James Owen Sullivan, better known as his stage name The Reverend Tholomew Plague, mostly shortened to The Rev, was an American musician, best known as the drummer, backing vocalist and one of 4 founders alongside Zacky Vengeance, M. Shadows and Matt Wendt of Avenged Sevenfold. He was also the lead vocalist and founder of Pinkly Smooth, a side project he had with longtime friend and Avenged Sevenfold bandmate Synyster Gates. The middle child of 3 kids, he leaves behind his parents, older sister and younger sister. He founded A7x in 1999 alongside his fellow bandmates and they recorded their first album Sounding The Seventh Trumpet together. His friend Brian joined in late 1999 and is known in the band as Synyster Gates. In 2000, Wendt left the band for college and was replaced by Justin Sane, who attempted suicide and was replaced by Dameon Ash later on. A7x's 4th and current bassist is Johnny Christ, who the band was known to pick on lots in the early days and beat up in school. On December 28, 2009, The Rev died at the age of 28 and was held a funeral on January 6, 2010. The band initially considered quitting before replacing him with Mike Portnoy. The Rev is currently replaced by Brooks Wackerman. The songs So Far Away and Fiction were made in his honour.