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THE HERO OF THE DAY!
Name: Vinnie Paul Abbott
Age: was 54
Occupation: former drummer, Pantera, Damageplan and Hellyeah, just to name a few
Last Seen: reunited with Dimebag Darrell, rockin' out in the heavens
Awarded For: being one of the greatest drummers in the world of rock
Age: was 54
Occupation: former drummer, Pantera, Damageplan and Hellyeah, just to name a few
Last Seen: reunited with Dimebag Darrell, rockin' out in the heavens
Awarded For: being one of the greatest drummers in the world of rock
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On Saturday morning, the world of rock was shocked and saddened when it was announced that Vinnie Paul Abbott, the founding drummer of metal legends Pantera and several other bands died in his sleep. He was 54 years old.
TMZ is now reporting that Abbott died of a major heart attack.
Vinnie was the son of Jerry Abbott, a country music producer and songwriter. In an interview, Vinnie often called his father his biggest influence into getting into music. In 1981 when Vinnie and brother Darrell were still teens, they formed what would become Pantera, named after the Spanish translation of "panther".
Throughout the 1980s, Pantera was a glam metal band. As a matter of fact, Dimebag Darrell was known as (and this is not a joke), Diamond Darrell. That all changed in the late 80s when original lead singer Terry Glaze was fired and Phil Anselmo was brought in. In 1989, they were signed by Warner Bros. imprint ATCO Records and in 1990, the band released "Cowboys From Hell", their major label debut.
Along with Anselmo's punch-to-the gut vocals, The Abbotts were the heart and soul of Pantera with Dimebag's crunching guitar licks and Vinnie's machine gun-style drumming. They ended up selling over 60 million albums around the world and also sold out arenas. Sadly, the band broke up in 2003 because of friction between the Abbotts and Anselmo, who was known for his drug problems and bashing of African Americans on stage. The Abbotts ended up forming Damageplan, whose sound was more polished and mainstream than Pantera's. Their biggest hit was "Save Me", which peaked at #16 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock charts. Sadly, their album "New Found Power" was their one and only album. In 2004, a mentally-ill ex-Marine opened fire at one of their shows in Columbus, OH, killing Darrell. He was only 38. Shortly after his passing, tributes poured in from other rockers. Several songs, including Black Label Society's "In This River" and Nickelback's "Side of a Bullet" - which used a riff Dimebag was using while goofing off in the studio, donated by his estate to the members of Nickelback themselves - were dedicated to Dimebag himself.
Vinnie's brother's death didn't stop him. After Damageplan officially broke up, Hellyeah was born with Mudvayne's Chad Grey and fellow Damageplan bassist Bob Zilla among their members. The group released five studio albums and produced rock radio hits like "You Wouldn't Know", "Alcohaulin' Ass", "Hell of a Time", the spousal abuse anthem "Hush" and "Thank You", a song written by the band to honor family members of the band that passed away including Chad Grey's grandmother - who raised him - and of course, Dimebag.
Shortly before his untimely death, Vinnie Paul recorded the drum tracks needed for Hellyeah's sixth album. It's unknown if the album will see the light of day now with his passing. But all we know is that the Abbotts were definite rock royalty who were out there just to play good music. True, their 80s albums were pure garbage, but they knew that sometimes, the wait was well worth it and improved their sound over time. The one man I feel TOTALLY bad for is Dimebag and Vinnie's father, Jerry, for losing two sons and his wife.
The sad thing was that I've known a few people who met the Abbotts and they were stand-up people. I grew up loving their music, but since I was stuck in northern Michigan with shitty-assed KLT and radio stations that ODd on country, soccer mom music and oldies, well, I was in hell. Fuck, I cringe at the fact that during a conversation with my mom at Castle Farms many moons ago, good 'ol Terri Ray told her that Axl Rose "should eat a cracker". This, of course is in reference to Guns 'N Roses' classic "Patience" in which Rose whistles. Oh, and let's not forget the rumor I heard that Ray would hang up on teens and young adults that wanted to hear bands like KoRn, Rage Against the Machine, Tool and others on her precious Meatles-er, Leetsville Cafe. All this of they could meet their daily quota of butt rock needed to please the assholes in North Dakota who own the station. Of course, when the Castle closed when I was a teen, good rock shows up north were too far and in-between. It seemed that the best place for a teen in northern Michigan was in the Detroit area. Thankfully, there's now Rock 105 and 95-5 (which played some Pantera tunes yesterday in tribute), plus Streeters that bring decent rock shows up north. It's too bad all this happened YEARS after I moved to Grand Rapids.
The truth is that in the end, Good rock will always live on. While I'll never meet the Abbott brothers, at least there's other great rock stars that I hope to meet in the future who will be just as legendary. I know that rock is kind of in a slump right now because of record companies overpromoting wussy-ass millennial acts, but hopefully that will all change soon.
But the good news is that for the first time in 14 years, the Abbotts can play together again.
---
On Saturday morning, the world of rock was shocked and saddened when it was announced that Vinnie Paul Abbott, the founding drummer of metal legends Pantera and several other bands died in his sleep. He was 54 years old.
TMZ is now reporting that Abbott died of a major heart attack.
Vinnie was the son of Jerry Abbott, a country music producer and songwriter. In an interview, Vinnie often called his father his biggest influence into getting into music. In 1981 when Vinnie and brother Darrell were still teens, they formed what would become Pantera, named after the Spanish translation of "panther".
Throughout the 1980s, Pantera was a glam metal band. As a matter of fact, Dimebag Darrell was known as (and this is not a joke), Diamond Darrell. That all changed in the late 80s when original lead singer Terry Glaze was fired and Phil Anselmo was brought in. In 1989, they were signed by Warner Bros. imprint ATCO Records and in 1990, the band released "Cowboys From Hell", their major label debut.
Along with Anselmo's punch-to-the gut vocals, The Abbotts were the heart and soul of Pantera with Dimebag's crunching guitar licks and Vinnie's machine gun-style drumming. They ended up selling over 60 million albums around the world and also sold out arenas. Sadly, the band broke up in 2003 because of friction between the Abbotts and Anselmo, who was known for his drug problems and bashing of African Americans on stage. The Abbotts ended up forming Damageplan, whose sound was more polished and mainstream than Pantera's. Their biggest hit was "Save Me", which peaked at #16 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock charts. Sadly, their album "New Found Power" was their one and only album. In 2004, a mentally-ill ex-Marine opened fire at one of their shows in Columbus, OH, killing Darrell. He was only 38. Shortly after his passing, tributes poured in from other rockers. Several songs, including Black Label Society's "In This River" and Nickelback's "Side of a Bullet" - which used a riff Dimebag was using while goofing off in the studio, donated by his estate to the members of Nickelback themselves - were dedicated to Dimebag himself.
Vinnie's brother's death didn't stop him. After Damageplan officially broke up, Hellyeah was born with Mudvayne's Chad Grey and fellow Damageplan bassist Bob Zilla among their members. The group released five studio albums and produced rock radio hits like "You Wouldn't Know", "Alcohaulin' Ass", "Hell of a Time", the spousal abuse anthem "Hush" and "Thank You", a song written by the band to honor family members of the band that passed away including Chad Grey's grandmother - who raised him - and of course, Dimebag.
Shortly before his untimely death, Vinnie Paul recorded the drum tracks needed for Hellyeah's sixth album. It's unknown if the album will see the light of day now with his passing. But all we know is that the Abbotts were definite rock royalty who were out there just to play good music. True, their 80s albums were pure garbage, but they knew that sometimes, the wait was well worth it and improved their sound over time. The one man I feel TOTALLY bad for is Dimebag and Vinnie's father, Jerry, for losing two sons and his wife.
The sad thing was that I've known a few people who met the Abbotts and they were stand-up people. I grew up loving their music, but since I was stuck in northern Michigan with shitty-assed KLT and radio stations that ODd on country, soccer mom music and oldies, well, I was in hell. Fuck, I cringe at the fact that during a conversation with my mom at Castle Farms many moons ago, good 'ol Terri Ray told her that Axl Rose "should eat a cracker". This, of course is in reference to Guns 'N Roses' classic "Patience" in which Rose whistles. Oh, and let's not forget the rumor I heard that Ray would hang up on teens and young adults that wanted to hear bands like KoRn, Rage Against the Machine, Tool and others on her precious Meatles-er, Leetsville Cafe. All this of they could meet their daily quota of butt rock needed to please the assholes in North Dakota who own the station. Of course, when the Castle closed when I was a teen, good rock shows up north were too far and in-between. It seemed that the best place for a teen in northern Michigan was in the Detroit area. Thankfully, there's now Rock 105 and 95-5 (which played some Pantera tunes yesterday in tribute), plus Streeters that bring decent rock shows up north. It's too bad all this happened YEARS after I moved to Grand Rapids.
The truth is that in the end, Good rock will always live on. While I'll never meet the Abbott brothers, at least there's other great rock stars that I hope to meet in the future who will be just as legendary. I know that rock is kind of in a slump right now because of record companies overpromoting wussy-ass millennial acts, but hopefully that will all change soon.
But the good news is that for the first time in 14 years, the Abbotts can play together again.
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Bee-otch of the Day Archives can be seen on http://beeotchoftheday.blogspot.com
Bee-otch of the Day is a production of Chuck69.com, Grand Rapids' site for Stern, politics and more!
Bee-otch of the Day Archives can be seen on http://beeotchoftheday.blogspot.com
Bee-otch of the Day is a production of Chuck69.com, Grand Rapids' site for Stern, politics and more!
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