It may not surprise anyone – unless you took Rex Brown's previous comments as gospel – that Zakk Wylde will play guitar alongside the bassist and Phil Anselmo for Pantera's confirmed 2023 reunion / tribute tour in North America. And looking at his history it's hard to deny there's no better choice to honour his late friend Dimebag.
So without further ado, here's three times he proved it.
Primal Concrete Sledge – with Pantera
Yes, Zakk's bond was so strong with the band he joined them onstage when they were still together.
During Ozzfest in 2000, threee years before the band split, Wylde walked a dog onto the stage and played an outro solo while Dimebag fed him an unspecified – probably high in alcohol – drink from a jog. As you do.
Walk solo
To play Pantera you need to play hard, but you need to have the technicalities down. Wylde nails the Walk solo here with absolute passion – and no legato in sight from a master picker. You can tell how much he loves Dime's parts.
I'm Broken – 2014
Looking back this was the soft launch that got the rumour mill turning on Wylde being the man to join Rex and Phil.
Here the Pantera legends walked on with Wylde's Black Label Society for a beastly run on Far Beyond Driven's I'm Broken – also one of Rex's favourite basslines from his time with the band.
Zakk Wylde on taking part in Pantera tour: "I think it's a beautiful thing
