Update 7/14/2022: Black Label Society bandleader and Ozzy Osbourne sideman Zakk Wylde and Anthrax's Charlie Benante have been revealed as the guitarist and drummer for the Pantera reunion tour. Read more here.
Original story 7/13/2022: As reported by Billboard, Pantera's surviving members — Philip Anselmo and Rex Brown — will be hitting the road for a long-speculated reunion tour in 2023. They've signed with Artist Group International to book their North American dates, with Dennis Arfa and Peter Pappalardo as the responsible agents.
"We are thrilled to be working with such an iconic band and bringing their music back to the fans," Pappalardo commented.
Pantera's last show was on August 26th, 2001, at Beast Feast in Yokohama, Japan, in the midst of their Extreme Steel tour in support of what proved to be the Texan metal juggernaut's swan song, Reinventing the Steel. The band planned to continue the trek — they flew to Europe in mid-September, but then on the 11th, before they could play a single show there, the World Trade Center was attacked. The tour was canceled, Pantera never regrouped and, sadly, with the deaths of both of the band's founding Abbott brothers, guitarist Dimebag Darrell and drummer Vinnie Paul, a re-formation seemed all but impossible.
According to Billboard's report, it's currently unclear who will fill in for the brothers on the 2023 Pantera tour. Zakk Wylde, who was close friends with Dime, had long been rumored as a possible replacement. Over the last several years, Anselmo has toured under the banner "A Vulgar Display of Pantera," playing the group's songs — including on Slayer's farewell run — with the members of his solo band, the Illegals, whose lead guitarist is Mike DeLeon and drummer is Joey Gonzalez.
