The Orange County coroner's office said Tuesday night that an autopsy of Avenged Sevenfold drummer Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan was inconclusive and that more tests would be performed to determine a cause of death. Sullivan, 28, was found dead Monday at his home in Huntington Beach. Police in that city said there were no signs of foul play. The coroner ordered toxicology and other lab tests, which is fairly common in cases where a cause of death is not apparent.
Sullivan was born Feb. 9, 1981, and befriended the future members of the group, whose name often is short-handed as A7X, while they were in high school together.
"It is with great sadness and heavy hearts that we tell you of the passing today of Jimmy 'The Rev' Sullivan," the other four band members
said in a statement posted Tuesday on the group's website. "Jimmy was not only one of the world's best drummers, but more importantly he was our best friend and brother. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Jimmy's family and we hope that you will respect their privacy during this difficult time."
Early this decade, the group built a strong local following playing in clubs and releasing recordings on small, independent record labels. A7X established a national audience with the 2005 release of its major-label debut for Warner Bros. Records, "City of Evil," which has sold just shy of 1 million copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
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