Brian Elwin Haner, Jr. was born on 7 July 1981, in Huntington Beach, California USA, of Spanish and German descent. Better known by his stage name Synster Gaters or Syn Brian, he is a musician, best known as the lead guitarist and back-up vocalist of the band Avenged Sevenfold. All of his efforts have helped put his net worth to where it is today.
How rich is Synster Gates? As of mid-2016, sources inform us of a net worth that is at $16 million, mostly earned through a successful career in the music industry. He’s ranked as part of Guitar World’s 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time, and has found success along with Avenged Sevenfold. As he continues his career it is expected that his wealth will increase.
Synyster Gates Net Worth $16 million
Synster’s father is musician Brian Haner, Sr., a member of Sam the Sham’s band during the 1970s. Gates studied at the Musicians Institute as part of the Guitar Institute of Music program, focussing on studying classical guitar and jazz. He eventually found specific interest in metal music and avant-garde.
Synster started to gain popularity after the release of Avenged Sevenfold’s debut album which he is credited using his stage name. According to an interview, he got his name while he was drunk with the Rev. He was also featured on the EP “Warmness on the Soul” which features songs from the first album as well his version of the song “To End The Rapture”. He’s received numerous awards because of his skills with Avenged Sevenfold. Guitar World listed him as 30th of the Greatest Shredders, and he was also voted as the Sexiest Male in the 2008 Kerrang Readers Poll. He’s listed as part of the 50 Fastest Guitarists and Best Metal Guitarists. In 2010, he was named as the number three best musicians in the industry and won a Revolver Golden God award the following year. Along with Avenged Sevenfold, he picked up numerous awards and also wrote the song “So Far Away”. According to him, the song is about his best friend the Rev and his grandfather, both of whom passed away.
Synster also has an experimental metal band called Pinkly Smooth which started in 2001. The band featured former Ballistico members along with the Rev and former Avenged Sevenfold bassist Justin Sane. They released the album “Unfortunate Snort” which is a mixture of genres such as progressive metal, punk, and ska, and it was rumoured that they were supposed to make another album but it was discontinued due to the death of the Rev. Gates has announced that he is considering making a remaster of “Unfortunate Snort”.
For his personal life, it is known that Gates has been married to Michelle DiBenedetto since 2010; Michelle’s twin sister is married to Avenged Sevenfold vocalist M. Shadows. Aside from these, Synster cites Frank Gambale, John Petrucci, Slash, and Zakk Wylde as artistic influences. He also uses a lot of Schecter Guitars, and the brand has a signature Avenger model designed by Gates.
