Update 6/24/2018 8:19PM ET: Sources are reporting that someone close to the Abbott family are telling TMZ that Vinnie died from a Major heart Attack. Loudwire reached out to his management and this is the statement they released:
We have no knowledge of who spoke with TMZ.
Whoever spoke to them did so on their own and not
based on any factual information or authorization
from Vinnie’s family or Pantera management.
Our official statement remains:
Vincent Paul Abbott aka Vinnie Paul passed away on Friday, June 22.
Paul is best known for his work as the drummer in the bands
Pantera and Hellyeah.
No further details are currently available.
When they are, an updated official statement will be released.
The family requests you please respect their privacy during this time.
Thank you for your query.
I am still not quite sure what words I need to say to express the utter shock that the rock/metal world and I are in after the news broke of the passing of Former Pantera/Damageplan/Heallyeah drummer Vinnie Paul. At first, I had to do a search online to find out if this was one of those fake articles that are always posted on Facebook when it says a celebrity has died. CNN, the new site confirmed for me that Vinnie Paul born Vincent Paul Abbott died at the age of 54 years old. We still at this time do not know what the cause of death is, but what we do know is that he is finally reunited with his brother Dimebag Darrell. Vinnie along with his brother Dimebag were the co-founders of the groove metal band Pantera who dominated the metal scene with the release of Cowboys From Hell in 1990 and they continued to dominate with albums like Vulgar Display Of Power and Far Beyond Driven until the band broke up in 2002. They went on to start a new band in Damageplan releasing their only album in 2004 entitled New Found Power and toured with the act until the death of his brother in December of 2004.
Vinnie had taken some time off from the music scene releasing the home video collection Dimevision, Vol. 1 in 2006 as well as a never before heard collaboration album with Country music legend David Allen Coe entitled Rebel Meets Rebel. He didn’t get back in the studio until 2007 when he officially became a member of the supergroup Hellyeah which featured Chad Gray and Greg Tribbett of Mudvayne, Tom Maxwell of Nothingface, and Damageplan bassist Bob Zilla to record the self titled debut album. Together the band would release five albums with the latest Unden!able coming out in 2016. It is said that Vinnie has laid down drum tracks for an upcoming album, but it is not known yet what will become of that album as of this time. The band however has released a statement with Tom Maxwell saying, “Just so broken hearted and in shock. I’m struggling to write this but we want to thank you all for your kind words and support in this tragic time. We don’t have much info to give you other then Vinnie is now with Dime and they are together in a better place. Sadness, shock, confusion, anger, despair. We feel it all together. Hug your loved ones and keep them close. Thank you all again for all your love. Vinnie will be and is greatly loved and missed but his music will live forever. Crank it loud today and scream to the heavens so he can hear you.” Fellow musicians and other celebrities have come out to pay tribute to one of the greatest drummers of the modern era. There is a lot more tributes online and on Twitter, but the ones below are just some of them. R.I.P. Vinnie Paul (1964-2018)
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