Pantera released their first studio album, Metal Magic, in 1983. The band began supporting fellow heavy metal/ glam metal acts such as Stryper, Dokken, and Quiet Riot. Pantera became an underground favorite, though its regional tours in this era never took them beyond Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana.

Later that year, Bradford also departed and was replaced by Rex Brown (then known as Rex Rocker) on bass. Later, Glaze stopped playing rhythm guitar, leaving Darrell as the sole guitarist, doing both lead and rhythm duties. In 1982, Hart left the band and Glaze became the group's lead vocalist. The band was originally named Gemini, then Eternity, before finally settling on Pantera and consisted of Vinnie Paul Abbott on drums, Darrell Abbott on lead guitar, and Terry Glaze on rhythm guitar the lineup was completed with two more members, lead vocalist Donny Hart and bassist Tommy D. Pantera's original logo, used during their glam metal era from 1981 to 1990 History 1981–1986: Formation and early glam years The new lineup played its first show in 21 years at the Hell and Heaven festival in Mexico on December 2, 2022, and the band's reunion tour will continue into 2024. In July 2022, it was announced that Brown and Anselmo were reuniting in 2023 for Pantera's first tour in 22 years, with Zakk Wylde and Charlie Benante filling in for the Abbott brothers on guitar and drums, respectively. Vinnie Paul went on to form Hellyeah after his brother's death, and died of heart failure in 2018, leaving Brown and Anselmo as the only surviving members of the band's best-known lineup. On December 8, 2004, Dimebag Darrell was shot and killed on stage by a mentally unstable fan during a Damageplan concert in Columbus, Ohio. The Abbott brothers went on to form Damageplan while Anselmo continued to work on several side projects, including Down, which Brown joined as well. Pantera went on hiatus in 2001 but lingering disputes led to the band breaking up in 2003. The ongoing tension lasted for another seven years, during which only one studio album, Reinventing the Steel (2000), was recorded. These tensions resulted in the recording sessions for The Great Southern Trendkill (1996) being held separately. Tensions began to surface among the band members when Anselmo, reeling from severe back problems brought on by years of intense on-stage performances, began growing distant from his bandmates in 1995, eventually becoming addicted to heroin as a result of his pain issues (he almost died from an overdose in July 1996). The subsequent album Far Beyond Driven (1994) then debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. Their fifth album (which the band has since declared to be their official debut album), 1990's Cowboys from Hell, popularized the groove metal genre, while its 1992 follow-up Vulgar Display of Power achieved an even heavier sound and increased their popularity. They secured a record deal with major label Atco the following year. Looking for a new and heavier sound, Pantera recruited Anselmo in 1986 and released Power Metal in 1988. Having started as a glam metal band, Pantera released three albums in the mid-1980s with lead vocalist Terry Glaze ( Metal Magic, Projects in the Jungle, and I Am the Night), with little success. Pantera is regarded as one of the most successful and influential bands in heavy metal history, having sold around 20 million records worldwide and having received four Grammy nominations. In addition to their development and popularization of the groove metal subgenre, Pantera is credited (along with others, such as Testament, Sepultura, and Machine Head) for being part of the second wave of thrash metal scene from the late 1980s to early-to-mid 1990s. The group's best-known lineup consisted of the Abbott brothers (drummer Vinnie Paul and guitarist Dimebag Darrell), along with Brown and Anselmo, who joined in 19 respectively. Pantera ( / p æ n ˈ t ɛr ə/) is an American groove metal band from Arlington, Texas, formed in 1981, and currently composed of vocalist Phil Anselmo, bassist Rex Brown, and touring musicians Zakk Wylde and Charlie Benante.

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