AVENGED SEVENFOLD Guitarist Says REV's Family Kept Band From Splitting

May 26, 2011

According to The Pulse Of Radio, AVENGED SEVENFOLD guitarist Synyster Gates says that the band came very close to splitting up following the December 2009 death of drummer James "The Rev" Sullivan but that it was their fans and Sullivan's family that pulled them back from the brink. Gates told The Pulse Of Radio that for two weeks after Sullivan's death, AVENGED SEVENFOLD didn't exist anymore. "For the first two weeks after he passed, we were done as a band," he said. "We were just done. And because of the fans and Jimmy's parents and relatives and stuff like that, they just demanded that we continue on and spread the legacy that is, you know, the crazy James 'The Rev' Sullivan. And we feel so good doing that and they completely expedited that process. They really got our ass in gear to get out and finish the record and bring it to life, you know."

Gates told Grand Rapids, Michigan radio station WGRD backstage at Rock On The Range last weekend, "One of (Sullivan's) gifts in passing was definitely that we now appreciate everything a lot more than we did before and it's really cool that we all came from childhood friends . . . to being in this band together."

AVENGED recently premiered a music video for its latest single, "So Far Away", which is a tribute to Sullivan, who died from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs.

Following Sullivan's death, the band recruited his favorite drummer, ex-DREAM THEATER member Mike Portnoy, to record the drum tracks for its latest album, "Nightmare", and tour with the band through 2010.

The group recently recruited new drummer Arin Ilejay, who has also recorded a new song with the band called "Not Ready To Die" for the Call Of Duty: Black Ops video game.

AVENGED SEVENFOLD will be on tour in Europe and Australia throughout June, July and early August before coming home to headline the Rockstar Uproar Festival tour, which will kick off on August 26.

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