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The Rev

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James 'The Rev' Sullivan
James "The Rev" Sullivan in 2007
James "The Rev" Sullivan in 2007
Background information
Birth nameJames Owen Sullivan
Also known asThe Rev, Rathead, The Reverend Tholomew Plague, Jimmy
Born(1981-02-09)February 9, 1981
Huntington Beach, California, U.S.
DiedDecember 28, 2009(2009-12-28) (aged 28)
Huntington Beach, California, U.S.
GenresHard rock, heavy metal, metalcore, progressive metal, avant-garde metal
Occupation(s)Musician
Instrument(s)Drums, guitar, bass, piano, vocals, keyboards
Years active1998-2009
LabelsWarner Bros., Good Life, Hopeless, Bucktan

James Owen Sullivan (February 9, 1981 – December 28, 2009),[1] more commonly known by his stage name The Rev (shortened version of The Reverend Tholomew Plague), was an American musician and songwriter, best known as the drummer for the American heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold. He was also the lead vocalist/pianist in Pinkly Smooth, a side project where he was known by the name Rat Head, 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 Huntington Beach California.[2] He received his first pair of drum sticks at the age of four and own drum set at the age of ten.[3] 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 eighteen 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."[3]

Later in life he was influenced by drummers Vinnie Paul, Mike Portnoy, Dave Lombardo, Lars Ulrich, and Terry Bozzio.[4] He even had a "visual influence", Tommy Lee, on which he commented that "I never thought I'd have one of those."[3] Sullivan had a signature ability called 'the double-ride thing', "just for lack of a better definition".[5] 'the double-ride thing' is a technique that can be heard on tracks such as "Almost Easy", "Critical Acclaim", "Crossroads", and "Dancing Dead" in which Sullivan doubles up at a fast tempo between the double bass and ride cymbals.

The Rev was also a vocalist, songwriter, and pianist for Avenged Sevenfold. His piano-playing can be heard on the tracks "Seize the Day", "Fiction", "Save Me" and "Warmness on the Soul". His vocals are featured in Avenged Sevenfold's "A Little Piece of Heaven", "Brompton Cocktail", "Critical Acclaim", "Crossroads", "Gunslinger", "Lost", "Scream", "Afterlife", "Save Me", "Eternal Rest", "Flash of The Blade", "Strength of the World", "Bat Country", "Almost Easy" and "Fiction". He also wrote the songs "Almost Easy", "A Little Piece of Heaven", "Afterlife", "Fiction", "Welcome to the Family," the piano part of "Save Me", and "Demons".

Avenged Sevenfold also released a demo version of Nightmare, featuring The Rev on an electric drumset and some vocals of his.

At the second annual Revolver Golden God Awards, The Rev won the award for Best Drummer. His family members and Avenged Sevenfold received the honor on his behalf.[6]

Death

The Rev was found dead in his home on December 28, 2009. Police ruled out foul play and noted his death appeared to be from natural causes. An autopsy performed on December 30, 2009 was inconclusive, but toxicology results revealed to the public in June that he died from an overdose of Oxycodone [1](Percocet), oxymorphone (a metabolite of oxycodone), diazepam (Valium), nordiazepam (a metabolite of diazepam) and alcohol. The coroner noted cardiomegaly (enlarged heart) as a "significant condition" that may have played a role in Sullivan's death.[7]

On January 6, 2010, a private funeral was held for Sullivan, and then he was buried in Huntington Beach, California.[8] Shortly after his death, Avenged Sevenfold dedicated their fifth studio album Nightmare (released that same year) to him, as well as several songs, including "So Far Away", which had been written by band mate (and childhood friend) Synyster Gates; and "Fiction", which was the last song written by The Rev himself (finished by the band later), three days prior to his death.[9][10] M. Shadows and Synyster Gates have stated in an interview to Hard Drive Radio:

[...]The eeriest thing about it is there is a song on the album called "Fiction" (a nickname The Rev gave himself) which started out with the title "Death". And it was the last song The Rev wrote for the album, and when he handed it in, he said, 'That's it, that's the last song for this record'. And then, three days later, he died."[9]

His drum kit is now on display at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas.[citation needed] His kit from the 2008 "Taste of Chaos" tour is on display at the Hard Rock Cafe in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.[11]

Equipment

After signing to Warner Bros. Records in 2004, The Rev signed with DW Drums and Sabian cymbals. He originally used the Pacific Drum Percussion (PDP) 805 kit, of which he had a custom signature kit, but later, in 2008, used a full DW Collector's Series Drum set. He used a wide variety of Sabian cymbals, as well as Evans drum heads and Pro-Mark sticks.


2005


Drums

PDP 805

- 14x5 Snare

- 8x7 Tom

- 10x8 Tom

- 12x9 Tom

- 14x14 Tom

- 16x16 Tom

- 22x18 Bass (2x)


Cymbals

Sabian

- 14" AAX Stage Hats

- 8" AA Splash

- 10" AA Splash

- 17" AA Crash

- 18" AA Crash

- 21" AA Raw Bell Dry Ride

- 18" AA Metal-X China


Pro-Mark Sticks

Evans Drum Heads


2008


Drums

DW Collector's Series

- 14x5 Snare

- 8x5 Tom

- 8x7 Tom

- 10x8 Tom

- 12x9 Tom

- 14x14 Tom

- 16x16 Tom

- 18x16 Tom

- 22x18 Bass (3x)


Cymbals


Sabian

- 20" AAX Metal Ride

- 14" AAX Stage Hats/14" HHX Stage Hats

- 10" AAX Splash

- 10" Vault Chopper

- 11" Signature Max Splash

- 18" AAX-plosion Crash

- 19" AAX-plosion Crash

- 22" AAX Metal Ride/21" HHX Raw Bell Dry Ride

- 19" AAX-treme China


Pro-Mark Metal Sticks

Evans Drum Heads

Discography

With Suburban Legends

With Pinkly Smooth

  • Unfortunate Snort (2001)

With Avenged Sevenfold

References

  1. ^ a b "MTV Newsroom". Newsroom.mtv.com. 2009-12-29. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
  2. ^ "Huntington Beach Independent". Hbindependent.com. 2010-02-17. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
  3. ^ a b c "''Modern Drummer Magazine Interview Oct. 2006''". Moderndrummer.com. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
  4. ^ "January 5, 2010". Allcurrenthotnews.com. Retrieved 2011-10-29.
  5. ^ "DRUM! Magazine Interview Nov. 2007". Drummagazine.com. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
  6. ^ "Revolver Golden Gods Awards 2010: The Winners | Latest News". Metal Injection. 2010-04-09. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
  7. ^ Jon Wiederhorn. "Avenged Sevenfold Drummer Died of Accidental Overdose". Rolling Stone.
  8. ^ "The Good Shepherd Cemetery". Find A Grave. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
  9. ^ a b "Has The New Avenged Sevenfold Album Been Given A Title?". Metal Hammer. May 14, 2010. Retrieved May 14, 2010. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  10. ^ "Avenged Sevenfold: The Rev's Passing Steered Album's Lyrical Direction | Interviews @". Ultimate-guitar.com. Retrieved 2011-09-20.
  11. ^ "Memorabilia". Retrieved July 14, 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |Publisher= ignored (|publisher= suggested) (help)

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