Hellyeah Reveal Stone Sour Drummer Roy Mayorga Will Replace Vinnie Paul

It's hard to imagine anyone ever replacing Vinnie Paul Abbott in one of his bands. Vinnie's hard-hitting drum style and humongous personality are the stuff of heavy metal legend. That said, after Vinnie's tragic passing, the members of Hellyeah promised that they'd soldier on. Now, in preparation for an upcoming live celebration of Vinnie's life, the band has revealed their new drummer: Stone Sour's Roy Mayorga.

In a post on their Facebook, Hellyeah wrote, "Please welcome our dear friend and brother Roy Mayorga, who will be guesting behind the drum kit as we honor our brother Vinnie Paul. These men had so much love and mutual respect for each other, this makes our transition so much easier. Ready or not, here we come!"

Hellyeah's upcoming tribute to Vinnie's life will go down Saturday, May 11th, at the House Of Blues in Las Vegas, Nevada. Announcing the show, the band said, “Please join us, together, with our metal family, friends, and fans, to celebrate the life of our brother and bandmate with a very special One Night Only Event - “HELLYEAH: A Celebration Of The Life Of Vinnie Paul” at House of Blues Las Vegas Saturday May 11.”

Vinnie's death has been a point of controversy this year, as the drummer was left out of the In Memoriam reel of the 2019 Grammys. The blunder sparked anger among many rock and metal stars, who took to social media to express their displeasure. Matt Heafy of Trivium tweeted, "I am a GRAMMY nominee. But I would not be a Grammy nominee or in a band or into Metal without Vinnie Paul Abbott...Dear @RecordingAcad - the Metal category is hardly recognized at your awards, and you left out an In Memoriam artist who is responsible for shaping Metal and rock.”

Alice In Chains bassist Mike Inez joined in, writing on his Instagram, “Even though we lost, I had a great Grammy weekend full of events and cool people. But my only bitch about it was how in the FUCK do you leave out 4 time nominee Vinnie Paul out of the In Memorium. They did the same shit with Layne. Hard fumble.”

Tickets to Hellyeah's celebration of Vinnie Paul's life are still available.