Following is an update from journalist Greg Prato:

"On June 22, 2018, news broke that drummer Vinnie Paul had died in his sleep at his home in Las Vegas, Nevada, at the age of 54. Best known as the drummer for Pantera and as the brother of the late guitar great Dimebag Darrell (as well as the drummer for Damageplan and Hellyeah), Vinnie inspired an entire generation of drummers with his hard-hitting playing on such now-headbanger standards as 'Cowboys from Hell', 'Domination', and 'This Love'. 

During the '90s, Pantera could single-handedly be credited with keeping heavy metal alive. While many veteran bands either lost singers (Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Anthrax) and/or lost their way (Metallica, Megadeth, Mötley Crüe) as the decade wore on, Pantera - whose classic line-up consisted of singer Phil Anselmo, Dimebag, bassist Rex Brown, and Vinnie - issued a string of classic albums comprised of 100% pure metal, tops being 1990's Cowboys From Hell, 1992's Vulgar Display Of Power, and 1994's Far Beyond Driven.

In 2015, I tried to make sense of this troubling decade for metal, with the book Survival of the Fittest: Heavy Metal in the 1990's, which included all-new interviews with members of Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Kiss, Def Leppard, Guns N' Roses, Nirvana, and Nine Inch Nails, and of course, Pantera. Here are parts from a chapter in the book, entitled "You Could Count On The Cowboys," in which Pantera's importance is fully explored - and also, can now serve as a tribute to Vinnie Paul and his musical accomplishments."

An excerpt from Prato's tribute is available below.

Rex Brown: "Metallica puts out The Black Album, and of course, it's a great record in hindsight. But at the same time, all the thrash leading up into that movement, it was kind of a disappointment to the fans that were waiting for them to put out another Master Of Puppets. They went in kind of a different direction. We had been on the road since '89, through '92. We had put out Cowboys From Hell, and then Vulgar Display Of Power. When we put out Vulgar, we've got this huge following, and there's a little, itty-bitty hole here, where we can possibly jump through and carry the genre that we loved. And we came out with Far Beyond Driven, that hit #1 on the charts (in 1994)."

Phil Anselmo: "That's a tough call, man (if Pantera was the top metal band of the '90s). Because there was - and always has been, since I've been in the business - a band named Slayer, that's very tough to argue that they were anything but heavy metal or thrash metal... which I think go hand-in-hand. I don't know, we were definitely one of them. And I think with the rapport I had with the audience, I made it very well known that we were a heavy metal band and proud to be that. So maybe that's why people might say we were the 'top heavy metal band.' But once again, at the same time, in the underground, there were really some very heavy metal bands - whether it was black metal or death metal. You cannot deny the 'metal' part of it. As far as commercially selling big, perhaps we were the top metal band aside from Metallica, who during the '90s, kind of fell from grace a little bit. But maybe it's not for me to decide. Maybe it's best that everybody else has chimed in on this."

Rob Halford (Judas Priest): "When Pantera broke through with Cowboys From Hell, it was a very exciting, potent time in metal. You have this unbelievable guitar player who was doing things that no one else was doing. Just a basic four-piece making such a noise. And the fact that we were able to take the band out with us to Europe for the first time, nobody had a clue about Pantera. And remember as well, this is just about the time when the Internet is kicking in, so prior to that, the only way you communicate is with magazines. So the word was spreading in the underground metal scene in America. But outside of there, they were completely unknown. And I used to stand on the side of the stage and watch them walk out and play, and the Priest audience would be looking, and they'd fire up 'Cowboys From Hell', and they'd just be sheer stunned. In shock and awe. By the time they'd finish their set, they had everybody in their back pocket, because everybody knew they were witnessing the birth of an incredibly powerful, important, great metal band."

Read more here.

The official Pantera Facebook page has announced A Public Celebration Of Life event for late drummer Vinnie Paul.

The event will take place on July 1st at 3:33 PM at The Bomb Factory in Dallas, TX. There are no advance tickets, lines, or lists. The line for wristbands to the event will begin 12 PM on the day of the event.

Las Vegas Review-Journal columnist John Katsilometes reports that the death of Vinnie Paul “did not appear suspicious” according to the official report of the event recorded by Metropolitan Police officers.

According to records of the event, officers were dispatched to a dead-body call at 5:41 PM on Friday (June 22nd) on the 6900 block of Procyon Street (Paul lived on Procyon). Medical personnel were summoned, and Paul was pronounced dead at the scene.

Metro spokeswoman Laura Meltzer added that responding officers did not take such further action as calling homicide detectives to the scene, further indication that Paul was considered medically deceased.

The Clark County coroner’s office has since picked up the investigation into the cause and manner of Paul’s death. The founder of the bands Pantera and Hellyeah died at age 54. Clark County spokesman Dan Kulin said today that official cause of Paul’s death is still pending and would likely take several days to be issued.

Updates to follow.