Pantera joined onstage by Lamb of God’s Randy Blythe and Dimebag Darrell’s longtime girlfriend Rita Haney at Texas show
Pantera kicked off their first headline tour in 22 years earlier this month.
Image: Theo Wargo/Getty Images
Pantera were joined onstage by Lamb of God frontman Randy Blythe and the longtime girlfriend of late guitarist Dimebag Darrell at a recent Texas show.
After the band went on hiatus in 2003, they reformed to play their first show in two decades last year. And last week, they kicked off their first headline tour in 22 years in Pennsylvania.
Of the classic lineup, just frontman Phil Anselmo and bassist Rex Brown remain, after Dimebag and his brother, drummer Vinnie Paul, died in 2004 and 2018 respectively.
Zakk Wylde, best known as Ozzy Osbourne‘s former lead guitarist and the frontman of Black Label Society, is filling in on guitar for the tour. On the drums is Charlie Benate of Anthrax and Stormtroopers of Death.
Last Thursday (17 August) they played Mitchell Pavilion in The Woodlands, Texas, and performed their song Walk. Blythe, who’s currently supporting Pantera with Lamb of God, appears on stage along with Dimebag’s girlfriend Rita Haney to sing part of the track.
Dimebag was shot dead in 2004 while on tour with his other band, Damageplan. He was one of four people shot dead by a deranged fan, before the fan was shot and killed by a police officer.
His older brother, who he co-founded Damageplan with, was also a member of Hellyeah until he died in 2018 from dilated cardiomyopathy and coronary artery disease.
As well as appearing on stage with his old band, Haney shared a tribute to Dimebag on Instagram on Sunday (20 August) to mark what would have been his 57th birthday.
After a Pantera show in Austin, Texas, she wrote: “HB my sweet. Thank you so much Austin for bringing it for the birthday boy. We survived the heat together!!! You made a magical day even more special! Thank you for coming out and celebrating this man”.
You can watch the performance of Walk here: