Former Creed guitarist Mark Tremonti and his Tremonti bandmate Eric Friedman have commented on the passing of Pantera drummer Vinnie Paul in a new Metal Wani interview. Tremonti also discussed his similar reactions to Paul and Chris Cornell’s deaths.
Eric said (hear audio below), “It’s rough, man. It’s always tough to see someone go that has always inspired you and has always been there; you can see them at a local show or see them at the NAMM show. But for us, this one hurt us. Garrett [Whitlock], our drummer, is a really, really, really big Vinnie Paul and Pantera fan — he’s got ‘Pantera’ tattooed on his leg. We can just hope that they can live on in all of us and the people they have inspired along the way. And he’s with his brother now, so…”
Added Mark, “I had the honor of being able to hang out with [Vinnie] a few times. He was always such a gentleman, such a nice guy, such a positive spirit. He left behind such a great legacy.”
“When you hear news like that, it’s like getting punched in the gut; you can’t believe it,” he continued. “I’m still not over what happened with Chris Cornell; that really hit me extremely hard. And today is just… It hasn’t even sunk in yet. We woke up and we hit the stage a couple of hours later. So I think later on tonight, we’ll have some drinks and it’ll really sink in.”
