Disturbed

Disturbed is an American metal band from Chicago, Illinois. The band's members are vocalist David Draiman, guitarist Dan Donegan, bassist John Moyer, and drummer Mike Wengren. Former band members are bassist Steve "Fuzz" Kmak and vocalist Erich Awalt.

Formed in 1994 as Brawl, the band was renamed Disturbed in 1996 after Draiman was hired as the band's new vocalist. Between the band's formation and 2008, they sold over 20 million albums worldwide, making them one of the largest grossing metal/rock bands in recent years. The band has released five studio albums, four of which have consecutively debuted at number-one on the Billboard 200. Disturbed went into an indefinite hiatus in October 2011 and the band's members are currently working on various side projects. The band members insist that they will regroup as Disturbed again sometime in the future.


Before vocalist David Draiman joined Disturbed, they were known as Brawl. Brawl's lineup consisted of vocalist Erich Awalt, guitarist Dan Donegan, drummer Mike Wengren, and bassist Steve "Fuzz" Kmak. Before changing their name to "Brawl", however, Donegan mentioned in the band's DVD, Decade of Disturbed, that the name was originally going to be "Crawl"; they switched it to "Brawl", due to the name already being used by another band.

Awalt left the band shortly after the recording of a demo tape; the other three members advertised for a singer. They posted an advertisement in the local music publication in Chicago, Illinois, called the "Illinois Entertainer". Draiman answered the advertisement after going to twenty other auditions that month.

After renaming the band, Disturbed went on to record two 3-track demo tapes, the first having the demos for "The Game", "Down with the Sickness", and "Meaning of Life", with the second having the demos for "Want", "Stupify", and "Droppin' Plates". The artwork was composed of the band's recently created mascot, The Guy. The band eventually signed with Giant Records. In 2000, the band released its debut album, titled The Sickness, which launched the band into stardom. The album peaked at number twenty-nine on Billboard 200. and it has sold over four million copies in the United States since its release.

After Disturbed finished the Music as a Weapon II tour, Steve Kmak was fired by the band because of "personality differences". He was replaced by John Moyer, who is now the current bass player.

Disturbed's third studio album, Ten Thousand Fists, was released on September 20, 2005. The album debuted at number-one on the Billboard 200, while also selling around 238,000 copies in the week following its release. The album was certified platinum, shipping 1,000,000 units, in the United States on January 5, 2006.

In July 2011, the band confirmed it would go on hiatus after finishing their US tour that year, and in an interview that same month, Draiman dismissed concerns that the upcoming hiatus was a result of conflict between the band members.Disturbed went into hiatus in October 2011.

Classified as a heavy metal, or hard rock band, Disturbed is also regarded by some critics as nu metal, and alternative metal.

Band members
Current members

David Draiman – lead vocals (1996–present)
Dan Donegan – guitar (1994–present)
John Moyer – bass, backing vocals (2003–present)
Mike Wengren – drums (1994–present)
Former members

Erich Awalt – lead vocals (1994–1996)
Steve Kmak – bass, backing vocals (1994–2003)


Discography
Main article: Disturbed discography
The Sickness (2000)
Believe (2002)
Ten Thousand Fists (2005)
Indestructible (2008)
Asylum (2010)
Immortalized (2015)