Disturbed Artistfacts

1994-
David DraimanLead vocals1996-
Dan DoneganGuitar, keyboards1994-
Mike WengrenDrums1994-
Steve "Fuzz" KmakBass1994-2003
John MoyerBass2004-2011, 2015-
Erich AwaltLead vocals1994-1996
David Draiman joined the Chicago-based metal band, then called Brawl, after answering an advertisement they posted in a local music magazine in search of a new singer. Draiman impressed his future bandmates by showing up to his audition with original material, but he was hesitant to join because he was used to a more funk-oriented vibe. A friend convinced him to give it a go.
Draiman on why the band chose the name Disturbed: "It just seems to symbolize everything we were feeling at the time. The level of conformity that people are forced into was disturbing to us and we were just trying to push the envelope and the name just sorta made sense."
Their debut album, The Sickness, brought them near-instant fame thanks to the hit single "Down With The Sickness."
Starting with their second album, Believe, the band released five consecutive albums that debuted at #1 in the US - a feat only matched by two other bands: Metallica and Dave Matthews Band.
Their highest-charting single on the Hot 100 is a cover of Simon & Garfunkel's "The Sound of Silence," which peaked at #42 and is featured on their 2015 album, Immortalized. The cover was also nominated for Best Rock Performance at the 2017 Grammy Awards.
As a rebellious teenager, Draiman wreaked havoc at a strict Jewish school in Wisconsin, where he threw a fellow student out of a second-story window and set fire to the rabbi's van. The final straw that led to his dismissal was the discovery a forbidden GQ magazine hidden under his pillow.
When he was 16, Draiman's girlfriend died of an intentional heroin overdose. When he nearly became a casualty of the drug, waking up nearly frozen underneath of a car with no recollection of how he got there, he decided to get clean. The experiences inspired him to write "Inside The Fire," which was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance in 2009.
Draiman almost pursued a career as a criminal defense attorney but couldn't bear to imagine lying for a living and defending people he knew were guilty. He had even been accepted to several law schools before he changed his mind about his legal aspirations.
In 2005, drummer Mike Wengren proposed to his girlfriend, Tina Peters, onstage during a Disturbed show in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, right before the band launched into their set closer, "Stupify." She said yes!
Draiman finally gave up his signature hook-like chin piercings in 2018 because "It just felt kind of weird walking around like a 45-year-old Hot Topic kid." Hot Topic is a retail chain popular for its alternative clothing and accessories.
During Disturbed four-year hiatus, from 2011 to 2015, Draiman formed the industrial metal band Device with former Filter guitarist Geno Lenardo.
In 2013, Wengren and Donegan started the side project Fight or Flight. They released their debut (and sole) album, A Life By Design?, that same year.
As a teenager, Donegan founded the '80s-style glam-metal band Vandal, which featured original Disturbed bassist Steve Kmak in the lineup.

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