Rex Brown

Rex Robert Brown (born July 27, 1964) is an American musician.

Rex Robert Brown was born in Graham, Texas, on July 27, 1964.

His father was 40 when Brown was born, and died in 1971.

He was raised by his mother and sister.

Brown was first introduced to music through his grandmother, who taught him to play the piano when he was a child, and turned him onto ragtime music and Scott Joplin.

Brown was a member of the Boy Scouts of America and achieved the rank of Eagle Scout.

Brown became a fan of ZZ Top and Def Leppard as a youth, and started playing bass when he was twelve years old.

He remains a fan of Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, and hardcore punk.

Pantera was formed in 1981.

He is the longtime bassist for heavy metal band Pantera, having joined the band in 1982.

Following the band's reunion in 2022, Brown is the longest-serving member of the band.

Brown joined Pantera on bass in 1982 replacing Tommy D.. Bradford and adopting the alias "Rex Rocker".

Brown was a classmate of, and played in the high school jazz band with, drummer Vinnie Paul, and guitarist Dimebag Darrell (then known as Diamond Darrell).

Brown was credited as "Rex Rocker" on Pantera's first four albums: Metal Magic (1983), Projects in the Jungle (1984), I Am the Night (1985), and Power Metal (1988), he would be credited by his birth name starting with the band's fifth album Cowboys from Hell and onwards.

Pantera recruited vocalist Phil Anselmo to replace Terry Glaze in 1986.

With Anselmo taking over as the new frontman, the band's fourth album, Power Metal, was released in 1988.

In 1989, the band was signed with Atco Records, and released their fifth album, Cowboys from Hell in the following year, which proved to be the band's turning point to commercial success.

Over the course of the band's walkthrough in the 1990s decade, Pantera released four more studio albums, Vulgar Display of Power (1992), Far Beyond Driven (1994), The Great Southern Trendkill (1996), and Reinventing the Steel (2000).

After releases of a 1997 live album and a greatest hits compilation, Pantera was nominated for four best metal performance Grammys, for "I'm Broken", "Suicide Note Pt. I", "Cemetery Gates", and "Revolution Is My Name".

In 1998, during his stay in Louisiana, he was invited by Phil Anselmo for a jam session that included all the members of Down except their bass player Todd Strange, who left the band.

In 1999, Brown, Dimebag Darrell, and Vinnie Paul teamed up with country artist David Allan Coe in a project called Rebel Meets Rebel.

He is also a former member of the supergroup Down (2001–2011) and a former bassist for Kill Devil Hill.

In 2001, Pantera went on what at the time was believed to be a temporary hiatus, mainly due to Anselmo's focus on side projects.

That night they ended up writing several demos for what later became their second album recorded in the fall of 2001 at Anselmo's barn that had been transformed into a professional studio.

The album was released on March 26, 2002, and became the first Down release featuring Brown on bass.

The band, however, went on hiatus again at the very end of 2002.

During that time, he became good friends with James Hetfield, who—similarly to Brown—completed an alcohol rehabilitation course back in 2002.

Pantera would officially disband in 2003.

In July 2022, it was announced that Brown would be joining Anselmo, along with Zakk Wylde and Charlie Benante (as the respective fill-ins of Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul), for Pantera's first world tour in 22 years in 2023.

He has also provided bass work for Crowbar in 2004 and 2005 and to Cavalera Conspiracy in 2008.

In 2006, the band reunited and started writing the material for their third studio album.

This group released an album on May 2, 2006, on Vinnie Paul's Big Vin Records label.

Brown has worked previously with Jerry Cantrell on five tracks included on the album called Boggy Depot as well as eleven tracks with Crowbar on the album Lifesblood for the Downtrodden.

Down III: Over the Under was released in 2007.

The band toured as the opening act for Metallica.

Wanting to explore different music, Brown left Down in 2011.

Brown authored a book called Official Truth 101 Proof, which was released in April 2013.

The book documents Pantera's formation, career, and disbandment.

He released his debut solo album Smoke on This… in 2017.

For the first time in Brown's career, the work features him not only as a bassist but also as lead vocalist and guitarist.