The Rev

James Owen Sullivan (February 9, 1981 – December 28, 2009), professionally known by his stage name The Rev (shortened version of The Reverend Tholomew Plague), was an American musician, composer and songwriter, best known as the drummer, composer, songwriter, co-lead vocalist and founding member for the American heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold. The Rev was widely regarded and critically acclaimed for his work on Avenged Sevenfold albums, and contributed entire songs written and composed by himself, such as Chapter Four, Afterlife, "A Little Piece of Heaven" and Almost Easy. He was also the lead vocalist/pianist in Pinkly Smooth, a side project where he was known by the name Rathead, with fellow Avenged Sevenfold member and childhood best friend, guitarist Synyster Gates, and he was the drummer for Suburban Legends from 1998 to 1999.

Career

Sullivan grew up and lived in Orange County, CA. He received his first pair of drum sticks at the age of five and own drum set at the age of ten. In high school, he started playing in bands. Before leaving to join Avenged Sevenfold as one of the band's founding members, Sullivan was the drummer for the third wave ska band Suburban Legends. At the age of twenty he recorded his first album with Avenged Sevenfold titled Sounding the Seventh Trumpet. His early influences included Frank Zappa and King Crimson. The Rev said in a Modern Drummer Magazine interview that "I was raised on that stuff as much as rock and metal."

Avenged Sevenfold

Avenged Sevenfold (sometimes abbreviated as A7X) is an American heavy metal band from Huntington Beach, California, formed in 1999. The band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist M. Shadows, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist Zacky Vengeance, lead guitarist and backing vocalist Synyster Gates, bass guitarist Johnny Christ and drummer Brooks Wackerman.

They are known for their diverse rock sound and dramatic imagery in album covers and merchandise. Avenged Sevenfold emerged with a metalcore sound on their debut Sounding the Seventh Trumpet but their style had evolved by their third album and first major label release, City of Evil, into a heavy metal and hard rock style. The band continued to explore new sounds with their self-titled release and enjoyed continued mainstream success before their drummer, James "The Rev" Sullivan, died in 2009. Despite his death, the band continued on with help of now-former Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy and released and toured in support of their fifth album Nightmare in 2010 which debuted on the top spot of the Billboard 200, their first number one debut. Their latest record Hail to the King released in 2013 marked the only album featuring drummer Arin Ilejay. Hail to the King charted as #1 on the US Billboard 200, the UK albums chart, as well as the Finnish, Brazilian, Canadian, and Irish charts.