Birth name Zachary James Baker
Also known as Zacky Vengeance
Born December 11, 1981 (1981-12-11) (age 27) Huntington Beach, California
Genres Hard rock, heavy metal, metalcore, punk rock, hardcore punk
Occupations Musician, songwriter, guitarist, vocalist
Instruments Vocals, guitar, piano
Years active 1999-Present
Labels Warner Bros. Records, Hopeless Records, Good Life Recordings
Associated acts Avenged Sevenfold, The Dear & Departed,
about his personality
In High School, Zachary, attended Huntington Beach High School. Baker came up with his stage name "Zacky Vengeance" because he wanted to get back at all the people whom doubted his success. He also came up with Johnny's stage name "Johnny Christ" because he said it was suiting for him,[citation needed] . In the Avenged Sevenfold DVD All Excess he recalls that before Avenged Sevenfold, he was in a punk band called MPA*, which stands for Mad Porno Action. He implies that they were not successful. He and M. Shadows (who at the time was singer for a band named Successful Failure) formed Avenged Sevenfold. He taught himself how to play the guitar when he was thirteen. Zacky was also responsible for the creation of the acronym "A7X".[1]
Despite being left-handed, the guitar he first learned on was actually his Dad's guitar which was right handed. He learned by playing upside-down, watching his favorite bands and other people he knew who played and practiced as much as he could. He would also read each edition of Guitar World cover to cover, learning the tabs of the songs published in there and watching the professionals perform it until he got it right. His influences in his style are Rancid, Misfits and Bad Religion. Zacky's favorite bands also include Metallica, and Guns N Roses.[citation needed]
In high school he played baseball and if it wasn't for joining Avenged Sevenfold he would be working towards the profession as a professional baseball player.[citation needed]
In 2003, Avenged Sevenfold came out with Waking the Fallen, which boosted A7X fan levels up. Avenged Sevenfold hit the jackpot in 2005 when their Gold selling album, City of Evil came out featuring songs such as, Beast and the Harlot, Bat Country, and Seize the Day.
In 2007, Avenged Sevenfold self-produced their Self Titled Album (Avenged Sevenfold). Featuring songs such as, Critical Acclaim, Scream, Afterlife, Almost Easy and A Little Piece of Heaven.
2008- Zacky and Avenged Sevenfold have announced that they will be back in the studio by July of 2009. Zacky quotes, "After touring the world for pretty much two years straight, the stars aligned and have us finishing up in Southern California and Las Vegas. If I could offer one piece of inside info it would be that these shows are the ones to see. We will be celebrating a very successful run and 10 years of madness that all started in the great state of California (though our friends in Las Vegas know how to throw a party so we can’t leave them out either). We are f*cking excited to be home and leave everything we have on the table before we get to work on a new kick-ass album. So I am personally inviting you to come out alongside our closest friends and family and leave the ear plugs at home as we throw down for these end-of-tour shows. Don’t be the one left out."
