Matthew Charles Sanders, better known under his stage name M Shadows, is a musician and a songwriter, born on 31st July 1981, in Huntington Beach, California USA. Sanders is perhaps best known as the lead vocalist and the founder of “Avenged Sevenfold”, the American heavy metal band.
Have you ever wondered how rich M Shadows is? According to sources, it has been estimated that the overall net worth of M. Shadows is over $20 million, his wealth having been acquired mainly through his career as a lead singer of the band, but producing and songwriting for other artists has also increased his net worth significantly.
M. Shadows Net Worth $20 Million
M Shadows grew up with his two years younger sister Amy, who is a professional basketball player. He started singing as a child, gradually developing his interest in rock and metal music when he started to play the guitar. He was a child with problematic behavior, so he was expelled from his first middle school, and later transferred to Huntington Beach High School. During his schooling there, he was a part of the punk band “Successful Failure”. Before forming “Avenged Sevenfold” in 1999, Shadows was the originator of numerous bands with Zacky Vengeance, current rhythm guitarist of the band. Upon establishment of “Avenged Sevenfold”, he wanted to somehow incorporate his real name into his stage name. The final idea came after he reduced Marshal to “M” and added “Shadows” as the description of him as a “dark” member of the group.
M Shadows has a baritone voice, but nevertheless he perfected his singing technique so that he now sings comfortably in the tenor range as well. His vocal style has evolved through the years, advancing from harsh growls on the band’s first studio album “Sounding the Seventh Trumpet” (2001), through melodic vocal lines obtaining strong screaming influence, to minimal background screaming with strong vocal melodies which can be heard on the band’s label debut album “City of Evil” (2005). Shadows was mainly influenced by classic metal bands, listing “Guns N’ Roses” as his biggest influence and favorite band. Other bands that had impact on his creativity were Metallica, Megadeth, Pantera, Iron Maiden and Ozzy Ozbourne.
Apart from releasing seven albums with “Avenged Sevenfold”, Shadows has co-operated with various other artists, and made guest appearances on numerous albums, thus increasing his net worth. He produced the 2007 album “Requiem” by “The Confessions”, and featured on the “Steel Panther” group’s album “Feel the Steel” in 2009. He also collaborated with Good Charlotte and sang in “The River”, a song from their album “Good Morning Revival” (2007) and sang “Nothing to Say” on Slash’s solo album in 2010. Some of Shadows’ most recent engagements include his work on “Avenged Sevenfold’s” album “Hail to the King” in 2013.
In his personal life, M Shadows married his long-time high school girlfriend Valary DiBenedetto in October 2009; they have two sons.
