AVENGED SEVENFOLD's M. SHADOWS: 'We're Gonna Start Seeing More' Rock 'Legends Passing Away'

In a new interview with Playboy México, AVENGED SEVENFOLD frontman M. Shadows spoke about the recent passing of Ozzy Osbourne and how it affected his mindset in terms of the way he lives his own life. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET):  "Every record we write about, especially [2023's] 'Life Is But A Dream…' and [2016's] 'The Stage' are based on sort of how quickly life passes. It seems like yesterday that I was in my mom's garage starting this band, and now in a blink of an eye, we're all in our forties now. And it's crazy how quickly time passes. And we're gonna start seeing some more of the legends that kind of showed us the path, they're gonna be passing away, and that's part of life and that's part of living in the moment and trying to really be present with everything that's happening all the time."

M. Shadows also commented on the fact that music video giant MTV recently officially shut down its remaining 24-hour music channels as trends have notably shifted to favor streaming platforms instead. He said: "The way you heard new music was through radio and through MTV. And the Internet has changed everything. I think the Internet has created a very exciting new era for music, but it also creates a lot of confusion and you also lose a lot of things that were very nostalgic for people. We would watch 'Beavis And Butt-head' and find new metal bands. We would watch 'TRL' and see what was happening in pop culture. For us, 'Bat Country' was a huge music video for us, and MTV played it a lot and that really helped us kind of kick off 'City Of Evil'. So music videos were huge for us. They were huge growing up… So, yeah, for me, MTV was huge."

M. Shadows also talked about AVENGED SEVENFOLD's new song, "Magic", which is included as part of Black Ops 7 Season 1 biggest seasonal content drop in "Call Of Duty" history. He said: "'Magic' is something that we were writing for the new 'Call Of Duty' Black Ops 7. It's a little more dissonant and a little more abstract than most things we've done. But at the end of the day, it's supposed to evoke some sort of feeling, and whether people understand it or don't, it's definitely evokes some feelings. So, it's just something that we got together [and wrote] and felt it was compelling."

Last September, AVENGED SEVENFOLD postponed its fall 2025 Latin American tour due to a vocal injury suffered by M. Shadows. The band was scheduled to to kick off the tour on September 25 in Buenos Aires, Argentina but ended up calling off the trek after M. Shadows was diagnosed with vocal fold hematoma, a condition where a blood vessel in the vocal cord ruptures and leaks blood under the lining of the vocal cord.

AVENGED SEVENFOLD played its first show of 2026 on January 14 at Coliseo José Miguel Agrelot San Juan in Puerto Rico. The band will next perform tonight (Saturday, January 17) at Mexico City, Mexico's Estadio GNP Seguros, alongside A DAY TO REMEMBER, SCARS ON BROADWAY and MR. BUNGLE. They will travel down to South America for a few more shows.

This summer, AVENGED SEVENFOLD will embark on a North American co-headline tour with GOOD CHARLOTTE.