Vinnie Paul ‘floored’ by Christina Grimmie shooting

Vinnie Paul at the KBAT studios
Vinnie Paul at the KBAT studios

Former Pantera drummer Vinnie Paul says he was “floored” by the recent killing of US talent show star Christina Grimmie.

The Voice singer, 22, was shot while signing autographs after a performance in St Petersburg, Orlando, Florida, earlier this month. She was attacked by 26-year-old Kevin James Loibl who then took his own life following a struggle with Grimmie’s brother.

Following the incident, Pantera’s Facebook page issued a statement saying Grimmie’s death brought back memories of the 2004 shooting of guitarist Dimebag Darrell while onstage with his band Damageplan.

And when asked about the recent shooting by radio station KBAT, Paul says: “It just floored me, man. I never thought it would happen again. And that’s really almost the same scenario that happened to my brother.

“It’s just unbelievable that there’s still people that are that fanatical and that crazy out there in today’s world that we don’t have enough security to keep that from happening.”

“It’s a dangerous world, man. You’ve got to keep your eyes and ears peeled and be on the alert all the time.”

Pantera’s Facebook post also called on the music industry, club owners and promoters to “do whatever they needed to do to protect artists from gun wielding fanatics.”

They also payed tribute to Grimmie, Dimebag and the three other people killed at the Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio, on the night Darrell was murdered – Jeff Thompson, Erin Halk and Nathan Bray.

Dimebag can be heard on Hellyeah’s recently released fifth album Undeniable. He appears on their cover of Phil Collins track I Don’t Care Anymore.

Vinnie Paul ready to return to city where Dimebag died

Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent more than 30 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving to the e-commerce team in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, scouts out the best deals for music fans and reviews headphones, speakers, books and more. He's written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog and has previous written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.