BLABBERMOUTH.NET
Rex Brown says that
Zakk Wylde wouldn't be involved with a hypothetical tour celebrating the music of
PANTERA.
The former
PANTERA bassist discussed the band's legacy during a new interview with
Eonmusic. Speaking about how huge
PANTERA would be if the band was able to tour now,
Rex said: "It would be sold-out stadium shows. Offers still come in for
Philip [
Anselmo, former
PANTERA singer] and I to do it if we wanted to, but if you don't have the other guys in the band, it's not going to sound the same. If we were ever to do something like that, it would have to be spot-on, or I wouldn't do it. It would be a tribute."
When
Eonmusic interviewer
Eamon O’Neill added that he wasn't about to ask the usual question about a reunion with
Wylde taking the place of late
PANTERA guitarist
"Dimebag" Darrell Abbott,
Rex offered: "It's going to come up, and it wouldn't be
Zakk Wylde, I guarantee you that. I've just put it out there so we can get on past it."
In February 2020,
Dimebag's longtime girlfriend
Rita Haney said she would "definitely" be in favor of
Anselmo,
Brown and
Wylde teaming up for a
PANTERA tribute tour. A few days later,
Brown weighed in on her comments, writing on
Twitter: "I wanna make sure that ppl understand what I'm about to tweet.. It's not up to
Rita to say what will happen, only what
Philip & I say...I'm in!! Dig?!?!?"
Rita discussed the possibility of the former
PANTERA members and the
OZZY OSBOURNE guitarist paying tribute to
Dimebag and his brother
Vinnie Paul Abbott while speaking to
"The Blairing Out With Eric Blair Show" on the red carpet of the
Ronnie James Dio 10th Memorial Awards Gala at the Avalon in Los Angeles. She said: "I don't think there could be a
PANTERA reunion, but I think that his two remaining brothers,
Rex and
Philip, if they wanted to honor
Darrell and
Vinnie, as far as where I'm coming from and what I believe
Darrell would believe — because he was the most forgiving person that I know — I believe that he would be honored. It's kind of a cliché to say, but he truly would be grateful that he meant that much to them. And I think if they wanna honor their fallen brothers with a tribute, I think that that's great. But as far as trying to say put
PANTERA back together,
PANTERA tribute, this and that, no — that's distasteful without those other guys. But I think as a tribute, it would be a really great thing. Because I know, from a fan's point, if I hadn't been able to see them play or hear those songs — the songs, they mean so much to me; I can imagine [they do to] other people as well. I think it's great that they can at least see it performed, and by people that truly love 'em. So, yeah, I think it would be a really cool thing."
When asked to clarify if she would "be okay with a tour," she responded: "I definitely would. I'd wanna be at every show. [
Laughs]"
In 2019,
Anselmo told Chile's
Humo Negro that he would consider getting together with
Wylde and
Brown and performing
PANTERA's classic songs in concert. "Well,
Zakk is a busy man," he said. "He does his own band, he does stuff with
Ozzy and all that stuff. We spoke about it maybe one time. And I think everybody —
everybody — is… I guess they're like me. Keep an open mind about it. We'll see. But I know from all the hard work with [
Anselmo's]
THE ILLEGALS [project] here to make those songs right, all of us, we would have to take time off and really practice together and get everything perfect. So it's a lot of work. And I'm doing a lot of bands, man, right now. [But] if everything was lined up, I would do it — sure. Fuck yeah! Why not?"
Zakk was also open to the idea, telling
"The Cassius Morris Show" in October 2019: "When
Saint Vinnie was still around, they were talking about it then. I mean, the way I always looked at it is it's a
PANTERA celebration and an honor. I mean, every night I'm playing with
Ozz, we honor
Saint Rhoads [late
Ozzy guitarist
Randy Rhoads]. I'm playing the
Randy stuff every night, and I'm blessed and it's an honor to do it. Basically, we're paying tribute to
Randy every night — keeping his music alive.
"If we got together and we ended up doing it, it would be like… I just look at it like if
Eric Clapton went out and was with
Mitch [
Mitchell,
Jimi Hendrix's drummer] and
Noel [
Redding,
Hendrix's bass player] and singing and playing
Jimi's songs, and he's honoring
Jimi, 'cause that was his buddy.
"No one's replacing anybody. No one's replacing
Randy Rhoads — he was a one-off. Just like no one's replacing
Jimi Hendrix and no one's replacing
Dime [late
PANTERA guitarist
'Dimebag' Darrell Abbott] — or
Vinnie.
"If [
LED]
ZEPPELIN was going out, and if
Jason's [
Bonham] playing drums, no one's replacing his father. What they're doing is celebrating his father's greatness and what he achieved and all the mountains he conquered with
ZEPPELIN. It's more of a tribute and a celebration than it is... You can't replace any of these people I'm talking about — they're all legendary guys. But, yeah, you're just celebrating all their achievements — that's all."
Talk about a possible
PANTERA "reunion" intensified when
Anselmo regularly joined
Wylde's
BLACK LABEL SOCIETY to perform
PANTERA's song
"I'm Broken" during
DOWN's 2014 stint on the
"Revolver Golden Gods Tour". That buzz only got stronger after
Brown joined the jam on May 23, 2014 when the tour swung through Texas.
Up until his passing in June 2018,
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.