Rex Brown has always done things his own way.
As one of heavy metal’s most influential and unmistakable bassists, his signature playing grooves with the force of an earthquake, holds the tempo in an ironclad grip, and kicks like 101 Proof Texas Whiskey. At the same time, he’s also an accomplished songwriter/producer, journeyman instrumentalist, versatile solo artist, and Southern gentleman. As the bass player for GRAMMY® Award-nominated Pantera, he has reached multiplatinum heights and performed in front of packed stadiums and arenas worldwide.
However, he never stops pushing himself, rooting his ever-expanding legacy within a lifelong and pure passion for music.
“I’m constantly searching in my musical journey,” he says. “That’s something a lot of people probably don’t know about me. I’m the bassist for Pantera, but I put a lot of effort into everything. I believe if you stay true to yourself, people are going to get it nine times out of ten. I’m just going to be me. I also don’t give a fuck about any opinions either, because I never have,” he grins.
As a kid in a small Texas town, Rex devoured as much music as possible. With a sister 17 years his senior, he inherited a rich record collection of sixties classics highlighted by The Beatless. “If a household in America didn’t have the first three Beatles records back then, there was something wrong with it,” he laughs. “To this day, Paul McCartney is second nature as one of my biggest inspirations.”
Down the line, a girl lent Rex her copy of Alive! by Kiss, and it transformed him into a lifelong fan of the band and bassist Gene Simmons. He, of course, could speak volumes about the impact of Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones, Rush’s Geddy Lee, and Van Halen’s Michael Anthony, but he absorbed just as much from cats like Brad Houser of Edie Brickell & New Bohemians and Steve Bailey.
Losing his dad to cancer, Rex grew up fast, getting his first job at barely twelve-years-old. “It put some work ethic into me early on,” he nods.
Not long after, Rex met The Abbott Brothers—guitarist Dimebag Darrell and drummer Vinnie Paul. While attending high school in Arlington, Rex and Vinnie unlocked their chemistry during lab band, sowing the seeds for what would become Pantera’s impenetrable rhythm section.
“They kicked me out of class probably five times for playing too loud,” he chuckles. “However, Vinnie and I were developing a bond. That was the impetus of Pantera.”
He was on the ground floor of the group’s local ascent in Texas alongside Dimebag and Vinnie, beginning in 1982. Four years later, they welcomed Philip H. Anselmo as frontman, cementing the iconic lineup. Rex anchored the sound from those earliest days through the band’s explosion at the onset of the nineties.
Of course, his bass lines flow through a procession of classic LPs. The low-end rumbles and rolls with swagger on the breakthrough Cowboys From Hell, it brings body to the mega-influential Vulgar Display of Power, and surges through Far Beyond Driven—which remains the heaviest album ever to debut at #1 on the Billboard 200. His playing snakes all across The Great Southern Trendkill and electrifies Reinventing The Steel, which marked the group’s third consecutive Top 5 debut.
Pantera went dormant, and the world later tragically lost Dimebag and Vinnie. Still, millions of fans carried the music in their hearts. All in all, Pantera has sold tens of millions of records worldwide, garnered four GRAMMY® Award nominations, and generated tens of billions of streams.
Extending his collaboration with Philip, Rex notably handled bass for two acclaimed albums with Down, namely Down II: A Bustle In Your Hedgerow [2002] and Over the Under [2007]. Along the way, he played on a variety of records, ranging from Jerry Cantrell’s solo debut Boggy Depot to Cavalera Conspiracy’s Inflikted. Not to mention, he co-produced and performed bass on Crowbar’s Lifesblood for the Downtrodden. Following two albums in Kill Devil Hill, he unleashed his first solo record, Smoke On This… [2017]. The latter saw him sing and hold down six-string and four-string duties.
“No matter what I’m doing, I know where the starting line is and what the goal is,” he observes. “It’s about getting your head straight and pumping everyone up to come with you. There’s no reason to sweat the small stuff. You don’t wallow in shit. That’s how I look at life. You’ve got to attack it and do what you’ve got to do. We’ve always been fighters.”
In 2022, Rex and Philip took the stage together in front of a fiery Pantera sign for the first time in 21 years, headlining Mexico’s Hell & Heaven Metal Fest. With longtime friends and brothers-in-arms Zakk Wylde on guitar and Anthrax’s Charlie Benante on drums, this fateful night launched a celebration of the group and a rebirth for a new generation of fans. Pantera went on to join Metallica for nearly three years on the massive M72 World Tour in addition to hitting the road on a series of headline jaunts, including 2025’s The Heaviest Tour of the Summer.
“When we got this thing back together, a lot went through my head,” he admits. “First, I thought, ‘I’m almost sixty, what the fuck am I going to do?’ So, I got a trainer and worked out!”
He continues, “We spent a lot of time trying to get it right. I never thought I’d find that magic again. Once we rehearsed the first tune with Zakk though, it was fucking on. It all revolves around the songs we wrote with the Brothers. There’s a whole generation of fans who grew up on the music because of their parents—but they never saw it live. I’m grateful for all of it. Oscar Wilde once said, ‘Nobody gets a second act’. Fuck that. To be here again is crazy to me. I just look forward to the last chapter of my life. This has been the major inspiration for all of my life, so doing it now is pretty cool.”
In the end, Rex is going to keep traveling his own path with his head held up high, a knowing smile on his face, and most likely a bass slung over his shoulder.
“I’m probably a totally different guy than I was in the nineties,” he leaves off. “I may even be a little smarter. I know one thing hasn’t changed though. Once I put that bass on, the world goes away. It really does.” – Rick Florino
BOILER
Rex Brown has always done things his own way. As one of heavy metal’s most influential and unmistakable bassists, his signature playing grooves with the force of an earthquake, holds the tempo in an ironclad grip, and kicks like 101 Proof Texas Whiskey. He’s also an accomplished songwriter/producer, journeyman instrumentalist, versatile solo artist, and Southern gentleman. As the bass player for Pantera, he was on the ground floor of the group’s local ascent in Texas. His bass lines flow through a procession of classic LPs. The low-end rumbles and rolls with swagger on Cowboys From Hell, it brings body to the mega-influential Vulgar Display of Power, and surges through Far Beyond Driven—which remains the heaviest album to debut at #1 on the Billboard 200. His playing snakes all across The Great Southern Trendkill and electrifies Reinventing The Steel, which marked the group’s third consecutive Top 5 debut. All in all, Pantera has sold north of tens of millions of records worldwide, garnered four GRAMMY® Award nominations, and generated tens of billions of streams. Rex notably handled bass for Down’s Down II: A Bustle In Your Hedgerow [2002] and Over the Under [2007]. Along the way, he also played on a variety of records, ranging from Jerry Cantrell’s solo debut Boggy Depot to Cavalera Conspiracy’s Inflikted. He co-produced and performed bass on Crowbar’s Lifesblood for the Downtrodden. Following two albums in Kill Devil Hill, he unleashed his first solo record, Smoke On This… [2017]. In 2022, he and Philip launched a celebration of Pantera and a rebirth for a new generation of fans with longtime friends and brothers-in-arms Zakk Wylde on guitar and Anthrax’s Charlie Benante. They joined Metallica for nearly three years on the M72 World Tour as well as headlining a series of jaunts, including 2025’s The Heaviest Tour of the Summer. However, Rex never stops pushing himself, rooting his ever-expanding legacy within a lifelong and pure passion for music.