Disturbed’s Draiman questions Grammys definition of rock

Disturbed's David Draiman
Disturbed's David Draiman (Image credit: Getty)

Disturbed’s David Draiman has questioned why his band and pop star Beyonce have been nominated in the same Grammy category.

It was announced earlier this week that Disturbed’s cover of The Sound Of Silence on the Conan show would go up against Beyonce and Jack White’s Don’t Hurt Yourself in the Best Rock Performance category at next year’s Grammys.

And Draiman has questioned the ceremony’s definition of rock music and says the fact that both feature in the same shortlist means that “something has gone wrong.”

He tells Billboard: “I have mad respect for all the artists in this category, including and especially Jack White. Is it strange to be up against Beyonce? It definitely stands out – like, one of these things is not like the other. But what are you going to do?

“What bothers me is that everybody in this category are giants of the field. These are the biggest of the big – the people who made a serious impact this year.

“Those boys in Twenty One Pilots did some damage this year. And Bowie, a posthumous award happens all the time, and who more deserving? It’s crazy the amount of talent in this category.”

The vocalist adds: “When did it all become ‘rock’? If you look at every other genre, there are so many categories and sub-categories. For rock, this is all we’ve got, so everything ends up being jammed into these four categories.

“Is it diverse? Absolutely. It’s too diverse. When you can have, with all due respect, a Beyonce and a Disturbed in the same category, something has gone wrong. Not taking anything away from her whatsoever, we’re just very different from each other.”

Draiman reports he would love to play live at the awards ceremony on February 12 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles if asked, but reckons David Bowie’s Blackstar will come out on top.

He continues: “”If we’re gonna lose to someone, I’d love for it to be Bowie. The nice thing about Bowie is that he’s been nominated in five categories, so he can give us this one!”

“It’s a pipe dream, dude, but even pipe dreams are worth smoking.”

The other artists in the Best Rock Performance category are Alabama Shakes and Twenty One Pilots. See the full list relating to rock, metal and prog artists below.

Disturbed will head out on the road again next month in support of latest album Immortalized.

Grammy nominations 2017

Best Metal Performance

Baroness – Shock Me
Gojira – Silvera
Korn – Rotting In Vain
Megadeth – Dystopia
Periphery – The Price Is Wrong

Best Rock Performance

Alabama Shakes – Joe (Live From Austin City Limits)
Beyonce Featuring Jack White – Don’t Hurt Yourself
David Bowie – Blackstar
Disturbed – The Sound of Silence”= (Live on Conan)
Twenty One Pilots – Heathens

Best Rock Song

David Bowie – Blackstar
Highly Suspect – My Name Is Human
Metallica – Hardwired
Radiohead – Burn the Witch
Twenty One Pilots – Heathens

Best Rock Album

Blink-182 – California
Cage The Elephant – Tell Me I’m Pretty
Gojira – Magma
Panic At The Disco – Death of a Bachelor
Weezer – Weezer

Best Alternative Music Album

Bon Iver – 22, A Million
David Bowie – Blackstar
PJ Harvey – The Hope Six Demolition Project
Iggy Pop – Post Pop Depression
Radiohead – A Moon Shaped Pool

Best New Age Album

John Burke – Orogen
Enya – Dark Sky Island
Peter Kater & Tina Guo – Inner Passion
Vangelis – Rosetta
White Sun – White Sun II

Best Traditional Blues Album

Lurrie Bell – Can’t Shake The Feeling
Joe Bonamassa – Live At The Greek Theatre
Luther Dickinson – Blues & Ballads
Vasti Jackson – The Soul Of Jimmie Rodgers
Bobby Rush – Porcupine Meat

Disturbed tour dates 2017

Jan 07: Dublin 3 Arena, Ireland
Jan 10: Glasgow SSE Hydro, UK
Jan 12: Newcastle Metro Radio Arena, UK
Jan 13: Birmingham Genting Arena, UK
Jan 15: Sheffield Arena, UK
Jan 16: Manchester Arena, UK
Jan 18: Nottingham Motorpoint Arena, UK
Jan 19: Cardiff Motorpoint Arena, UK
Jan 21: London O2 Arena, UK
Jan 22: London O2 Arena, UK
Feb 12: Frankfurst Festhalle, Germany
Feb 13: Hamburg Sporthalle, Germany
Feb 15: Alt Treptow Arena, Germany
Feb 16: Dusseldorf Mitsubishi Electric Halle, Germany
Feb 18: Amsterdam Ziggo Dome, Netherlands
Feb 20: Stuttgart Schleyerhalle, Germany
Feb 21: Milan Forum, Italy
Feb 23: Vienna Wiener Stadthalle, Austria
Feb 25: Munich Zenith, Germany
Feb 26: Zurich Halle 622, Switzerland
Feb 28: Lille Zenith Arena, France
Mar 01: Esch Sur Alzette Rockhal, Luxembourg
Mar 02: Paris Accor Hotels Arena, France
Mar 04: Copenhagen Valby Hallen, Denmark
Mar 07: Helsinki Hartwall Arena, Finland
Mar 09: Stockholm Ericsson Globe, Sweden
Mar 10: Osolo Telenor, Norway
Mar 14: St Petersburg A2, Russia
Mar 16: Moscow Sokol Music Hall, Russia

Watch as Disturbed invite disabled fan onstage

Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent more than 30 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving to the e-commerce team in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, scouts out the best deals for music fans and reviews headphones, speakers, books and more. He's written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog and has previous written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.