The Rev

Sullivan was born in Tustin, California, on February 9, 1981, of Irish descent.[2] He received his first pair of drumsticks at the age of five and his own drum set at the age of twelve.[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 20, 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."[3]

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,[4] stating "It's funny [...], of all my influences, Tommy Lee is a visual influence. I never thought I'd have one of those."[5] 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."[6] "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", "Art of Subconscious Illusion", "Save Me", and "Fiction". His music composing and songwriting are done in several songs for Avenged Sevenfold such as "A Little Piece of Heaven", "Afterlife", "Almost Easy", "Unbound (The Wild Ride)", "Buried Alive", "Fiction", "Brompton Cocktail", "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.[7]

The Rev

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.[8]

On December 28, 2009, The Rev was found unresponsive in his Huntington Beach home, and was later pronounced dead upon arrival to the hospital.[9] 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.[10] 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, who was then buried in The Good Shepherd Cemetery, in Huntington Beach, California.[11] Shortly after his death Avenged Sevenfold dedicated the song "St James" , a song placed at the end of their sixth studio album "Hail To The King", and 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.[12][13] M. Shadows and Gates 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."[12]

His triple bass drum kit from the 2008 Taste of Chaos tour was donated for display at a Hard Rock Cafe in Las Vegas.[14] Another drum kit he used is displayed in a Hard Rock Cafe in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.[15]