James Owen Sullivan, which the backstage name is "The Rev", short for "The Reverend Tholomew Plague", was Barbara and Joe Sullivan's son and was born on Feb. 9th, 1981 at Huntington Beach, California. Jimmy was known as drummer, songwriter and backing vocal of the band Avenged Sevenfold. The Rev had two sisters, one older and the other younger. Jimmy was Leana Macfadden fiancé and passed away on December 28th, 2009. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Rev began taking drum lessons at the age of 5, but the teacher would not let him get it, then he gave up on classes. To the age of 10 Jimmy won his first drum, however it was a toy. This way, his parents promised to give a real one if he made at least one year of drum lesson. For six years he made drum lessons, and was part of the percussion group of Jeanette Wrate teacher in the LA Harbor College, where he studied the sixth to eighth grade.

 

 

The Reverend was a troubled teen, he studied at a Catholic school with M. Shadows and was expelled in the second grade of high school and then was expelled from Huntigton Beach High School as well. After that, Jimmy went to a reformatory and some time later was expelled again. James gave up studies and focused on music, playing with punk rock bands at parties.

 

 

His nickname "The Reverend Tholomew Plague" was chosen randomly    , nut " The Rev" was consecrated as the short version of the name. James liked to differentiate from the rest, was known for using eccentric clothes - as bathrobes , colorful kimonos , baggy shorts and socks fluorecentes. Along with Synyster Gates, Jimmy had a side project which was called "Pinkly Smooth", they have gave up the band to devote only to Avenged Sevenfold. All in all, just before The Rev died, they intended to retake the old band parallel to the A7X.

 

 

On December 28th, 2009 the drummer was found dead in his home, but the medical examination was inconclusive. The band posted a note on their official website confirming the event at the time:

 

"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. Jimmy you are forever in our hearts. We love you. "

 

 On January 5th, 2010 the drummer was veiled , and his ashes were buried the next day - 600 people attended the funeral. After nearly six months of the death of The Rev, on July 9th, 2010 the autopsy results came to the public and it was found that James died for result of intoxication due to combined effects of oxycodone, oxymorphone , diazepam and ethanol , exacerbated by cardiomegaly he possessed.

 

Oxycodone is replacing analgesic codeine , Oxymorphone is a painkiller similar to morphine , Diazepam / nordiazepam are anxiety medications and ethanol is the alcohol. It was also discovered that Sullivan also had cardiomegaly (heart enlargement), which was marked on the judge's report as a condition "significant" that may have played a role in the death of drummer. The Department of Coroner's held " five or six " different tests to verify the cause of death. At the end was discovered that it was actually the intake of a medicine for the heart with alcohol and cardiomegaly crisis (enlarged heart).