Here Today... Gone To Hell!

  AVENGED SEVENFOLD Drummer Found Dead - Dec. 28, 2009  
 
According to The Orange County Register, AVENGED SEVENFOLD drummer James Owen Sullivan (a.k.a. The Rev) was found dead at his home on Monday (December 28). He was 28 years old.

Sullivan appears to have died of natural causes, Huntington Beach police Lt. John Domingo told The Orange County Register. Police were notified by firefighters who had responded to Sullivan's home about 1 p.m., according to the report.

In addition to playing drums for AVENGED SEVENFOLD, The Rev was a prolific songwriter, having contributed the track "A Little Piece of Heaven" to the band's fourth studio CD, 2007's "Avenged Sevenfold".

"The Rev is very good at coming in with full songs," singer M. Shadows said in a 2007 interview with Revolver magazine. "That guy's a piece of work; he's badass and he's a great writer. He walked in with 'A Little Piece of Heaven', and it was like an eight-minute movie that he wrote and had in his brain; nothing was on a recorder ? he just walked in, one-fingered it on the piano, played drums over it, and was like, 'That's the song. Let's bring some string guys in to work on the string arrangements.' And we were like, 'Fuck yeah, dude!'"

"I can write in any style that I choose," The Rev said in the same interview. "And I've always been heavily been influenced by Danny Elfman, OINGO BOINGO, MR. BUNGLE, and bands like that. With all the different parts and the cinematic feel, I thought it called for lyrics that told a story, too. Without giving too much away, it's about a couple: First the boyfriend kills the girlfriend, and then the girlfriend comes back and repossesses her body and kills the boyfriend; then he comes back and repossesses his body and apologizes, and they get married. And then they start killing everyone at their wedding. I just had a lot of fun with that one!"

AVENGED SEVENFOLD's last release was the DVD/CD package, "Live in the LBC & Diamonds in the Rough", which came out in September 2008. The live DVD features the band's April 2008 hometown show at the Long Beach Arena headlining the Rockstar Taste of Chaos tour, while the CD contains previously unreleased b-sides that were recorded during the making of "Avenged Sevenfold", plus various covers, and other never-before-heard material. The DVD was directed by Core Entertainment's Rafa Alcantara, who also worked on the band's critically acclaimed 2007 road documentary "All Excess".
 

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AVENGED SEVENFOLD Issues Statement Regarding Drummer's Passing - Dec. 29, 2009

AVENGED SEVENFOLD has issued the following statement regarding the passing of the band's drummer, James Owen Sullivan (a.k.a. The Rev):

"It is with great sadness and heavy hearts that we tell you of the passing today of Jimmy 'The Rev' Sullivan.

"Jimmy was not only one of the world's best drummers, but more importantly, he was our best friend and brother.

"Our thoughts and prayers go out to Jimmy's family and we hope that you will respect their privacy during this difficult time."

According to The Orange County Register, James Owen Sullivan was found dead at his home on Monday (December 28). He was 28 years old.

Sullivan appears to have died of natural causes, Huntington Beach police Lt. John Domingo told The Orange County Register. Police were notified by firefighters who had responded to Sullivan's home about 1 p.m., according to the report.

http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=132646

Damn, that sucks. The guy was so young. He was a great drummer, one of my favourite new bands out there.

RIP THE REV

Natural causes at 28?  ???

that's what i thought, but still very sad :-\

as Burton said, They were one of my favorite new bands and I was hoping to see them the upcoming year

why the fuck does drummers from awesome bands die, it's only a wonder that steven adler is still alive

Yeah it's always a little odd when people this young die of natural causes, but it might have been heart failure, stroke or something like that. It's sad, but it happens.

RIP

When people choke on their own vomit etc, that usually gets referred to as natural causes.
happened to a friend of mine at 23, very sad.

Wow, this sucks.

Keep in mind that previous drug use (even if you're clean, or not currently using) can do MASSIVE damage to your heart.  Cocaine, especially...and even diet drugs like ephedrine....can give a 28 yo the heart of a 78 year old.

I don't know that's what happened here...he could also have had some sort of congenital defect in his heart,  could have popped an aneurysm that nobody knew about, or could have had a blood clot that passed into his heart or brain.  But, as we all know, the "band" lifestyle seems to be pretty high risk, in terms of drug abuse.  So it's obviously the first thing everyone suspects.

yeah I am a massive A7X fan, my fav band besides GNR and Metallica so I have followed them very closely over the last 10 years.  The Rev's drug use was never a secret, he was always the most wild of the group in interviews and in their videos.  I would not be suprised if his death was attributed to drug use, especially because of his age.  I guess we will find out in a few weeks...this sucks, great drummer.

one of my favourite drums player... He was a vital member of the band

it's really sad to see such a young person be dead... i believe tha drugs was the problem... or maybe he had problems with his heart... (it's the only explanation to "natural causes")

RIP!

You fuck with drugs, you get fucked.


Talented man, too young to die, he paid the price unfortunately.

Isn't Avenged a supposed "clean" band?

Very few "stars" stay clean when they come into money and success unfortunately.

I think it was baz who said that the rev was crazy to party with during the GNR tour or something

yeah i think so. but he also mentioned the bassist being a drunk like Duff

i know the lead singer M. Shadows is pretty clean, and I know they are usually a "clean" band when they are on the road to stay sharp for their performances.  I know Shadows doesnt drink when he is on tour, but I dont know about the rest of them, I actually have seen them drink on stage before but as far as drugs go im not sure..i know the rev was pretty well known for some drug use , more so than the other members.

OK, I've just been hearing a lot of different things.

Whatever it turns out to be, poor guy.  Way too young to go.

Autopsy Of AVENGED SEVENFOLD Drummer Inconclusive As To Cause Of Death - Dec. 30, 2009

Scott Coppersmith of MyFoxLA.com reports that an autopsy Tuesday on Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan was inconclusive as to the cause of the AVENGED SEVENFOLD drummer's death.

The Orange County coroner's office ordered "toxicology, microscopic and laboratory tests" to help determine why Sullivan died, according to Jim Amormino, a spokesman for the Sheriff's-Coroner's office.

http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=132692

Very sad as I like Avenged Sevenfold.