Phil Anselmo is an American heavy metal vocalist. He is widely known as the lead singer for Pantera, Down and Superjoint, and other musical projects.
What happened to Phil from Pantera?
In the mid-1990s, Phil Anselmo suffered a back injury. As a result of the constant pain, he drank heavily, abused pills such as painkillers and muscle relaxants, and eventually became addicted to heroin.
Throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s, his drug abuse severely affected his onstage performance.
In 1996, Anselmo suffered a cardiac arrest after a heroin overdose. He was revived by paramedics, and he later stated that he was legally dead for “four to five minutes.”
In 2005, Anselmo stopped using hard drugs to receive surgery for degenerative disc disease. The surgery was successful, and after several months of recuperation and rehabilitation, he returned to recording and touring.
In November 2016, Anselmo reported that he had stopped drinking alcohol.
In July 2022, it was announced that Anselmo would be joining bassist Rex Brown, along with Zakk Wylde and Charlie Benante (as the respective fill-ins for Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul), for Pantera’s first world tour in 22 years in 2023.
However, in January 2023, the reformed Pantera was dropped from the German Rock am Ring and Rock im Park festivals due to Phil Anselmo’s past alleged behavior.