David Michael Draiman (; born March 13, 1973) is an American
heavy metal singer. Noted for his distorted
baritone
A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the ...
voice and percussive singing style, he has been the lead vocalist of
Disturbed since 1996. He has written some of the band's most successful singles, such as "
Stupify", "
Down with the Sickness", "
Indestructible", and "
Inside the Fire". In 2006, he was ranked at No. 42 on the ''
Hit Parader
''Hit Parader'' was an American music magazine that operated between 1942 and 2008. A monthly publication, it focused on rock and pop music in general until the 1970s, when its focus began turning to hard rock and heavy metal. By the early 198 ...
'' list of "Top 100 Metal Vocalists of All Time". During Disturbed's hiatus from 2011 to 2015, he worked on an
industrial metal
Industrial metal is the fusion of Heavy metal music, heavy metal and industrial music, typically employing repeating Heavy metal guitar, metal guitar riffs, sampling (music), sampling, synthesizer or music sequencer, sequencer lines, and Distor ...
project with
Geno Lenardo, which was later named
Device. They released
one self-titled album in 2013. Disturbed returned with the album ''
Immortalized'' in 2015, ''
Evolution
Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...
'' in 2018, and ''
Divisive'' in 2022.
Early life
David Michael Draiman was born to Jewish parents in the
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
borough of New York City on March 13, 1973.
His father, YJ, had worked as a
real estate developer
Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw land and the sale of developed land or parcels to other ...
and small-business owner before he was arrested for
embezzlement
Embezzlement (from Anglo-Norman, from Old French ''besillier'' ("to torment, etc."), of unknown origin) is a type of financial crime, usually involving theft of money from a business or employer. It often involves a trusted individual taking ...
and sent to prison when Draiman was 12 years old.
YJ would later become a candidate in the races for
Mayor of Los Angeles
The mayor of Los Angeles is the head of the executive branch of the government of Los Angeles and the chief executive of Los Angeles. The office is officially Non-partisan democracy, nonpartisan, a change made in the 1909 charter; previously, ...
in
2013
2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years).
2013 was designated as:
*International Year of Water Cooperation
*International Year of Quinoa
Events
January
* January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...
,
2017
2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly.
Events January
* January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...
, and
2022
The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...
. Draiman's brother, Benjamin, is an
ambient musician who lives in Israel.
His grandmother Ziona is a
Yemenite Jew whose family immigrated to Israel in the early 1900s.
Draiman's parents sent him to
Orthodox schools, where he believed he was on the path to receiving
rabbinic ordination. He frequently spent time in Israel during his early life.
He attended five
Jewish day school
A Jewish day school is a modern Jewish educational institution that is designed to provide children of Jews, Jewish parents with both a Jewish and a secular education in one school on a full-time basis. The term "day school" is used to differentiat ...
s, including
Valley Torah High School in Los Angeles, where he formed his first band;
Fasman Yeshiva High School in
Skokie, Illinois
Skokie (; formerly Niles Center) is a Village (United States), village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. According to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 67,824. Skokie lies approximately north of Chicago's dow ...
, a near north suburb of Chicago; and the Wisconsin Institute for Torah Study in Milwaukee.
During his freshman year at the latter, he was asked to leave as he "rebelled against the conformity" and "just wanted to be a normal teenage kid", adding that he "couldn't really stomach the rigorous religious requirements of the life
here
Here may refer to:
Music
* ''Here'' (Adrian Belew album), 1994
* ''Here'' (Alicia Keys album), 2016
* ''Here'' (Cal Tjader album), 1979
* ''Here'' (Edward Sharpe album), 2012
* ''Here'' (Idina Menzel album), 2004
* ''Here'' (Merzbow album), ...
.
He has admitted to being "a bit resentful" about his time at Jewish day schools, but nevertheless became trained as a ''
hazzan
A ''hazzan'' (; , lit. Hazan) or ''chazzan'' (, plural ; ; ) is a Jewish musician or precentor trained in the vocal arts who leads the congregation in songful prayer. In English, this prayer leader is often referred to as a cantor, a term al ...
'' (cantor) and encouraged his family to observe
Shabbat
Shabbat (, , or ; , , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the seven-day week, week—i.e., Friday prayer, Friday–Saturday. On this day, religious Jews ...
.
Draiman later enrolled at
Ida Crown Jewish Academy, located in the
West Ridge neighborhood of Chicago, and graduated from high school in 1991.
From 1991 to 1992, he became romantically involved with a girl who used
heroin
Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a morphinan opioid substance synthesized from the Opium, dried latex of the Papaver somniferum, opium poppy; it is mainly used as a recreational drug for its eupho ...
and eventually killed herself. At the age of 18, on New Year's Day 1992, he attempted to kill himself but says that he instead woke up later to find himself nearly frozen to death underneath a parked
1972 Oldsmobile Cutlass. After detoxing, he described having a "moment of clarity" and never used heroin again.
After high school, he spent a year studying at the
Yeshivas Neveh Zion in
Kiryat Ye'arim on the outskirts of Jerusalem.
After returning to the U.S. in 1992, Draiman commenced pre-law studies at
Loyola University Chicago
Loyola University Chicago (Loyola or LUC) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1870 by the Society of Jesus, Loyola is one of the largest Catholic Church, ...
.
In 1996, he graduated with a
BA in Political Science and Government, Philosophy, and Business Administration. Initially considering offers to study at law school, he realized that criminal defense law was the only area of law that interested him, which made him unwilling to pursue law because he knew he would not be able to "really look at
imselfin the mirror and say 'I'm going to lie for a living and protect criminals'".
During his university studies, he also worked as a bank teller and in phone sales.
After graduating, he worked as an administrative assistant in a healthcare facility.
A year later, he earned an administrator's license and ran his own healthcare facility for five years before joining Disturbed.
Leaving that position strained his relationship with his grandfather, who was a traditional
Hasidic Jew.
Career

In 1996, Draiman auditioned to be lead singer for the band Brawl, which was later renamed to Disturbed. He auditioned and was asked to join the band after answering an advertisement the other members had placed in a local music publication in Chicago, which he later revealed was one of around 20 auditions for other bands he had attended that month.
Guitarist
Dan Donegan said of Draiman's audition,
"You know, out of all the singers that we had talked to or auditioned, he was the only singer who was ready to go with originals. And that impressed me, just to attempt that. After a minute or two, he just starts banging out these melodies that were huge... I'm playing my guitar and I'm grinning from ear to ear. ..I was so psyched. Chill up my spine."
Draiman has written some of Disturbed's most successful singles, such as "
Stupify", "
Down with the Sickness", "
Indestructible", and "
Inside the Fire". In 2006, he was ranked at No. 42 on the ''
Hit Parader
''Hit Parader'' was an American music magazine that operated between 1942 and 2008. A monthly publication, it focused on rock and pop music in general until the 1970s, when its focus began turning to hard rock and heavy metal. By the early 198 ...
'' list of "Top 100 Metal Vocalists of All Time".
During Disturbed's hiatus from 2011 to 2015, Draiman worked on an
industrial metal
Industrial metal is the fusion of Heavy metal music, heavy metal and industrial music, typically employing repeating Heavy metal guitar, metal guitar riffs, sampling (music), sampling, synthesizer or music sequencer, sequencer lines, and Distor ...
project with
Geno Lenardo, which was later named
Device. They released
one self-titled album in 2013. Disturbed returned with the album ''
Immortalized'' in 2015 and ''
Evolution
Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...
'' in 2018.
Artistry
Draiman has said of his influences, "The first record I ever bought was
Kiss
A kiss is the touching or pressing of one's lips against another person, animal or object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely; depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sex ...
'
''Destroyer''. And those classic bands like
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler, and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. After adopting the Black Sabbath name in 1969 (the band ...
were my first loves.
..I focused on the seminal metal bands like
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band. It was formed in Los Angeles in 1981 by vocalist and guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...
,
Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden are an English Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris (musician), Steve Harris. Although fluid in the early years of the band, the line-up for most ...
,
Pantera
Pantera () is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Arlington, Texas in 1981 by the Abbott brothers (guitarist Dimebag Darrell and drummer Vinnie Paul), and currently composed of vocalist Phil Anselmo, bassist Rex Brown, an ...
and
Queensrÿche
Queensrÿche () is an American progressive metal band. It formed in 1982 in Bellevue, Washington, out of the local band the Mob. The band has released 16 studio albums, one Extended play, EP, and several DVDs, and continues to tour and record ...
. But I could also appreciate the
hair metal
Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals.
The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and fi ...
bands – When you hear
Whitesnake
Whitesnake are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1978. The group were originally put together as the backing band for singer David Coverdale, who had recently left Deep Purple. Though the band quickly developed into their ow ...
, you can't deny their greatness. Then I went in the direction of punk and new wave, groups like the
Sex Pistols
The Sex Pistols are an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they became culturally influential in popular music. The band initiated the punk movement in the United Ki ...
,
The Ramones
The Ramones were an American punk rock band formed in the New York City neighborhood Forest Hills, Queens in 1974. Known for helping establish the punk movement in the United States and elsewhere, the Ramones are often recognized as one of t ...
,
The Misfits and later
The Smiths
The Smiths were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Manchester in 1982, composed of Morrissey (vocals), Johnny Marr (guitar), Andy Rourke (bass) and Mike Joyce (musician), Mike Joyce (drums). Morrissey and Marr formed the band's songwrit ...
and
The Cure
The Cure are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Crawley in 1976 by Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith (vocals, guitar) and Lol Tolhurst (drums). The band's current line-up comprises Smith, Perry Bamonte (guitar and keyboards), Reev ...
– that was my '80s.
..And then when the
grunge
Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock Music genre, genre and subculture that emerged during the in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, particularly in Seattle and Music of Olympia, Washington, O ...
revolution happened, it was like a wakeup call. I'll never forget getting my first
Nirvana
Nirvana, in the Indian religions (Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism), is the concept of an individual's passions being extinguished as the ultimate state of salvation, release, or liberation from suffering ('' duḥkha'') and from the ...
,
Soundgarden
Soundgarden was an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1984 by singer and drummer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil, and bassist Hiro Yamamoto. Cornell switched to rhythm guitar in 1985, replaced on drums initially ...
and
Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains (often abbreviated as AiC) is an American rock band formed in Seattle in 1987. Since 2006, the band's lineup has comprised vocalist/guitarists Jerry Cantrell and William DuVall, bassist Mike Inez, and drummer Sean Kinney. Voca ...
records."
Personal life
On September 25, 2011, Draiman married model and actress
Lena Yada. Their son was born in September 2013.
They divorced in 2023. In May 2025, he got engaged to model Sarah Uli. They became engaged at the Disturbed: The Sickness 25th Anniversary concert in Sacramento, CA on May 9, 2025 when he proposed on stage to her.
Draiman is fluent in Hebrew.
Draiman said of his political views in 2015, "I'm liberal about everything that is issue-based as far as ideology, but I'm also of the opinion of a very small government. I don't agree with the fiscal policies of the
Democrats, but I certainly don't agree with the right-wing craziness of the
Republicans."
He supported
Bernie Sanders
Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician and activist who is the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from the state of Vermont. He is the longest-serving independ ...
'
2016 presidential campaign.
In March of 2022, Draiman and
Avenged Sevenfold
Avenged Sevenfold (abbreviated as A7X) is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band from Huntington Beach, California, formed in 1999. The band's current lineup consists of vocalist M. Shadows, rhythm guitarist Zacky Vengeance, lead gui ...
frontman
M. Shadows criticized the
Florida Parental Rights in Education Act
The Parental Rights in Education Act (HB 1557), commonly referred to as the ''Don't Say Gay'' law, is a Florida statute passed in 2022 that regulates public schools in Florida. The law is most notable for prohibiting public schools from hav ...
.
He has also described himself as "a very, very strong supporter of
Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
". In 2019, he described former
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...
member
Roger Waters
George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician and singer-songwriter. In 1965, he co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd as the bassist. Following the departure of the group's main songwriter Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became ...
and other activists seeking to
boycott Israel for alleged human rights abuses as "
Nazi
Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
comrades". In October 2023, he denounced the
attacks on Israel by the Palestinian group
Hamas
The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...
as acts of terrorism.
In March 2025, during the funeral of his children and wife,
Yarden Bibas played the song "Hold On to Memories" by
Disturbed. In response David Draiman addressed him with a direct message in English and Hebrew, expressing his condolences and sympathies.
Discography
Disturbed
*''
The Sickness'' (2000)
*''
Believe'' (2002)
*''
Ten Thousand Fists'' (2005)
*''
Indestructible'' (2008)
*''
Asylum'' (2010)
*''
The Lost Children'' (2011)
*''
Immortalized'' (2015)
*''
Evolution
Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...
'' (2018)
*''
Divisive'' (2022)
Device
*''
Device'' (2013)
Guest appearances
*"
Forsaken" (written by
Jonathan Davis
Jonathan Howsmon Davis (born January 18, 1971), also known as JD, is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He is the lead vocalist and frontman of nu metal band Korn, which is considered a pioneering act of the nu metal genre. Davis's ...
) (2002)
*"
Here's to Us" (guest version) (2012)
*"
Dance in the Rain" (guest vocals for
Megadeth
Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist and guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal—alo ...
) (2013)
*"We Believe" (guest vocals for
Hyro the Hero) (2020)
*"King of Misery" (co-written with
Saul
Saul (; , ; , ; ) was a monarch of ancient Israel and Judah and, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament, the first king of the United Monarchy, a polity of uncertain historicity. His reign, traditionally placed in the late eleventh c ...
) (2020)
*"Dead Inside" (guest vocals for
Nita Strauss
Nita Strauss (born December 7, 1986) is an American musician. She is currently a guitarist for Alice Cooper, has also been a touring guitarist for Demi Lovato and has a successful career as a solo artist. Strauss is regularly featured on the cov ...
) (2021) – No. 1
Mainstream Rock Songs
Mainstream Rock is a music chart published by ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States. It is an administrative category that combines the " active rock" and " heritage rock" fo ...
*"Angel Song" (guest vocals for
Nothing More) (2024) – No. 1 Mainstream Rock Songs
As producer
*
Trivium
The trivium is the lower division of the seven liberal arts and comprises grammar, logic, and rhetoric.
The trivium is implicit in ("On the Marriage of Philology and Mercury") by Martianus Capella, but the term was not used until the Carolin ...
– ''
Vengeance Falls'' (2013)
References
External links
Official Disturbed website*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Draiman, David
1973 births
20th-century American Jews
20th-century American male singers
21st-century American Jews
21st-century American male singers
American Ashkenazi Jews
American baritones
American health care businesspeople
American heavy metal singers
American people of Yemeni-Jewish descent
American people of Israeli descent
American Mizrahi Jews
American Zionists
Businesspeople from Chicago
Businesspeople from Illinois
Device (metal band) members
Disturbed (band) members
Jewish American rock musicians
Jewish heavy metal musicians
Jewish American singers
Living people
Loyola University Chicago alumni
Nu metal singers
People from Skokie, Illinois
Singers from Chicago