The metal world is still reeling from the sudden and tragic loss of drummer Vinnie Paul last night. All we know so far is Paul died in his Las Vegas home. No further details are available.
All night and through the morning, musicians in the scene have been posting very touching tributes to Paul. We are compiling all of them but I wanted to point out the tribute from Randy Blythe of Lamb of God, who noted that he will always be grateful to Vinnie for what Vinnie did to help Blythe with his case in the Czech Republic.
The Lamb Of God vocalist was accused of (what amounts to) manslaughter, based on allegations that he pushed a fan at a 2010 show in Prague, and the fan suffered injuries from that push that eventually led to his death. Blythe was held for five weeks in a Czech prison, until being let go on $400,000 bail. Blythe was eventually found not guilty of all charges.
Blythe revealed as part of the trial, Vinnie Paul wrote a letter to the judge talking about the need for good security at shows based on what happened to his brother, Dimebag Darrell, who was shot and killed on stage. Blythe revealed:
 He also did me a very solid favor when I was in some very serious legal trouble a while back by writing a detailed letter to a judge explaining what had happened to his brother & the need for good stage security– that wasn’t an easy thing for him to do, but he did it anyway because he was a true friend and knew I needed some help– I’ll never forget that, & I made sure he knew I appreciated it.
By all accounts, Vinnie Paul was an amazing guy. Later in the tribute, Blythe notes the last time he was around Vinnie, he didn't get a chance to talk because Vinnie was in a bad mood. Why was Vinnie in a bad mood?
I didn’t see Vinnie much the last time we played a gig together because I heard he was in a very foul mood– this was highly unusual for him. Why was he in a foul mood? Because we were playing a big festival in Chicago, he had bought a TON OF FOOD to grill in the parking lot for everyone (as usual), & the fire marshall came and shut him down before he could start the bar-b-que. That’s the type of dude he was– he just wanted to make sure people were having a good time, & he took steps to make that happen.
The metal and rock community have been coming out in droves with touching tributes to the late legendary drummer. Vinnie Paul was very much beloved by the community and everybody has a great story to share about his life. We've been updating the tribute wall with all the social media posts from the community. Keep up with it here.
Here is Blythe's full tribute:
Blythe's bandmate, Chris Adler, also chimed in on Instagram with a touching tribute:
"Vinnie… I told you 100 times I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing had you not changed the world," wrote Lamb of God drummer Chris Adler on Instagram. "I was fortunate enough to get to know you as a man and as a true friend. You made me feel good about me. You taught me how. You showed me kindness and allowed me in. I will never forget. Thank you! Safe travels, my friend. R.I.P."
