Hellyeah’s Chad Gray Returns to Stage at ShipRocked 2019
Hellyeah have been understandably quiet since the death of drummer Vinnie Paul, but the band started teasing their final record with Paul this week and singer Chad Gray just made his return to the concert stage as a surprise guest on the ShipRocked Cruise.
Gray turned up twice during the cruise, sitting in with Nonpoint during a performance of "Bullet With a Name," and also joining the ShipRocked Stowaways all-star jam playing alongside Brian "Head" Welch and others doing Korn's "Blind."
Nonpoint posted about their collaboration with Gray on Instagram stating, "This was an unbelievable moment with my brother @chadnesss coming out onstage to rock 'Bullet' with us. Welcome back my brother. Feels so good to get you back where you belong, onstage doing what you were born to do. #WelcomeBack #HellYeah."
Meanwhile, fan shot footage of Gray's performance of Korn's "Blind" with The Stowaways in which he looks to be sharing vocals with Black Label Society's JD Deservio can be seen below.
"I just don't want to believe it's real," said Gray last June after learning of Vinnie Paul's death, later adding, "This has been one of the toughest things I’ve ever had to face in my life! I’m so confused, sad and as helpless as I’ve ever been. I’m at a loss and completely devastated. But I’m trying. It’s the equivalent of an emotional riot in my head and In my heart as I write this. But I’m trying to focus on anything good. I know Vinnie would want that."
He continued, "I just want to say thank you Vinnie Paul! For saving my life, for your music, for your endless generosity, for accepting me into your life, for creating our music that touched people, for being proud to be in hellyeah and for always treating me like a brother and more importantly for treating me like a friend."
Not long after Paul's death, it was revealed that Hellyeah were nearly finished with recording their next album and that they intended on completing it and releasing it. Earlier this week, a snippet of music was posted by the band teasing what is to come. Check it out below.
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