CHAD GREY Says Reuniting HELLYEAH With out VINNIE PAUL Would Nonetheless Really feel “Bizarre”

Years after Hellyeah paid tribute to their late drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott, frontman Chad Grey has opened up about why a full-fledged reunion nonetheless feels off-limits.

Simply months earlier than the COVID-19 pandemic shut down touring worldwide, Hellyeah wrapped up a run of U.S. reveals honoring Vinnie Paul, the Pantera legend who died in June 2018 at age 54. His official reason for dying was dilated cardiomyopathy (an enlarged coronary heart) together with extreme coronary artery illness.

Now, roughly six years since he final carried out with the band, Grey tells Rock Feed that the thought of reviving Hellyeah — particularly whereas Mudvayne is on hiatus — is much extra emotionally advanced than followers would possibly understand.

“It is, like, [people say], ‘Why do not you simply put Hellyeah again collectively since Mudvayne‘s taking the yr off?'” Grey defined. “It is, like, there’s plenty of ache, there’s plenty of heartache with that.”

For Grey, the excellence between honoring Vinnie Paul and transferring ahead with out him is essential. “Doing a ‘celebration of life’ tour to have a good time his life and what he meant to us, that is one factor,” he continued. “However placing it again collectively with out him, after a hiatus, it appears bizarre to me. It appears odd to me.”

Whereas Grey stops wanting calling the thought outright disrespectful, he admits it exists in a tough emotional grey space. “I am not essentially gonna say it appears disrespectful, nevertheless it’s not not,” he mentioned with amusing. “It is form of someplace on this obscure [space] between respect and disrespect.”

Vinnie Paul recorded six albums with Hellyeah over the course of a decade, together with Welcome Dwelling, the band’s most up-to-date launch. Notably, Abbott had already accomplished his drum tracks for the album earlier than his passing. The document arrived in September 2019, serving as each a closing assertion and a tribute.

For the following touring cycle, Stone Bitter drummer Roy Mayorga stepped in, formally becoming a member of Hellyeah in Might 2019.