Despite the recent controversy and cancellations, Pantera is getting ready to take the stage in Denmark on June 15 for their reunion tour. In the middle of this tour and ahead of their forthcoming dates with Metallica, Zakk Wylde spoke to Guitar World about his past relationship with the band and addressed the dispute between Phil Anselmo and Vinnie Paul.
In 2014, there were speculations that the guitarist wanted to join Anselmo and Rex Brown for a potential Pantera reunion with Vinnie Paul. The band’s new member recently confirmed that these rumors were rooted in a suggestion he had made to the band members at that time.
In the interview, he said:
“I told Vinnie and the fellas, ‘If you guys ever wanted to do it, of course, I would be there for you to support you and to support Dime. Just tell me what I need to learn, and I’ll learn it.’ There were all these conversations circling around.”
When asked whether the conflict between the band’s vocalist and drummer was resolved, Wylde explained:
“I have no idea where Vinnie was with Phil back then. Like I said, I don’t get involved with that stuff. I’m not saying this [group of performers] is Pantera. I just want to honor Dime and the band.
It’s like asking Eric Clapton, ‘If Mitch [Mitchell] and Noel [Redding] said, Would you honor Jimi and go out and play and sing with us?’ Of course, Clapton’s gonna say yes. It’s not even a matter of saying yes. You have to do this. So if they ask you to do it, you do it.”
Around that time, it was known that Paul was clear with his decision about Pantera. He had limited contact with his former bandmates following Dimebag Darrell’s death, as confirmed by Rex Brown in a 2017 interview with SiriusXM’s ‘Trunk Nation.’
Brown’s words about the situation read:
“Philip and I have been tight forever. Vinnie – we’ve reached out a couple of times in e-mails and stuff like that ’cause we still have business to run. … You never say never. This life that we have is too short, too precious. There’s no hard blood between Philip and I. It’s just Vinnie will not speak with either one of us.”
In a separate 2022 interview with Gibson TV, the bassist explained Vinnie’s decision to cut contact. Referring to comments made by Anselmo about Dimebag Darrell just before his death, he said:
“[Vinnie] would not have anything to do with Phil — period. He thought that that was the reason his brother was dead. I disagree with that. I think this was a nut that had already been out there planning and premeditating whatever move he was gonna make.”
Vinnie Paul’s last performance took place in Las Vegas in 2018. Almost a week later, he died at the age of 54 due to heart disease.