I would like to acknowledge http://panteranet.tripod.com, from whom I got this information
Pantera are:
Philip Hansen Anselmo: Vocals
Darrell Lance Abbot: Guitar
Rex Robert Brown: Bass
Vincent Paul Abbot: Drums
Former Members:
Terrence Lee (a.k.a. Terry Glaze): Vocals (from 1982-1986)
David Peacock: Vocals (1986)
Donny Hart: Vocals (1986)
Matt Lamour: Vocals (1986)
1964 - Vincent Paul Abbott is born on March 11th in Dallas, Texas.
1964 - Rex Brown is born on July 27th in Graham, Texas.
1966 - Darrell Lance Abbot is born on August 20th in Dallas, Texas.
1968 - Philip Anselmo is born on June 30th in New Orleans, Louisiana.
1982 - PanterA is formed by brothers Darrell & Vincent Abbot, Rex Brown and Terry Glaze (later known as Terrance Lee) on vocals. The band name was originally Pantego, named after the town that is just outside Texas. The name was soon changed to Pantera, which means "Panther" in Spanish. They started off playing mainly Van Halen and Kiss covers at their concerts. Vinnie's father, Jerry Abbot, encouraged them to start writing their own material.
1983 - They release their first independent album titled Metal Magic.
1984 - PanterA releases their second independent album titled Projects in the Jungle.
1985 - Their third independent album I Am The Night is released.
1986 - Lee leaves PanterA and is replaced for about a year by David Peacock on vocals who fails to record with PanterA. He leaves in late `86 leaving room for "bad ass" Philip Anselmo to take the mike. Phil auditioned for vocalist of Pantera. He was known back then as 'the original circus freak'. Anselmo got the job, and began playing live shows with Pantera.
1988 - They record their most successful, (30,000+ copies sold), independent album, Power Metal and gain a large underground fan base.
Diamond Darrell had gained himself a name for being one of the metal's best guitarists. In 1989, Darrell was asked to join ex-Metallica guitarist Dave Mustaine's band, Megadeth, but he declined, saying he wished to pursue his career with Pantera.
Looking back at the glam metal albums that Pantera recorded, Vinnie Paul said:
"Yes, we were really poodlehaired wimps back then but since that was the market we did what we thought would sell. I am proud of the albums we did but I wouldn't do them today."
1990 - Pantera sign with East West / Atlantic and release Cowboys From Hell, produced by Terry 'Rope King' Date. The album breaks new ground with its own style and direction. Incorporating raw and aggressive energy with their polished songwriting and emphasising their trademark 'Power Groove', Cowboys From Hell is a worldwide success.
1991 - Cowboys from Hell the Videos is released.
1992 - Vulgar Display Of Power is released! Mouth For War was the first metal single ever to debut at #1 - beating Metallica's "Enter Sandman", while the album topped the U.S. metal charts for weeks on end! Critics are unanimous in their entusiasm...Guitar World raved "Anselmo sings with the fury of a post office psycho" and the Village Voice called Pantera an "angry, cantankerous, ferally aggressive band that channels all the free-floating rage of their enviroment into a murderous mettalic growl".
1992 - The band tears up the 'Monsters Of Rock' festival in Moscow.
1993 - The Vulgar Videos are released.
1993 - PanterA tours the UK and goes into the studio for their next album.
1994 - PanterA release new album, Far Beyond Driven. "It's Fucking Heavy!" quotes singer Philip Anselmo. In March, Far Beyond Driven is released debutting at No. 1 on the Australian and U.S. album charts simultaneously, showing that Heavy Metal is NOT dead! The world tour begins. The true definition of Pantera is their live performance which literally rattles every bone in your body and crushes at your ears like a vice - a sheer hostile takeover... Diamond changes his name to Dimebag.
1996 - The long awaited fourth album, The Great Southern Trendkill, is released May 7th. It was everything everyone expected it to be plus some. It's unfair to compare it to "Vulgar" or any of their previous albums, because here is where the band "Pantera" become one in the same. The Power Groove is now driven by the force of all the members more than ever before... A summer tour is kicked off. PanterA tours throughout most of `96 hitting up such places as Japan, Australia & New Zealand. They finish up the year with a small US tour.
In 1996, Pantera gained their first Grammy nomination for "Suicide Note Pt. I" for Best Metal Performance. They sadly didn't win.
On the 13th of July, 1996, after a show at the Coca-Cola Starplex in Dallas, Texas, Phil Anselmo overdosed on herion and died for four or five minutes. He had to be revived and taken to hospital. He posted this message on the alt.music.pantera newsgroup:
I, Philip H. Anselmo, immediately after a very successful show in Dallas injected a lethal dose of Heroin into my arm, and died for 4 to 5 minutes. There was no lights, no beautiful music, just nothing. And then after 20 minutes (from what I heard later) my friends slapped me and poured water over my head all basically trying to revive me. The paramedics finally arrived and all I remember is waking up in the back of an ambulance. From that point on I knew all I wanted was to be back on the tour bus, going to the next gig. Instead I was going to the hospital where I was released very shortly. You see, I'm not a Heroin Addict. But I am (was) an intravenous drug abuser. The lesson learned here is that every nightmare ever heard about O.D.ing, and or, Heroin is terribly true. And for my friends and family as well as myself and our fans (Pantera, Down Etc.), I since then have recovered completely, the Pantera Tour uninterrupted. I intend to keep it that way! Special Thanks to my Family and Friends who supported me, and the fans who pump me up to the hilt. One message to everyone in this fucking world. I am not a weakling groping for sympathy. I WILL NOT DIE SO EASILY! I'm here to piss off the music press for a long time to come.
Very Sincerely,
Philip Anselmo
1997 - PanterA continues on the road with a small US tour. Suicide Note Pt. I is nominated for the Best Metal Performance Grammy. Then PanterA opens for KISS in March where they play in Mexico, Chile and Argentina. PanterA stays on the road with the OzzFest.
1997 - Official Live: 101 Proof is released July 29th which has 14 live tracks and two tracks of new material. Also the long awaited third home video is released, 3: Watch It Go, on November 11th. It debuts # 1 on Billboard Music Video Chart.
1997 - PanterA ends `97 with a small US tour. PanterA is nominated for Best Metal Performance Grammy for Cemetery Gates from Official Live: 101 Proof
1998 - PanterA starts `98 with another small US tour. Also they plan to tour Europe and go back to the studio for their 10th album!
1998 - They also tour Southamerica, on May 6, they played in Chile.
1999 - In October, Pantera re-released their three home videos onto DVD. This special double DVD box set included the three home videos on one DVD, and some unreleased footage from the Monsters Of Rock Festival, which was held in 1991.
2000 - Reinventing the Steel is released March 21st with 10 new tracks. In it's first week of release, it sold 161 000 copies in the USA and debuted at number four on the American Billboard Charts. It also debuted at number two on the Australia Record Industry Charts.
