Nashville Casket Sales owner Joe Stacey has told Fox 17 that his company made the KISS casket that Vinnie Paul Abbott will be buried in later today (Saturday, June 30) in Arlington, Texas.
“For whatever reason, the original company lost the license to make a KISS casket,” Stacey said. “Now, we’re the only ones with the license.”
The KISS casket costs $3,000 and was provided to the Abbott family by KISS members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley. The casket was offered as a gift at Vinnie‘s family’s request. The PANTERA and HELLYEAH drummer will also be laid to rest in some of his trademark clothes, including his hat, shoes and flannel.
Vinnie‘s brother, “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott, was buried in the original Kiss Kasket prototype in 2004 after his untimely death. The coffin featured the faces of the four founding members of KISS, the KISS logo and the words “Kiss Forever.” Both Abbotts were huge fans, especially Darrell, who was shot dead by a gunman in December 2004.
Vinnie‘s favorite rock ‘n’ roll memory involved KISS, as he told The Washington Times. He recalled: “PANTERA was the opening band on the KISS reunion tour in 1997… We did three nights in Mexico City, then we had a flight on my birthday, which is March 11, and we were on a flight from Mexico City to Santiago, Chile. KISS was in first class, and we were in business class. Halfway through the flight, all four of the original members of KISS came back to me and sang ‘Happy Birthday’ in four-part harmony. They gave me a ‘Kisstory’ book. I felt like a 14-year-old kid. I had tears coming out of my eyes.”
Vinnie had reportedly finished laying down drum tracks for the next HELLYEAH album, although there is no word yet on when that LP will see the light of day.
Posted by Nashville Casket Sales on Saturday, June 24, 2017
