Hellyeah frontman Chad Gray has praised Roy Mayorga for doing “an amazing job” behind the drum kit since he joined the band for their live shows earlier this year.
The Stone Sour man was originally brought into the lineup for the tribute concert to the late Vinnie Paul back in May, and has been out on the road with the group as they prepare to release their new album Welcome Home – a record which features Vinnie’s last-ever recordings.
Speaking with 105.7 The Rocks, Gray says: “He’s done an amazing job filling the shoes of Vinnie. He worked really hard – that dude was playing drums six hours a day for 35 days.
“He’s one of the sweetest, nicest people in the world. He had a lot in common with Vinnie. Both of them are banger drummers – just slammers, and then they are both just very gracious, genuine, humble and very sweet.
“They're both different: Vinnie was a different personality, but the makeup of the men is very similar.”
Hellyeah will return to the road from November for further live shows, with a portion of proceeds from ticket sales going to the American Heart Association in honour of Vinnie, who died in June 2018 at the age of 54.
As for their decision to tour in support of the record, bassist Kyle Sanders previously said: “While Vinnie Paul is obviously irreplaceable, one thing we can’t not do is tour. As easy as it would be to say we’re not going on the road, we have to.
“Vinnie would be extremely disappointed in us if we didn’t promote this record properly. He’d be pissed off at all of us for putting all this work into finishing the record and then just letting it sit there on the shelf while we put a couple of songs to radio and whatever… and we know that.”
Hellyeah have also released a video for their new single Black Flag Army, which can be watched below.
Welcome Home will be released on September 27 through Eleven Seven Music.
Hellyeah: Welcome Home
1. 333
2. Oh My God
3. Welcome Home
4. I’m The One
5. Black Flag Army
6. At Wick’s End
7. Perfect
8. Bury You
9. Boy
10. Sky and Water
11. Irreplacable
