M. Shadows opened up about the ways vocal coach Ron Anderson influenced him in a social media post Sunday (Sept. 19th).
In a touching tribute to Anderson, who passed away this weekend at the age of 75, the Avenged Sevenfold singer wrote, “In 2004, after 'Waking The Fallen' I was having trouble with my vocal folds. I had a surgery to remove blood vessels that were bleeding into the folds and causing stiffness. I heard about Ron's students (Axl Rose, Chris Cornell, Janet Jackson) and decided to go meet with him about helping me get through the recovery. What ended up happening was a beautiful friendship with a man I deeply admired. He would do anything for his students. If we were in Europe or Asia and I needed him before a show he would get up at all hours, jump on FaceTime and warm me up. He did this for everyone.
“In 2018, while he was on tour with The Weeknd for Coachella, he came to my house for dinner with his life long business partner and friend Pipe. We had many friends there celebrating life and drinking wine. We got nice and drunk and expressed how much we loved and respected each other. We all hung out until the sun came up and it was a memory I will never forget. I'm glad I have that. He was easily one the most important people in my career and I spent more time in lessons with him then maybe even my own family. He was a master of his craft, and if there is an entity up there, he's teaching them how to do rolled r's and scales to improve their voice.”