Pantera

Pantera formed in Arlington, Texas, in the early 1980s, taking their name from the De Tomaso Pantera car after briefly going by Gemini and Eternity. The original lineup, built around brothers Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul Abbott, worked through several singers and bassists before settling into a glam metal band fronted by Terry Glaze, releasing three albums that made little impact.

Phil Anselmo joined as vocalist in 1986, and the band pushed toward a heavier sound with Power Metal in 1988 before signing to Atco. Cowboys from Hell, released in 1990, is the record the band later called its true debut, and it introduced the groove metal style built on Dimebag's sharp, harmonically squealing riffs and a rhythm section that swapped thrash speed for heavy mid-tempo swing.

Vulgar Display of Power (1992) pushed the sound further, and Far Beyond Driven (1994) went straight to number one on the Billboard 200. Anselmo's touring schedule and worsening back pain led him into heroin use, and he nearly died of an overdose in 1996, the same year The Great Southern Trendkill was recorded with the band working separately from one another.

The tension never fully resolved. Pantera went on hiatus in 2001 and split for good in 2003, with the Abbott brothers forming Damageplan and Anselmo continuing other projects, including Down, which Rex Brown later joined. Dimebag Darrell was shot and killed onstage during a Damageplan concert in December 2004; Vinnie Paul, who went on to lead Hellyeah, died of heart failure in 2018.

Anselmo and Brown revived the Pantera name in 2022, touring with Zakk Wylde and Charlie Benante standing in for the Abbott brothers on guitar and drums. The band has sold around 20 million records worldwide and received four Grammy nominations, and is widely credited with developing and popularizing groove metal in the 1990s.