Vinnie Paul
Vinnie Paul, drummer and co-founding member of hard rock bands Pantera, Damageplan and Hellyeah, has died at the age of 54. The official Pantera social media pages released a statement overnight saying, “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.”
Paul and his brother, the late Dimebag Darrell Abbott, formed Pantera in 1981 and became one of the most popular bands in the hard rock and metal scenes of the late ’80s and ’90s. After Pantera split due to issues between the Abbotts and singer Phil Anselmo, the brothers formed the band Damageplan. The group sadly only released on album, 2004’s New Found Power, as Dimebag Darrell was tragically killed in December of that year when he was shot onstage by a concertgoer.
In 2006, Paul returned to making music as a part of the metal supergroup Hellyeah, alongside members of Mudvayne and Nothingface, among others. Hellyeah released five albums and toured extensively, with their most recent record Undeniable arriving in 2016.
Paul was beloved throughout the hard rock scene and fans from the music world and around the globe have been honoring his memory on social media.
