While Disturbed had a monumental year celebrating the 25th anniversary of their 5x multi-platinum debut album “The Sickness” on the road, the past 12 months or so haven’t all been highs for the nü-metal/alternative metal stars. Outside of allegedly damaging some banners from the Chicago Bulls with their pyro, the band’s frontman David Draiman has become a magnet for controversy.
Draiman, who is of Jewish heritage, has been unwaveringly vocal in expressing his political views on social media. Some however have taken issue with his unwavering support for Israel in the Israel Gaza war. There’s a very vocal contingent of people who felt Draiman took it a step too far in signing an artillery shell while visiting with the Israel Defense Force.
While Draiman‘s found a fair share of support for his actions, that artillery shell signing, and his frequent expression of divisive political beliefs on a variety of topics on his social media continue to fuel his critics. The uproar surrounding Draiman has led to backlash for a band who collaborated with him, audience members allegedly booing him at the ‘Back To The Beginning‘ festival, and even a canceled show in Brussels over security concerns. There’s also been public beefs, ranging from feuds with the likes of Kneecap and actor John Cusack, among others.
Which is all to say, that Disturbed‘s plans to take it easy in 2026 with some considerable downtime certainly can’t hurt things at the moment. With the band having just recently concluded the European/UK leg of their aforementioned anniversary tour, it looks like they will lay dormant for some time.
The band’s guitarist Dan Donegan took to Instagram live earlier today, October 31st, commenting of the band’s current outlook:
“We are done [playing shows for now]. We are done with ‘The Sickness‘, done with the anniversary tour. [We’ll be] home for the rest of the year, and probably gonna take quite a bit of time off next year. So no discussions of doing anything else. We just feel like we could use a break. It’s been a pretty strong run earlier this year. We started in the U.S. and a little bit into Canada and finishing this European run, we just feel we could enjoy some time home.
And [we’ve] got a lot of stuff going on in our personal lives. [We’ve] got holidays coming up. Unfortunately, a handful of us had some relatives pass away while we were in Europe. So I had an uncle pass away last week. My guitar tech had his father and a cousin, a week apart from each other, both passed away. So those are the things that happen when you live life on tour and on the road. And it’s such a heartbreaking thing, to be away from home and you get that kind of phone call when somebody close to you or a family member passes away.”
[via Blabbermouth.net]