# Vinnie Paul, Pantera Drummer, Dies At 54 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 28, 2018, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vinnie-paul-pantera-drummer-dies-at-54/816958 "2018-06-28T23:17:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2018, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vinnie-paul-pantera-drummer-dies-at-54/816958/1 "2018-06-28T23:17:35Z")
How did I not hear about this? He died on June 22. [Cause Of Death Was Reportedly A ‘Major Heart Attack,’](https://www.inquisitr.com/4957173/pantera-drummer-vinnie-pauls-cause-of-death-was-reportedly-a-major-heart-attack-per-review-journal/) Much too young to go. RIP Vinne. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2018, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vinnie-paul-pantera-drummer-dies-at-54/816958/2 "2018-06-28T23:31:26Z")
The news didn’t really break until Monday. Dad Jerry is the only member of the family left; he’s like 76 years old now. At least Vinnie was lucky enough to have been able to do this niche activity for a living AND he was able to excel at it for decades; that’s so, so rare not just in the music business but in life: to do what you want, all the time. I’ve already got a trip to the dispensary planned for tonight to get something special; I’ll listen to all my favorites of his to while away the early part of the evening. In semi-hijack related news, [Steve Soto](https://apnews.com/c967bb23536745f3b5bead7bc2c99671/Steve-Soto,-founder-of-punk-stalwarts-Adolescents,-dies) (Agent Orange, Adolescents) passed away today; 54 years old. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2018, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vinnie-paul-pantera-drummer-dies-at-54/816958/3 "2018-06-28T23:43:56Z")
We blasted Cemetery Gates at the bar and did shots in his honor. _tear_ ---
**Author:** ![BobBitchin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ea924/32.png) [@BobBitchin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobBitchin)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2018, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vinnie-paul-pantera-drummer-dies-at-54/816958/4 "2018-06-28T23:45:00Z")
No words.☹ He was always a decent guy, no one I knew had a bad word to say about him. RIP ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2018, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vinnie-paul-pantera-drummer-dies-at-54/816958/5 "2018-06-28T23:57:40Z")
I was trapped in a dark resort ballroom for the past week, waiting for bad things to happen, so my posting was somewhat limited but I did see that Christopher Krovatin, who’s an excellent metal writer, wrote a great piece for VICE the other day: [Why Vinnie Paul’s Fun-Loving Legacy Is So Important to Metal](https://noisey.vice.com/en_us/article/435znm/vinnie-paul-pantera-metal-legacy). It’s actually a very thoughtful article on metal and the genre’s relationship with death as well as dichotomies, sums of the whole, and why what matters is worth fighting for. Here’s how it starts out: > [@](#): > > But in 2008, I was totally uninterested in Camp Vinnie, because I had always been the dark outsider. I was all about listening to the ugliest, weirdest shit I could find, and was obsessed with metal outcasts like Dave Wyndorf and Will Rahmer. In my mind, the biggest arena bands and the smallest underground acts were operating on the same level, and to choose one over the other based on the size of their fanbase was as false as it got (I still remember my open-mouthed outrage when a Revolver editor once said to me, “Yeah, but who gives a shit about what Nifelheim thinks?”) > > In short, I was a twenty-something headbanger who felt like he needed to prove himself, and having, grown up reading Revolver—hey, they covered Emperor and Opeth—I knew what I was in for with Vinnie Paul’s column: good-timey country boy bullshit with too many exclamation points and a lot of talk about getting laid. So I wasn’t all that psyched about this assignment. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2018, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vinnie-paul-pantera-drummer-dies-at-54/816958/6 "2018-06-30T13:28:57Z")
Just wanted to chime in. Most drummers listen to the bass player. Paul listened to his brother. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2018, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vinnie-paul-pantera-drummer-dies-at-54/816958/7 "2018-06-30T14:05:51Z")
This sucks. Vinnie was truly a nice guy.