Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan (1981-2009)
Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan (1981-2009)
James Owen Sullivan, professionally known by his stage name
The Rev (shortened version of The Reverend Tholomew Plague), was an American
musician, best known as the drummer, songwriter, backing vocalist and founding
member of 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 composed by himself, such as "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, guitarist Synyster
Gates (Brian Elwin Haner Jr.), and he was the drummer for Suburban Legends from
1998 to 1999.
Sullivan was born in Huntington Beach, California, on
February 9, 1981, of Irish descent. He received his first pair of drumsticks at
the age of five and his own drum set at the age of twelve. 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."
Achievements:
The band was formed in March 1999 in Huntington Beach,
California by Matt Sanders, The Rev and Matt Wendt. Although they are not a
religious band, Sanders came up with the name as a reference to the story of
Cain and Abel from the Bible, which can be found in Genesis 4:24. Shortly
after their formation, they were joined by an acquaintance from high school,
Zachary Baker, who played in the punk-band MPA at the time.
Avenged Sevenfold's first creative output was a three-track-demo,
some months later, they were asked by Sadistic Records to contribute to two
compilations. To that end, they recorded two new songs and released them
along with the previously recorded songs on a second demo in early 2000. They
sent this demo to the Belgian label Good Life Recordings and were subsequently
signed. Shortly afterward, Matt Wendt left for college and Justin Meacham,
the previous bassist of Suburban Legends joined Avenged Sevenfold. In late
2000, the foursome took on their initial stage names and recorded their debut
album, Sounding the Seventh Trumpet. In early 2001, lead guitarist and old
friend Synyster Gates joined the band and they re-recorded the introductory
track "To End the Rapture" for the album's lead-single/EP, Warmness
on the Soul, released in April. Although their debut album was initially
planned for a late April release, it was pushed back multiple times and
eventually released in June or July 2001 on Good Life Recordings.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avenged_Sevenfold#Accolades
Charities:
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