Anselmo: I sucked on BLS Pantera tribute

Phil Anselmo says he “sucked” during a recent live performance of Pantera classic I'm Broken.

The modest Down frontman joined Black Label Society on stage to perform the track and later said Zakk Wylde’s band “played the fuck out of it” in New York last month. But it appears he wasn’t as impressed with his own contribution.

On a YouTube video of the performance, a comment was posted by ‘Phil’ under the Housecore Records account. It reads: “Dear lovers and haters. I adore you all, and I must admit one thing here and now: my voice was fried.

“Too many reasons to list here, but I did the Down set, waited an hour, drinking and smoking reasonably, and basically, I sucked. I admit it completely, you are correct.”

It appears Anselmo was responding to some negative comments from fans, and he did say that when he is properly rehearsed, he is capable of singing Pantera’s post-Cowboys From Hell material.

He adds: “When I put my damn mind to it and commit, I can nail all these tunes, to a certain degree. Forget Cemetery Gates type stuff, but damn near anything post CFH is mine. Thanks for the comments, and I wish y’all awesomeness in your lives! Hail! Hail!”

Anselmo has seemingly dismissed any chance of a Pantera reformation, but has said he is open to recording music with Zakk Wydle in memory of late Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell.

From Hell – The story behind Cowboys From Hell

See Phil Anselmo and BLS perform I’m Broken in New York

Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022.