Surviving Pantera members Phil Anselmo and Rex Brown have announced that they will reunite for the first Pantera tour since their 2003 breakup.
It has nearly been two decades since Pantera parted ways, and the surviving members of the group are set to hit the road for a long-awaited reunion tour in 2023 for the 20th anniversary of their last performance together.
The Texan heavy metal group was originally formed in 1981. They released nine albums up to their latest, Reinventing the Steel in 2000. Since the band’s split in 2003, two of the original lineup have sadly passed away, drummer Vincent Paul Abbott (Vinnie Paul) and his brother and lead guitarist Darrell Lance Abbott (Dimebag Darrell). The latter died in 2004 after being shot onstage by an invading member of the crowd while the former died in 2018 from coronary artery disease.
The remaining members have now signed a new deal with Artist Group International to book their North American tour dates. Dennis Arfa and peter Pappalardo have been nominated as their responsible agents.
“We are thrilled to be working with such an iconic band and bringing their music back to the fans,” said Pappalardo. “It’s unclear who will fill in for the [Abbott] brothers on the tour. Last year, Anselmo told podcaster Paolo Baron that he and bassist Rex Brown had been discussing a reunion tour for a few months, but didn’t give any hints other than Brown stating emphatically that a rumoured comeback with Black Label Society’s Zakk Wylde on guitar was not happening.”
As stated above, Anselmo and Brown haven’t yet given the word on who might replace the late Abbott brothers, but as key foundational members of the original lineup, the newly announced reunion has received criticism.
In 2019, Phil Anselmo performed Pantera sets as an opening act for Slayer’s final tour. Watch footage from the performance below as a taster of things to come.
