JERRY CANTRELL On PANTERA Comeback: 'I Think It's A Cool Celebration Of The Music'

ALICE IN CHAINS guitarist/vocalist Jerry Cantrell has weighed in on the fact that PANTERA's surviving members Philip Anselmo (vocals) and Rex Brown (bass) have united with guitarist Zakk Wylde (OZZY OSBOURNE, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY) and drummer Charlie Benante (ANTHRAX) for a world tour under the PANTERA banner.

Anselmo and Brown, along with Wylde and Benante, are headlining a number of major festivals across North America, South America and Europe and staging some of their own headline concerts. They are also supporting METALLICA on a massive stadium tour in Europe and North America.

According to Billboard, the lineup has been given a green light by the estates of the band's founders, drummer Vincent "Vinnie Paul" Abbott and guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, as well as Brown, who in 2021 said Wylde wouldn't tour with PANTERA if a reunion were to happen. It's unclear what changed his mind.

Cantrell discussed his views on the PANTERA comeback in a new interview with Lipps Service With Scott Lipps. Asked if he has had a chance to catch one of the shows on the "celebration" tour, Jerry said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I have. I saw them with METALLICA, I think at SoFi [Stadium in Los Angeles], and I've seen many, many clips of the guys.

"I'm really glad that they're doing that," he continued. "I think it's a cool celebration of the music. Also, being in a band with a couple of key members who are not here, I know that that takes a certain type of courage to get up there and celebrate what you did, and you wanna do it as well as you can for the fans that wanna see it. And Zakk and Charlie do a great job. I mean, I don't think it could have been done with either one of those guys out of the mix."

Back in December 2004, just a couple of days after Dimebag was murdered, Cantrell told the Dallas Morning News that the PANTERA guitarist was a one-of-a-kind character — a hard-partying Yosemite Sam who had a tender, more nurturing side.

"He was a deep soul," Cantrell said. "He was always there with a smile ... which is why this doesn't make any sense at all. Why would anyone have a beef with him?"

Cantrell recalled the time Dimebag borrowed his Yukon truck and returned it full of graffiti and adhesive stickers. "That's the kind of guy he was. ... He loved to pull pranks on you. ... He always had a joke and a smile."

In a 2018 interview with Rolling Stone, Jerry said that he knew Vinnie Paul and Dimebag longer "than I've known the guys in my own band." He explained: "I met Vinnie and Dime in '85… Back then, I had quit college with a couple buddies of mine and was working doing asbestos abatement all around the Dallas and Houston area, where I lived for about a year. We got paid really well to do it because it's a shit job, but what we would do is we'd work all day and then we'd go to clubs at night and check out bands. And there was a great club called Cardi's where rock bands came through all the time. I saw Yngwie Malmsteen there. I saw TALAS there. And I saw PANTERA there, when they had Terry Glaze singing.

"I loved their band. I was mesmerized by Darrell, and I loved how Vinnie played. I remember we talked a little bit after their show and we just hit it off. So, actually, I knew Vinnie and Dime longer than I've known the guys in my own band. I didn't meet Layne [Staley] and Sean [Kinney] and Mike [Starr] until I was 21. I was 19 when I met Vinnie. That's a long time, man. We reconnected a few years later when they had found Phil, and PANTERA came out with 'Cowboys From Hell' and we came out with 'Facelift'.

"Vinnie and Dime, they both had such a great sense of humor. At the same time, Vinnie was a guy who was extremely driven. A smart guy who could think on a lot of different levels — not just rockin' out, but also about business. I think early on he was probably the guy who handled a lot of that stuff. He was a smart cookie. And he was a true fan of rock and roll, like myself. That's why we both wanted to do it. We wanted to do what our heroes did, and do it well, at the top level you could do it at. And Vinnie did that.

"PANTERA were a revolutionary band for metal, and he completely influenced a whole generation of drummers. The way he played, the way he sounded — he had a kind of industrial sound to his drum. Nobody else was like him. And the motherfucker's meter was just spot on. I never heard him get off the groove or miss a beat, ever. He was a fucking machine.

"In whatever he did, Vinnie lived his life unapologetically. I always respected that about him. He was a guy who achieved his dreams, and worked his ass off to get there. And he always tried to have a good time doing it. And he and Dime were always really great with their fans. No matter the circumstance or how shitty they might be feeling, they wouldn't miss an opportunity to take a picture with somebody or have a shot with them. They went out of their way to make every person feel welcome and at ease and create a good time for them.

"When Dime was killed, that was such a shock to all of us. But the fact that Vinnie had to live with the vision of that, it still haunts me to this day. Goddamn. I can't even get my mind around that. But he had his own path."

Up until his passing, Vinnie remained on non-speaking terms with Anselmo, whom the drummer indirectly blamed for Dimebag's death.

Vinnie Paul and Dimebag co-founded PANTERA. When PANTERA broke up in 2003, they formed DAMAGEPLAN. On December 8, 2004, while performing with DAMAGEPLAN at the Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio, Dimebag was shot and killed onstage by a troubled schizophrenic who believed that the members of PANTERA were stealing his thoughts.

Vinnie passed away on June 22, 2018 at his other home in Las Vegas at the age of 54. He died of dilated cardiomyopathy, an enlarged heart, as well as severe coronary artery disease. His death was the result of chronic weakening of the heart muscle — basically meaning his heart couldn't pump blood as well as a healthy heart.