M Shadows showing his tattoos
M Shadows, Born as Matthew Charles Sanders is an American musician, best known as the lead vocalist, songwriter and founder of A7x alongside rhythm guitarist Zacky Vengeance, late drummer The Rev and initial bassist Matt Wendt. They were swiftly joined by lead guitarist Synyster Gates, who is his 24 days older brother in law and eventually replaced Wendt with Justin Sane. Current bassist Johnny Christ replaced 3rd bassist, Dameon Ash. The band has been on hiatus for a couple years due to working on new music in 2019 and the Coronavirus pandemic which started in 2020. The Rev was replaced by Mike Portnoy, who himself was replaced by Arin Ilejay and currently Brooks Wackerman. He has collaborated with current Linkin Park frontman and founder, Mike Shinoda and his bandmates Phoenix, Mr Hahn, Brad Delson and Rob Bourdon as a tribute to their late friend and bandmate, Chester Bennington.