Vinnie Paul, co-founder, drummer of Arlington's Pantera, dies at 54 (updated) | Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Vinnie Paul, co-founder and drummer of metal band Pantera, has died at 54.

Pantera's official Facebook page posted a statement early Saturday announcing his death. Paul's representative confirmed the death to Billboard.

SIGN UP

Update: During the weekend, the Las Vegas Review-Journal cited "sources who knew Paul," who was iving in Las Vegas, as sayng that Paul had suffered a major heart attack, but there has still been no official cause of death that we have been able to find. TMZ reported that Paul's family had told the website that the drummer died in his sleep.

"His body's been turned over to the medical examiner to determine a cause of death, and after that he'll be flown back to his home state of Texas to be buried between his mom and brother," TMZ reported. As of Monday afternoon no funeral details had been reported.

Paul's real name was Vincent Paul Abbott. He and his brother, Dimebag Darrell, formed Pantera in 1981 in Arlington. Dimebag, whose real name was Darrell Lance Abbott, was shot to death while on stage with the band Damageplan in 2004.

The two brothers founded Damageplan in 2003 after Pantera broke up.

Paul was most recently in the band Hellyeah, a heavy metal supergroup, which included Mudvayne vocalist Chad Gray and Nothingface guitarist Tom Maxwell.

The statement said no other details are available. As of 10 a.m. Saturday, there were no immediate updates.

DFW rock station KEGL/97.1 FM "The Eagle" changed its Facebook cover photo to a picture of Paul and posted about his death. Cindy Scull, the morning-show host and a longtime Eagle personality, also posted a YouTube video of an interview she once did with Paul.

Classic-rock KZPS/92.5 FM "Lone Star" personality Jeff Kovarsky, better known on-air as longtime DFW DJ Jeff K, also memorialized Paul.

Many rock stars honored Paul on Twitter.

Pantera's best-known albums were 1990's "Cowboys From Hell," 1992's "Vulgar Display of Power," 1994's "Far Beyond Driven" (which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart) and 1996's "The Great Southern Trendkill."

During the weekend, musicians paid tribute to Paul during their shows, either by dedicated songs to him or by doing Pantera covers. Sebastian Bach, former front man of Skid Row, performed "Cemetery Gates," a song from "Cowboys From Hell," in honor of Paul.

A Legacy.com page has been set up for Paul, who was born March 11, 1964, in Abilene. The guest book section of the page has received dozens of comments and tributes.

This report includes material from The Associated Press.