In a new interview with “Midwest Beatdown,” HELLYEAH guitarist Tom Maxwell says that Vinnie Paul Abbott was “always worried” that his life would end early in the years prior to his untimely death.
Guitarist said: “Every time there was a death from one of our peers, the Cornell‘s and everybody, he was always pretty taken aback by it. He was always worried that it was gonna happen to him. And he was always constantly checking his blood pressure.
“I just wish he would have went to the doctor sooner. Maybe they would have caught something. I don’t know. ‘Cause he was always really afraid that this kind of a thing was gonna happen, and it did. It’s bizarre.”
He added: “The only thing we can do is keep HELLYEAH and this music going, man, because it took a lot for him to will himself after Dime got shot and killed.
Vinnie was on a downward spiral, he was on a mission to join his brother. And we came along and kind of… He used to say we saved his life. And so I think if we were just to be weak and go, ‘We can’t do this anymore,’ he would be pretty disappointed in us. Because he did it. And he was happy. He came out of it. So we have to kind of use that as an example.
“And there’s one thing, too, about Vince. He had such a positive impact and positive energy. It was like being around Santa Claus. You were happy to be around him. You felt good. He made you feel good. So there’s that big part of it that’s missing. But we’re doing our best, man.”
Vinnie Paul died on June 22, 2018 of dilated cardiomyopathy, an enlarged heart, as well as severe coronary artery disease. His death was the result of chronic weakening of the heart muscle — basically meaning his heart couldn’t pump blood as well as a healthy heart.
