Pantera to reunite after 20 years with 2023 tour: All you need to know

American heavy metal band Pantera has announced a reunion tour with its surviving members, nearly 20 years after it got disbanded. No dates have been announced by the band as of yet. Additionally, Dennis Arfa and Peter Pappalardo of Artist Group International have been roped in as the band's agents.

In a statement, Peter Pappalardo said,

“We are thrilled to be working with such an iconic band and bringing their music back to the fans.”

According to Billboard, the band will headline significant festivals across North America and Europe next year. They will also host some of their headline concerts in 2023.

The band will reunite after 20 years since they last performed as Pantera in 2001. The reunion will feature Philip Anselmo and Rex Brown. Their guitarist Dimebag Darrell passed away in 2004 while performing on stage, and his brother, drummer Vinnie Paul passed away in 2018 due to a heart disease.

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Who will perform at the Pantera 2023 reunion tour?

The 2023 reunion tour of the band will feature surviving members of Pantera, Philip Anselmo, and Rex Brown. They will be joined by guitarist Zakk Wylde and Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante, according to a report by Billboard. Wylde is the lead guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne.

Wylde is separately scheduled to tour Europe with Osbourne on his No More Tours 2 outing for seven weeks between early May and mid-June. The tour was initially announced in 2018 but kept getting delayed over Covid concerns.

Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante, who is filling in for Vinnie Paul, has been close to the band since the mid-1980s. In 1983, Benante joined Anthrax and has been the band's drummer ever since. Benant is also a member of a crossover thrash band, Stormtroopers of Death.

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More about Pantera

Pantera is regarded as one of the most influential and successful bands in heavy metal history. The band's lineup consisted of the Abbott brothers - drummer Vinnie Paul and guitarist Dimebag Darrell, along with bassist Rex Brown and lead vocalist Phil Anselmo. The band is known for being part of the second wave of the thrash metal scene from the late 1980s to early-to-mid 1990s.

The band released nine albums throughout their career, including a 1990 breakthrough album, Cowboys From Hell. It was followed by Vulgar Display of Power in 1992, which featured one of the biggest hits, Walk. In 1994, they released their most successful album Far Beyond Driven.

The band went on a hiatus in 2001 and broke up in 2003 due to lingering disputes. After the band's breakup, the Abbott brothers formed Damageplan while Anselmo worked on side projects and was joined by Brown.

After Dimebag Darrell died in 2004, Vinnie Paul went on to form Hellyeah. He was a member of the band till 2018, after which he passed away due to heart-related complications. Brown and Anselmo are the only surviving members of the band's original lineup.