“attachment_4576931” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Vinnie Paul/Image from Twitter.[/caption] Paul was widely recognised as a co-founder and drummer of the iconic heavy metal band Pantera. Following a number of line-up changes, Paul — along with his brother and guitarist Dimebag Darrell, bassist Rex Brown, and vocalist Philip Anselmo — became part of what is today known as Pantera. The band broke into the mainstream with the release of their 1990 album Cowboys From Hell. While Cowboys From Hell cemented them as one of the most interesting, energetic and talented bands in the world at the time, their follow-up LP, Vulgar Display of Power, established them as one of the most must-see, important and influential bands of the ’90s. Paul’s drumming on the album, which featured impeccable double-kick work, inspired numerous individuals to choose the drums as their preferred instrument.

The band fused trash metal with newfound sounds of groove assisted by Dimebag Darrell’s hypnotic, streamlined guitars and Paul’s unrelenting, adrenaline-pumping drumming. The band essentially shaped the sound of heavy music in the ’90s and continues to influence the metal sound to this day. Pantera released three more studio albums — Far Beyond Driven, The Great Southern Trendkill and Reinventing the Steel — before disbanding after a fallout between Paul, Darrell and vocalist Philip Anselmo. Paul went onto form Damageplan along with his brother Dimebag, but the band came to an abrupt end after Darrell was shot dead while performing onstage in December 2004. Two years after the death of his brother, Paul returned to music with the supergroup Hellyeah. The band featured Mudvayne singer Chad Gray and guitarist Greg Tribbett, Nothingface guitarist Tom Maxwell and bassist Jerry Montano. Paul’s Damageplan bandmate Bob Zilla ultimately replaced Montano on bass. The supergroup released five albums together over the past decade, most recently 2016’s Unden!able. Paul’s influence and legacy with Pantera will live for a long, long time. The sound Pantera created — grooves that are as heartfelt as debilitating — can be heard in the works of some of the biggest metal bands of the 2000s, like Lamb of God, Slipknot and Five Finger Death Punch.