James Owen Sullivan (February 9, 1981 – December 28, 2009), also known by his stage name The Rev (shortened version of the Reverend Tholomew Plague), was an American musician, best known as a founding member of the heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold, where he played drums, piano and provided backing and co-lead vocals. He was also the lead vocalist/pianist in the avant-garde metal band Pinkly Smooth and drummer for the ska punk band Suburban Legends from 1998 to 1999.

Career 
Sullivan was born on February 9, 1981, of Irish descent and raised Roman Catholic. 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 19, he recorded his first album with Avenged Sevenfold titled Sounding the Seventh Trumpet. His early influences included Frank Zappa and King Crimson. The Rev stated in an interview with Modern Drummer that he "was raised on that stuff as much as rock and metal."

Later in life, he was influenced by drummers Vinnie Paul, Mike Portnoy (who would later be his fill-in with Avenged Sevenfold), Dave Lombardo, Lars Ulrich, and Terry Bozzio, stating "It's funny [...], of all my influences, Tommy Lee is a visual influence. I never thought I'd have one of those." Sullivan had a signature ability called "the double-ride thing" or "the Double Octopus", as the Rev called it, "just for lack of a better definition." "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 the drummer, composer, songwriter, vocalist, and pianist for the band. His vocals are featured in several Avenged Sevenfold songs, including "Strength of the World", "Afterlife", "A Little Piece of Heaven", "Almost Easy", "Scream", "Critical Acclaim", "Lost", "Brompton Cocktail", "Crossroads", "Flash of the Blade" (Iron Maiden cover), "Art of Subconscious Illusion", "Save Me", and "Fiction".
He also wrote and composed several songs for Avenged Sevenfold including "A Little Piece of Heaven", "Afterlife", "Almost Easy", "Unbound (The Wild Ride)", "Buried Alive", "Fiction", "Brompton Cocktail", "Welcome to the Family", "Save Me", among others. Avenged Sevenfold released a demo version of "Nightmare" featuring the Rev on an electronic drumset and providing some vocals.

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

In an Ultimate Guitar online readers' poll of the "Top Ten Greatest Drummers of All Time", the Rev appeared at No. 8, placing higher than Bill Ward of Black Sabbath and lower than Keith Moon of the Who. In 2017, he once again appeared in Ultimate Guitar's list of Top 25 Greatest Singing Drummers, at No. 5.

Pinkly Smooth
Pinkly Smooth was an American heavy metal/avant-garde metal band. The band was formed in the summer of 2001 in Huntington Beach, California, as a side project of the Rev, and originally featured Rev (under the name "Rathead") on vocals, along with fellow Avenged Sevenfold member Synyster Gates on guitar and former Ballistico band members Buck Silverspur (under the name "El Diablo") on bass, as well as Derek Eglit (under the name "Super Loop") on drums. They released only one album, Unfortunate Snort, which featured former Avenged Sevenfold bassist Justin Meacham (under his stage name "Justin Sane") as a keyboard player.

Death
On December 28, 2009, the Rev was found unresponsive in his Huntington Beach home, and was pronounced dead upon arrival to the hospital. Police ruled out foul play and noted that 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 (Percocet), oxymorphone (a metabolite of oxycodone), diazepam (Valium), nordiazepam (a metabolite of diazepam), and alcohol. The coroner noted an enlarged heart as a "significant condition" that may have played a role in Sullivan's death.

On January 6, 2010, a private funeral was held for Sullivan. Shortly after his death, Avenged Sevenfold dedicated their fifth studio album Nightmare to him, as well as several songs, including "So Far Away", which had been written by bandmate (and childhood friend) Synyster Gates, and "Fiction", which the Rev had written three days before his death. M. Shadows and Gates stated in an interview to Hard Drive Radio:

Legacy
His triple bass drum kit from the 2008 Taste of Chaos tour was donated for display at a Hard Rock Cafe in Las Vegas. It has since been taken down. Another drum kit he used is displayed in a Hard Rock Cafe in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

Discography

with Suburban Legends
Origin Edition (1999)

with Pinkly Smooth
Unfortunate Snort (2001)

with Brian Haner
Fistfight at the Wafflehouse (2010) (posthumous; drums on "Bring My Baby Back")

with Avenged Sevenfold
Sounding the Seventh Trumpet (2001)
Waking the Fallen (2003)
City of Evil (2005)
Avenged Sevenfold (2007)
Live in the LBC & Diamonds in the Rough (2008) 
Nightmare (2010) (posthumous; lyrics, composing and vocals featured; vocals and drums on demo tracks; co-lead vocals on "Fiction", growl on "Save Me", songwriting on all songs)
Life Is but a Dream... (2023) (posthumous; lyrics on "Beautiful Morning"; bridge melody on "Mattel")

References

External links

1981 births
2009 deaths
American heavy metal drummers
American heavy metal keyboardists
American male musical theatre actors
American rock pianists
American male pianists
American people of Irish descent
Avenged Sevenfold members
Drug-related deaths in California
Musicians from Orange County, California
People from Huntington Beach, California
Suburban Legends members
20th-century American pianists
20th-century American drummers
American male drummers
21st-century American drummers
20th-century American male singers
20th-century American singers
Metalcore singers
제임스 오언 설리번(James Owen Sullivan, 1981년 2월 9일 ~ 2009년 12월 28일)은 미국의 음악가이자 작곡가로, 더 레버런드 소롤뮤 플레이그(The Reverend Tholomew Plague) 또는 간단히 더 레브(The Rev)라는 이름으로 잘 알려져 있다. 그는 미국의 헤비 메탈 밴드 어벤지드 세븐폴드의 송라이터, 공동 리드보컬, 창립 멤버였다. 그는 어벤지드 세븐폴드의 앨범에 지대한 공헌을 했다고 평가되며 "Afterlife", "A Little Piece of Heaven", "Almost Easy"같은 곡들을 작곡하였다. 그는 또한 같은 어벤지드 세븐폴드의 멤버인 시니스터 게이츠(Brian Elwin Haner Jr.)와 함께 그의 사이드 프로젝트 밴드 핑클리 스무스에서 예명 랫헤드(Rathead)로 보컬과 피아노를 담당했었다. 또한 그는 1998년부터 1999년까지 서버반 레전즈의 드러머였다.

커리어 
설리반은 1981년 2월 9일, 캘리포니아 주의 헌팅턴비치에서 태어났다. 그는 5살 때 처음 드럼 스틱을 선물받았고 12살 때는 드럼 세트를 선물받았다. 고등학생 때는 학교 밴드에서 활동했다. 어벤지드 세븐폴드를 창립하기 전에는 스카 밴드 서버반 레전즈의 드러머로 활동했었다. 그는 20살에 어벤지드 세븐폴드와 함께 그의 생애 첫 앨범 Sounding the Seventh Trumpet을 발매한다. 초기에 그는 프랭크 자파와 킹 크림슨으로부터 영향을 받았다고 한다. 모던 드러머 매거진 인터뷰에서 그는, "록과 메탈뿐만 아니라 이들의 음악을 정말 많이 들으면서 자랐다."

이후 그는 비니 폴, 마이크 포트노이 (그는 더 레브의 사망 이후 어벤지드 세븐폴드에서 잠깐 드러머로 활동한다), 데이브 롬바르도, 조이 조디슨, 라스 울리히, 테리 보지오와 같은 드러머들에게 영향을 받았다고 한다. 그는 "내가 영향을 받은 드러머들을 하나하나 살펴보면 매우 재미있다. 예로, 타미 리는 나에게 시각적인 퍼포먼스를 어떻게 해야하는지에 대하여 영향을 주었다. 난 그와 같이 공연하는 것에 대해 한 번도 생각해본 적이 없어서 참 대단한 것 같다."라고 했다. 설리반은 "더 더블 라이드 씽(The double-ride thing), 또는 "더 더블 옥토퍼스(The Double Octopus)와 같은 그만의 기술이 있는데 이 용어들의 이름은 그가 "이것들보다 더 좋은 용어가 생각나지 않는다"며 붙여진 것이다. "더 더블 라이드 씽" 테크닉은 "Almost Easy", "Critical Acclaim", "Crossroads", "Dancing Dead"와 같은 트랙에서 사용되었는데, 이 테크닉은 빠른 템포에서 더블 베이스 드럼과 라이드 심벌의 속도를 2배로 올리는 것이다. 연주할 때 설리반은 종종 스틱을 돌리기도 한다.

더 레브는 어벤지드 세븐폴드의 드러머임과 동시에 작곡가, 송라이터, 보컬, 피아니스트였다. 그의 보컬 트랙은 "Strength of the World", "Afterlife", "A Little Piece of Heaven", "Almost Easy", "Scream", "Critical Acclaim", "Lost", "Brompton Cocktail", "Crossroads", "Flash of the Blade (아이언 메이든 커버)", "Fiction"과 같은 트랙에서 찾아볼 수 있다. 그는 "A Little Piece of Heaven", "Afterlife", "Almost Easy", "Unbound (The Wild Ride)", "Buried Alive", "Fiction", "Brompton Cocktail"과 같은 곡을 작곡하기도 했다. 어벤지드 세븐폴드는 더 레브가 전자 드럼셋으로 연주한 트랙과 보컬 트랙을 녹음한 "Nightmare"의 데모를 발매했다.

제2회 리볼버 골든 갓 어워드에서 더 레브는 베스트 드러머에 선정되어 시상을 받았다. 고인이 된 그를 대신하여 그의 가족, 어벤지드 세븐폴드의 멤버가 대신 시상했다.

얼티메이트 기타 온라인 사이트에서 실시한 "최고의 드러머 1위~10위"의 구독자 투표에서 더 레브는 블랙 사바스의 드러머 빌 워드보다 높은 순위이자 더 후의 드러머 키스 문보다는 낮은 순위인 8위에 등극되었다. 2017년에는 그는 얼티메이트 기타의 노래하는 드러머 1~25위 리스트에서 5위에 등극되었다.

사망 
2009년 12월 28일, 자택에서 숨져있는 것이 발견됐다. 검시 결과, 사인은 처방약과 알코올의 과잉 섭취로 판명되었다.

음반 
어벤지드 세븐폴드
 Sounding The Seventh Trumpet (2001)
 Waking The Fallen (2003)
 City of Evil (2005)
 Avenged Sevenfold (2007)
 Live in the LBC & Diamonds in the Rough (2008)
 Nightmare (2010)

각주 

1981년 출생
2009년 사망
미국의 헤비 메탈 드럼 연주자
미국의 남자 뮤지컬 배우
미국의 록 피아노 연주자
20세기 미국 사람
21세기 미국 사람