In a deeply personal new interview, Mudvayne frontman Chad Gray has paid a powerful tribute to his late Hellyeah bandmate and “great friend,” Vinnie Paul Abbott. He remembered the Pantera drummer as a key mentor who “taught me a lot” and an unwavering supporter who “embraced everything I did.” The warm reflection adds a new layer to his complex feelings about the ongoing Pantera celebration tour, which he knows Vinnie was staunchly against.
Speaking with the 96.7 KCAL-FM program “Wired In The Empire,” Gray, who played with the legendary drummer for 12 years in Hellyeah, shared his fond memories of their friendship and creative partnership.
“I think about Vin every day. He was a great friend, man. He taught me a lot,” Gray said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth). “Anytime he was, like, ‘This is how me and my brother [‘Dimebag’ Darrell Abbott] used to do it,’ I’m just, like, all ears… But he would share that stuff with me, man. And he always supported me, man. He loved what I did. He loved my lyrics. He loved my melody. He loved that I could sing. He loved that I could yell. He loved that I could scream. He loved and he embraced everything I did. That was really amazing.”
He recalled looking up to the Abbott brothers as “royalty” and said their famous home videos “trained me to be a rock star.” He also praised Vinnie‘s humble and approachable nature, despite being a “mega star.” “Anybody anytime ever came up to Vinnie, he would always sign autographs, he would always take pictures. And I’ve always been that way,” Gray added.
These warm memories stand in complex contrast to Gray‘s previously stated feelings about the current Pantera tour, which features surviving members Philip Anselmo and Rex Brown with Zakk Wylde and Charlie Benante. Gray, who had countless conversations with Vinnie on the topic, is adamant that his late friend was completely against any form of reunion.
In a past interview, Gray stated: “When I hear that and I hear how passionately he said that, and I know how much he meant it… Pantera was done ’cause his brother was dead.”
While he understands why fans are excited to hear the classic songs live, he finds the situation difficult to process because he knows his friend’s wishes. “It’s hard for me because Vinnie was my bro and I know how he felt about it. And he didn’t have a say,” he said previously. “It seems like kind of a cheat that they’re not here to be a part of it, something that they built with their own hands.”
