Paul Natkin/WireImagePantera bassist Rex Brown has released a full statement paying tribute to his late band mate, Vinnie Paul. In the piece, published on RollingStone.com, Brown writes that Paul “changed the game” for metal drummers.
“He was the original for his generation, a generation that’s still going,” Brown writes. “Everybody wanted to play like him. People always thought those were sampled tracks — they were not. Period.”
Brown also recalls meeting Paul and his brother, “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott, in high school. Already gifted musicians for their age, the trio bonded over their love of rock and metal, and in the early ’80s, the Abbott brothers invited Brown to join their band, Pantera. Eventually, they found a lead vocalist in Phil Anselmo, and the classic Pantera lineup came together.
“I don’t think there’ll ever be chemistry like what the four of us shared again,” Brown writes. “I’ve been so blessed in so many ways by having them in my life.”
Pantera broke up in 2003, and a year later, Dimebag was murdered on stage while he and Paul were playing a show with their band Damageplan. Paul would eventually return to music in 2006 when he joined the band HELLYEAH.
“The best way to honor Vinnie is to celebrate his life,” Brown writes. “He approached drumming, and friendship, with his own brand of perfection. We must remember the great times we shared with him.”
“Rest in peace, Vinnie, and give Dime a big ole’ fashioned Texas style hug from all of us,” he concludes. “You made an incredible mark on the world and you were taken from us way too soon.”
Paul died on June 22 at age 54. His cause of death has yet to be officially announced.
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