VINNIE PAUL's Death 'Did Not Appear Suspicious'

According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the official cause and manner of Vinnie Paul Abbott's death is still pending. Clark County spokesman Dan Kulin said that information will likely take several days to be issued.

Vinnie Paul passed away on Friday (June 22) at his home in Las Vegas at the age of 54. The former PANTERA drummer's death "did not appear suspicious," according to the official report of the event recorded by Metropolitan Police officers.

Officers were dispatched to a dead-body call at 5:41 p.m. Friday. Medical personnel were summoned, and Vinnie Paul was pronounced dead at the scene.

After an official cause of death has been determined, Vinnie's body will be flown to Texas to be buried between his mother and brother.

Abbott's brother, guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, was shot to death in December 2004 while performing onstage. The Abbotts founded the bands PANTERA and DAMAGEPLAN together. After Dimebag's death, Vinnie Paul joined singer Chad Gray and other members of MUDVAYNE and NOTHINGFACE in HELLYEAH, who have released five albums.

While Vinnie Paul managed to carve out a second phase to his career even after the horrific tragedy of what happened to his brother, it's his staccato drumming and thunderous sound of PANTERA for which he'll be most remembered — as the backbeat for one of the most influential metal acts of all time.

In a 2010 interview with The Pulse Of Radio, Vinnie stated about the 20th anniversary of PANTERA's "Cowboys From Hell" album: "It's pretty amazing, man, it's pretty amazing, and you know, the great thing about it is that I think the record stood the test of time without a doubt. I think it still sounds amazing, the songs are pretty untouchable, the energy that we had on that record was pretty untouchable. You know, after being turned down by every record label 27, 28 times, we knew that we were a great live band — I think it all came through in the record when we were playing it."