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Vinnie Paul

Vincent Paul "Vinnie" Abbott aka “The Brick Wall” founded the heavy metal group Pantera in 1981 with his little brother Darrell “Dimebag” Abbott on guitar, along with bassist Rex “Rocker” Brown, and vocalist Terry Glaze. The band put out three albums with a simply over the top power/glam metal approach. Pantera then recruited, in 1988, a New Orleans vocalist by the name of Philip H Anselmo (the “H”standing for Hansen and not Hercules, as the gutsy singer claims at times), who was brought in to take the band where Glaze simply could not. As the story goes from there, the band got lucky when a 'stormed in' Atco Records executive is waiting it out at a local bar only to witness the band perform and change the course of heavy metal history forever. Pantera was signed on the spot and went on to release the classic Cowboys From Hell album in 1990, which would prove to be the band's major breakthrough. Over the course of four more studio records, a live album and a greatest hits collection, Philip H Anselmo, Vinnie Paul, Dimebag Darrell, and Rex: the mighty Texas musical giant that was Pantera, were nominated for four best metal performance Grammys between 1995 and 2001.

Raise your horns UP and salute one of metal's all-time great drummers on his birthday:

Happy Birthday, Vinnie Paul!