Drummer Vinnie Paul, co-founder of metal band Pantera, has died. Currently a member of Hellyeah, Paul was 54.
His representative confirmed the legendary drummer’s death to Billboard, but added that no further details are available at this time.
“Vincent Paul Abbott aka Vinnie Paul has passed away,” reads a statement on the Pantera Facebook page. “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.”
Along with his brother, Dimebag Darrell, Paul (born Vincent Paul Abbott) formed Pantera in 1981. The group found mainstream success with second lead singer Phil Anselmo. Throughout its career, Pantera earned four Grammy nominations and charted nine albums on the Billboard 200, including its 1994 album Far Beyond Driven, which debuted at No. 1 on the chart.
Following Pantera’s demise, the Abbott brothers formed Damageplan in 2003. The band was performing on Dec. 8, 2004, when Dimebag Darrell was shot and killed onstage during a concert in Columbus, Ohio.
Since 2006, Paul was the drummer for Hellyeah, a heavy metal supergroup that also includes Mudvayne vocalist Chad Gray and Nothingface guitarist Tom Maxwell.
Born in Texas, Paul credited his Lone Star roots for his powerful groove. “The Texas thing is part of it, growing up on a healthy dose of ZZ Top and Stevie Ray Vaughan, but I also was a metal-head from day one. Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Kiss, Van Halen, all my favorite bands had really great grooves to their music,” he told OnlineDrummer.com a few years ago.
The most important news is the release of ‘Dimevision Vol. 2: Roll With It Or Get Rolled Over’ DVD/CD , here are the articles from Blabbermouth and Metal Wani
Announcement
With 2006’s “Dimevision Vol. 1: That’s The Fun I Have”, fans of “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott and his work with PANTERA and DAMAGEPLAN were afforded the chance to see into the world of the legendary guitarist. Compiled from the many, many hours of video footage captured between the mid-’80s and his later years, it was a funny, touching and poignant memorial.
Metal Blade Records has now announced the release of “Dimevision Vol. 2: Roll With It Or Get Rolled Over” — another true celebration of the man and how he lived his life — on November 24. Pre-orders are available at this location. The DVD/CD set — which will include more raw footage, true gems and classic Dimebag moments — will also include five previously unreleased demos, picked from a vast catalog Dimebag accrued since longtime girlfriend Rita Haney gave him his first four-track in 1984.
Fans of Dimebag, PANTERA and DAMAGEPLAN who have had the opportunity to watch “Dimevision Vol 1: That’s The Fun I Have” know it is a funny, touching memorial. “Dimevision Vol 2: Roll With It Or Get Rolled Over” continues this tradition, and today, Metal Blade, Rita Haney and Daryl “Bobby Tongs” Arnberger are pleased to share one of the funniest clips from the set. Watch Dime take part in an “interesting” CPAP machine fitting in the clip below.
Haney says: “This particular trailer’s focus is on one of the items available from ‘Dimevision 2’, along with many other props from past home videos. We want to offer up a piece of these magical volumes so that in the future, with the help of his fans, we’ll be able to bring more DVD/CD packages to everyone out there that love Dime as much as we do.”
She adds: “I had just rolled outta bed and the doctor fitting Dime was about an hour early for his appointment. Dime and ST were still up partying, so, of course, things never go as planned in Dime’s world!
“One thing people need to realize is that when you’re getting fitted for one of these machines, it’s imperative that you do not speak during the process so they can ramp the proper amount of air through those things, so you have to keep your mouth closed. But as you can see from this segment in full, that’s a damn near impossible feat for him at the moment. It’s also impossible to be angry at Dime when he made you laugh all the time!”
Going into making “Dimevision Vol. 2: Roll With It Or Get Rolled Over”, Haney worked in collaboration with Daryl “Bobby Tongs” Arnberger, who was not only one of Dimebag’s closest friends both on and off the road, but also worked as an official videographer for PANTERA, DAMAGEPLAN and a plethora of A-list musicians, from SLIPKNOT to Dolly Parton, along with film editor Rob Fenn. After cataloguing hundreds of tapes, they chose 43 segments to create “Dimevision Vol. 2”.
Arnberger explains: “As we all watched, we envisioned certain segments and ideas coming to life in my head, and rather than it serving as a memorial, this second DVD is more about the vision Dime had in his head for this footage, what he actually wanted it to become. This one is more uplifting, funny, and it stays 100% true to his idea for ‘Dimevision’.”
Fans of the original know that this way of life involved a lot of whiskey, an insane amount of fireworks and a contagious desire to have fun — and like its predecessor, the title is also drawn from the words of the man himself. Having a habit of latching onto a saying or a phrase, this soon became part of his particular dialect, affectionately dubbed “Dime-bonics.” “It comes from something he was saying a lot in 2003 and 2004,” Haney recalls. “He’d call from the road and he’d say ‘man, I’m beat up out here, but that’s the highs and lows of rock and roll. You gotta roll with it or get rolled over.'”
“He had a unique way of seeing things, and he always lived with a video camera,” adds Haney. “No matter where we went he was always capturing what was going on, and myself and others around him were filming a lot too. In putting out these videos I just want people to see the way he was, 24/7. What you saw on stage and backstage, that was how he lived.”
Unsuspecting visitors to the couple’s home were regularly drawn in — memorable segments involve girl scouts selling cookies and Dimebag experiencing an “interesting” CPAP machine fitting — and events as mundane as taking a friend to get a pedicure become hilarious, thanks to his particular way of seeing the world. As endlessly entertaining as Dimebag was, there were of course other, deeper sides to his personality, which are also reflected in both volumes. Haney adds: “There were some really touching, deep, heavy and emotional moments in the first one, where he’s talking about himself to the camera while in the shower. Filming himself like that was something he did a lot, and you’d have no clue until you’re looking through the tapes and come across them, and when you do the goosebumps crawl all over you. People that love and know Darrell are going to be touched by what he has to say, because it’s him telling you for the first time.”
As for his included demos, Dimebag not only wrote down the lyrics and dates of everything he recorded but also his thoughts on it at the time, which Haney will also be sharing with fans. However, she’s quick to point out that no one should expect high production standards (“It’s called a four-track for a reason!”) and that these are not “lost” PANTERA tracks. “These songs come from his ‘off’ time; it was entertainment to him. One of them was even inspired by a George Michael solo record coming out back in the ’80s!” she laughs. “But he loved making music and he appreciated all kinds of music, whether he was making a joke of it or not, it still caught his ear, and I hope people can enjoy these songs for what they are and the spirit they were made in.”
With so much footage left over, fans can rest assured that as fulfilling as “Dimevision Vol. 2: Roll With It Or Get Rolled Over” is, there’s still a lot to look forward to. Haney says, “We hope to make [‘Dimevision’] an annual thing. It will all depend on if the fans want it and support it!”
It was 2006 when we received “Dimevision Vol. 1: That’s The Fun I Have”, fans of Pantera and “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott were awarded the chance to see into the life of a legend. It was funny, it was captivating and most importantly it was a memorial. Now the plan was to release Dimevision Vol. 2 a year later. There were delays but I am pleased to say that Dimevision Vol. 2 “Roll With It Or Get Rolled Over” is finally almost here.
Thanks to Metal Blade Records, I had a chance to see a sneak preview of the video. I’ve always been a huge Pantera and Dimebag fan, and the first Dimevision video was unbelievable to me. We had a chance to see inside his life and experience moments most fans only dream of. We lost Dimebag at a Damageplan show in 2004 so 2 years later when Dimevision was released it felt like a tribute. This time around Dimevision Vol. 2 was still a tribute but more than that.
The style of the video is the same, all home video footage along with photos and some amazing tear jerking tributes. One to note were clips from the annual Dimebash featuring tributes from Dave Grohl, Ace Frehley and Zakk Wylde. Proving that even though it’s been over a decade since we lost Dimebag, friends, family and fans from all over still make time to celebrate and honor his memories. Like the first one, Dimevision Vol. 2 also featured a lot of Darrell’s antics; all of his fun loving pranks, on and off tour. It also features a shock element in the video that makes a regular appearance.
Without giving too much away let’s just say it’s a small surprise with big potential. You get to experience different sides of Dime, from him buying Girl Scout cookies from a family to him head banging and making a guitar sound like an artillery range.
What made this edgy film stand out to me was the dedication it took to piece it together. As you watch you can see and experience every moment into Dimes life and it wouldn’t have been made possible if it wasn’t for his lifelong girlfriend Rita Haney, and one of his closest friends Daryl “Bobby Tongs” Arnberger. Those two among others took the time to piece Dimevision Vol. 2 together finding just the right pictures and video to represent the legend we know and love. That dedication and love shows when you’re watching the video and that’s what makes it more than just a tribute. We get to see “Diamond Darrell” in the 80s ripping some old school Pantera, we get to see a naked man getting tackled and we also get to see fans tribute to Darrell through their good and bad tattoos of him. We truly experience the good the bad and yes even the ugly. “Dimevision Vol. 2: Roll With It Or Get Rolled Over” features lots of vintage footage of Dime, it shows his drunk shenanigans, the firework pranks, and of course the skull crushing rock n roll.
Rita Haney said “We hope to make ‘Dimevision’ an annual thing. It all depends on if the fans want it and support it!”
The DVD/CD set “Dimevision Vol. 2: Roll With It Or Get Rolled Over” will be available November 24th via Metal Blade Records. It will include five previously unreleased demos, raw footage and classic Dimebag moments.
In another news: Dimebag’s girlfriend, Rita Haney, slams Rex Brown’s memoir
“Dimebag” Darrell Abbott‘s longtime girlfriend Rita Haney has criticized Rex Brown‘s book as full of inaccuracies and has described the PANTERA bassist’s portrayal of Vinnie Paul Abbott as “pretty hateful.”
Asked in a new interview with Metal Forces for her opinion of Rex‘s 2013 memoir, “Official Truth, 101 Proof: The Inside Story Of Pantera”, Haney said: “Good lord… It’s not good to write a book when you don’t remember things, and you have other people telling you in your ear, ‘This is how it went down,’ when it didn’t. I got to chapter three, and I felt like I needed to get a highlighter out for things I knew were incorrect. [Laughs] I know where Rex is today, and where is head is. I know he regrets a lot of the things that are in that book. It’s kind of a… I don’t know. How can you write a book when there’s shit you don’t remember?”
Haney also commented on the fact that “Official Truth” seemed to paint the PANTERA drummer in a particularly unfavorable light.
“It seemed [to be a] potshot, like, ‘Let’s try to take some potshots and stab at you,’” Rita said. “And yeah, it was pretty hateful. It’s the pot calling the kettle black. How can you throw stuff out there when you’re just as guilty or guilty of worse things? Some of the stuff is not yours to tell, or yours to judge. And yeah, it was pretty shitty, I would say. I know [Rex] has regrets about that. If he doesn’t, he needs to.”
The late PANTERA guitarist’s girlfriend added that she was open to the idea of one day releasing her own book, telling Metal Forces: “I think it could be kind of fun… I would have no problem writing about mine and Darrell‘s relationship, and we weren’t perfect. We had some pretty rough times a few times, but I also know in the end, the last few years of his life we were the happiest we ever were. I would not trade going through those mistakes because of where we wound up, and it took the horrible mistakes to get where we were. To tell someone else’s business is just not yours to tell, though, unless it directly affects you, and they didn’t tell the truth or something. Yeah, then I can understand defending yourself. A book about this is a touchy thing to write, especially with all of the history all of us have together, without hurting somebody.”
Former PANTERA bassist Rex Brown stopped by the Guitar World studios to talk about some cool PANTERA stuff that not a lot of fans know, plus to discuss his relationship with “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott.
Speaking about the late PANTERA guitarist, Brown said (see video below): “I knew Dime before he even knew how to play a bar chord. His dad kind of taught him… His dad was left-handed. So I think once that… We all know the story and history — once Randy Rhoads came around, it was all over. Dime went from just being a kid that played bar chords to this protégé overnight. And it was the most unreal thing I’ve ever seen in my life — for some kid, all of a sudden, just to do that. Not seeing him for a summer — two or three months — and then [see him] come out this completely different dude. It was amazing. It was really, really cool, man. And I miss him dearly.”
Brown has been publicly critical of the way his 2013 autobiography, “Official Truth, 101 Proof: The Inside Story Of Pantera”, turned out, saying in recent interviews that the book’s publication is partly to blame for the deterioration of his relationship with another former PANTERA member, drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott.
“There was a bunch of shit in my book that was not supposed to be in that book, and I went through ten different edits and they put it in there anyway, and it left a fucking bit of sour in some people’s mouths,” Rex told the “Trunk Nation” radio show last month.
Brown‘s “Official Truth, 101 Proof” co-writer, Scottish author Mark Eglinton, later disputed Brown‘s claims, tweeting: “Just to be totally clear and fair: there’s nothing in the book that shouldn’t have been. It was all signed off. I was there.”
Dimebag, who was Vinnie Paul‘s brother, was shot and killed by a crazed gunman while performing with DAMAGEPLAN at a Columbus, Ohio rock club in December 2004.
METAL GRAVEYARD 