Well, it appears David Draiman has found love again. The Disturbed frontman took to social media yesterday (Jan. 10) and shared his first photo with his new girlfriend.

Draiman revealed that he was going through a divorce with his ex-wife Lena Draiman in early 2023. The couple had been married for 11 years, and had a son together named Samuel, who’s now 10. According to Blabbermouth, the singer wrote that he felt “heartbroken” and “very lost,” but assured there was no bad blood between himself and Lena.

The divorce was finalized in the spring. But now, it seems that Draiman has been able to mend his heart a bit, as he posted a photo of himself with a woman on Instagram.

“My lady,” the vocalist wrote as the caption of the photo, followed by a heart emoji. He also tagged the woman, whose name is Sarah Uli. According to her Instagram profile, she’s a Miami-based model. She shared the same image of herself with Draiman last night as well, captioning it, “You,” with a heart emoji.

Several musicians commented on Draiman’s post expressing their happiness for his newfound relationship.

“David, you are such a beautiful soul. Im so glad u have found someone who makes you happy,” Halestorm‘s Lzzy Hale wrote.

I Prevail‘s Brian Burkheiser commented, “Happy for you brotha!”

See the post below.

It’s unclear how Draiman met Uli, but he did own a home in Miami for a time, though he sold it in late September for $5 million [via the New York Post]. In May of last year, the singer revealed that he’d made a Tinder profile after a fan posted a screenshot of his account on X. The fan assumed the account was fake, but the vocalist confirmed that it was real.

“You’d be surprised. It’s hard for a guy like me to meet the right woman. I’ll tell you, it’s been weird so far. Lots of scammers. Trying to figure out how to navigate this new terrain,” Draiman expanded.

His stint on the platform didn’t last long, though, and he deleted the account shortly after.

“Holy fucking dumpster fire Batman, Tinder was an absolute shitishow. Scammers, grifters, fakes and phonies abound. What a colossal fucking nightmare. Deleted it. Dear lord,” he wrote in another post on X.

We wish Draiman all the best.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by David Draiman (@davidmdraiman)

Original Article: Blabbermouth.com

Original Article by: loadedradio.com

DISTURBED singer David Draiman has explained how he ended up reuniting with his new puppy Charlotte, who went missing from this Florida home a few days ago

Earlier today (Tuesday, October 3), the 50-year-old singer, who resides in Miami, shared a new Instagram post in which he wrote: “Someone found her roaming around on my block (I figured out how she got out and have since remedied the problem…fool me once). She crossed the street and they got out of their car and grabbed her. They left signs all over the place about a lost dog. One of the people on social media told me about the signs.

“They emailed me a picture of one. I called the number. Asked if the dog was a 10 week old golden retriever pup, they said yes. They asked me what color her collar was. I said she didn’t have one. They said, ‘good, that was a trick question, you caught it.’

“They gave me their address, they lived maybe 10 minutes from me, and I showed up to their house and they opened the door and there was my baby. I asked if I could give them anything, they said all they wanted was maybe the couple hundred they spent on food and toys for her for the two days she had been with them, which I gladly reimbursed. I was overwhelmed.”]

He added in a caption: “Thanks so much to the selfless people who helped reunite us. There are still good people in this world”.

Just three weeks ago, David Draiman welcomed a 10-week-old golden retriever into his life and introduced her to the world with a heartwarming post: “Say hello to the newest member of the Draiman family…Charlotte!”

However, over the weekend, a distressing update followed as Draiman revealed that Charlotte had gone missing. He offered a reward for any information that could lead to her safe return, expressing his concern that “she was taken by someone/something while playing in the yard.”

Back in April, during an interview, Draiman shared the painful loss of his beloved Akita dog, Gabriel, whom he had cherished as his best friend for 14 years.

In September 2023, David Draiman sold his Pinecrest home in the Miami suburb for $5 million. He had purchased the modern Spanish-Moroccan villa for $5.22 million in March 2022 and initially listed it for $5.75 million in January 2023, ultimately settling on a final asking price of $5.19 million.

Further adding to the changes in his life, David Draiman confirmed his divorce from his wife of 11 years, Lena Draiman, in April.

DISTURBED‘s most recent album, “Divisive,” was released last November. The album was recorded earlier in the same year with producer Drew Fulk (known for his work with MOTIONLESS IN WHITE, LIL PEEP, HIGHLY SUSPECT) in Nashville, Tennessee.

Mental health isn’t only a “concern,” it should be something one monitors just as they do their physical health. David Draiman of Disturbed thinks we can take better care of ourselves. And he isn’t wrong. At a recent performance at Hog Fest in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Draiman took a minute to talk about his own battle with depression and addiction. Of course, many times people think of an addict, but they don’t think of the underlying issues that might cause the problem. Depression, and its causes, create many other issues.

The suicide rate in the United States is unbelievably traumatic. On average, someone dies by their own hand every 12 minutes, or 41,000 people a year. Lots of people close to the person might not even know that individual is dealing with so much internal stress. If the person doesn’t feel as if they can speak to someone about how they are feeling or what they are thinking, that’s a huge problem.

David Draiman of Disturbed speaks candidly about dealing with depression
This is why when Disturbed’s David Draiman talks candidly about his own issues, it might not seem like a big deal to many people, but then it doesn’t need to, right? It only takes one person who is having mental health concerns to identify with someone they respect, even if they don’t know that other person individually – it could be an athlete or a musical artist or an actor or literally anyone else – to make a difference. But so many people aren’t candid about what they have gone through or what they are dealing with.

What David Draiman spoke about at Hog Fest took a bit of bravery as well. The metal scene isn’t really known for being sensitive about feelings. But that’s a crock. Emotions are what makes us unique human beings and we each have our own problems. Draiman referenced Disturbed’s song, “A Reason To Fight” when he said, I’m tired of losing everybody I love to depression and addiction. Every single band member on this stage has dealt with those feelings, with those demons. And I miss the friends that we’ve lost. I miss Chester (Bennington, singer of Linkin Park), I miss Scott (Weiland, singer of Stone Temple Pilots), I miss Chris (Cornell, singer/guitarist of Soundgarden).

And if I can be completely honest with you, a couple months ago, I almost joined them. Addiction and depression can happen to anyone ladies and gentlemen. No one is immune from it no matter how beautiful their life may look from the outside.David Draiman. You don’t have to be a fan of Disturbed or David Draiman to understand what he is saying. If you are dealing with depression or addiction, it doesn’t make you a bad person. It means you are a human being and it’s OK to talk about what you are going through with someone you know.

Original Article by: msn.com

Disturbed were praised for their supportive moment during a recent show when they halted proceedings to help out a weeping child. The heavy metal band’s lead singer David Draiman, 50, momentarily pulled the plug mid-way through a recent performance in West Palm Beach, Florida. He hopped off the stage and stopped the loud music to chat with a young fan who was watching the show from the front-row barricades and had burst into tears.

An explanation for the concert’s interruption was offered by a fan on a Reddit forum named Humans Being Bros who claimed to have been a ticket holder at the event.  Alongside a video of the star speaking with the young fan, they wrote: ‘What happened was the little girl was singing all the lyrics and David invited her to come onstage with him and she freaked and started bawling. He immediately stopped the show and went down to talk to her.’

In the post online, the girl told the star her name was Sophia in between sobs and David was seen attempting to settle her, saying he was sorry for making her upset. He could be heard explaining: ‘It’s ok. I didn’t mean to scare you. You okay? You promise? Oh, darling, you’re making me feel terrible now.’

The singer then turned to the packed venue and said: ‘See, I love, absolutely love, that Disturbed concerts have become a family affair. I love it. ‘And this little girl has been singing her heart out the entire show. She knows so many of the songs. ‘What’s the worst thing that a child is going to encounter? A little bit of profanity? We live in a world where there are so much more vile and ugly things in it than profanity.

‘It doesn’t matter where you come from or who you are. All of us came here tonight for the same reason.  ‘All of us came here tonight because the world is hard. Life is hard. And you come here to take your burdens and to set them down!’ The heavy metal artist poetically ended his speech by turning to the fan and telling her: ‘Besides, darling, we may be dark. But let me share a secret with you. Sometimes darkness can show you the light.’

“I need it so badly, I can taste it… maybe more than I ever needed it in my life.”

David Draiman, everyone’s favorite world-famous, American, heavy metal demi-god who happens to be a staunchly vocal defender of Israel, wasn’t talking about drugs or drink, but getting on stage as the frontman for his band, Disturbed.

Speaking to The Jerusalem Post over Passover, the 50-year-old Draiman was counting down the days until the hugely popular hard rockers launched their first major tour in over three years, in Montreal, in support of their new well-received album, Divisive. The tour, which began last week, will see the band return to Israel after their breathtaking show in 2019, on June 28 and June 29 at the Tel Aviv Exhibition Center.
Labeled the Take Back Your Life tour, the sojourn and its name have special significance for newly divorced Draiman.

“It’s been an upheaval – divorce is not an easy thing to handle. It affects everything, not just my work,” he said via Zoom. “It’s been a rough start to the year, so it’s nice to be able to have something positive to focus on and try and get re-centered. But the darkness keeps creeping in once in a while.”

Seeing the vulnerability in the potentially menacing, black-wearing, bald-pated vocalist who can prompt thousands of fans to go wild with the pumping of a fist, is a clue to Disturbed’s appeal, described by Draiman as 90% heavy and 10% kind, loving goodness.

ALONG WITH his bandmates, guitarist/keyboardist Dan Donegan, bassist John Moyer and drummer Mike Wengren, they’ve sold millions of albums since their 2000 debut and in 2015, they cracked the mainstream with a passionate rendition of Simon and Garfunkel’s “The Sound of Silence” that shattered the heavy metal stereotype the band had fostered.

Hard rock site Metal Hammer called them one of the most commercially successful metal acts of all time, citing their streak of five albums debuting at number one on the Billboard 200 as a feat equaled only by Metallica and the Dave Matthews Band.

The site’s review of Divisive said there were no surprises in the band’s well-developed amalgam of mainstream metal.

“Since the late 90s, Disturbed has mastered the ability to craft muscular, radio-friendly anthems that have varied relatively little over the years. Long embracing the idea that what isn’t broken isn’t in need of repair, Divisive puts this principle into practice,” their review said.

“Thank god, we’re still able to write some great hooks that create catchy songs that stick in people’s heads,” said Draiman with a laugh.

“I’m very happy with how well it’s been received and the band feels great coming out of the gate. That energy and exuberance we had while making the record is definitely going to translate into how people hear it. And I can’t wait to be able to unleash the songs in the way they deserve to be presented: in a live setting.”

Four years since Disturbed’s last performance in Israel
When Disturbed last performed in Israel, for 10,000 fans at Rishon Lezion’s LivePark in 2019, Draiman spoke to the audience in Hebrew, donned a t-shirt with an IDF insignia and sang “Hatikvah” proclaiming, “This is for all the IDF soldiers.”

“There’s no doubt that Israeli audiences have a different level of intensity because they’re not as blessed with as many performances as the rest of the world,” said Draiman. “Generally, when you leave the United States for Europe or South America, the energy level of the crowd goes up a bit, but especially in Israel because when shows do happen, they’re literally celebrating that the performance actually took place and nothing happened to stop it.”

DRAIMAN, WHO used to lead High Holy Day services as a teen at various Jewish day schools and yeshivot he attended, claims to have close to 200 relatives in Israel, including his brother, Ben, also a musician, and his grandmother. A militant anti-BDS proponent with a highly visible and outspoken social media presence, Draiman said that he doesn’t understand why Israel is treated differently than any other concert destination on the itinerary of other touring artists.

“I don’t think there’s ever going to be a time to visit Israel and absolutely nothing is happening. But you can say the same of Chicago, New York or any major US or European city. Look at Paris! There’s potential danger everywhere. If three years ago you would have told me there would be a problem in performing in Kyiv, I would have said you were crazy,” said Draiman.

“Of course, if a major conflict broke out before our shows, then yeah, we’ll have a problem. But I don’t think you can deprive people of the means to bring them to true escape and salvation in a way that nothing else can simply because they live in a bad neighborhood.”

Although the band is at the top of its game, with the band members entering their 50s and the music they play appealing to those half their age, Draiman is aware that time is starting to be a factor in the band’s shelf life. When looking at the continued dominance of Metallica in their 60s and Bruce Springsteen touring at 73, he holds out hope.

“Physically, I’m ok. I’ve lost 20 pounds since January and I’ve been doing vocal training. It’s the mental aspect I have to try and get past. But I know the most amazing way to transcend every single issue to feel that energy onstage,” he said.

“May we all be able to thrive in the way that the aforementioned musicians thrive that late in the game. I hope we can because I still love doing it. What we do can be considerably more physically challenging, but it’s my own fault and the nature of the music that we write and perform. We’re a product of what we create and I wouldn’t have it any other way. That’s the only way it can be truly satisfying for me.”

A fan of democracy
David Draiman chuckles when asked if he follows the news out of Israel – both the internal conflict over the judicial overhaul and the ongoing battle against terrorism.

That’s because Draiman’s Twitter and Facebook accounts are freshly stocked anytime you look with new observations, comments and remarks about all the things that interest him, including Israel. So it’s not surprising that he has some opinions about the state of the country he greatly identifies with.

“I think you know I follow it closely on a day-by-day basis and you know it pisses me off,” he said.

“Sinat hinam (baseless hatred) brought about the destruction of the Temple. Our enemies smell blood and they smell weakness when we are divided. It’s easier or at least perceived to be easier to be attacked when you’re divided. Of course, they attack anyway, so we have to remind ourselves of that – that Israel is always in the crosshairs.

“I never imagined I would see the divisiveness in Israel that we saw in the United States during the Trump election. I never thought I would see two sides of the demographics in Israel split like this,” said Draiman who proclaimed himself a fan of democracy.

“I don’t think people in positions of power should change the playing field in order to further their own power. It’s playing with fire and it’s understandable why so many elements of the proposed reforms have been met with the kind of fervor they have been. It’s justified, but in other ways, it just gives both sides more fuel to add to their respective fires when they get up on their respective podiums and scream. Israel has bigger issues to deal with. People need to remember what brings us together as opposed to concentrating on what divides Israeli society.

“But you have to appreciate that Israel is the one country in that entire part of the world where you see what happens takes place peacefully, for the most part. Democracy thrives in Israeli in a way it doesn’t anywhere else in the region.”

Where before he was a casual observer in the feud between the streaming giant and singer-songwriter Neil Young, Disturbed frontman David Draiman has now become a full-on defender of Spotify. You can read Draiman’s full statement, collected across multiple tweets, below, but the bottom line is that the attack on Napster led to piracy, which streaming then stopped.

Check out the statement below:

“All those attacking @Spotify, young and old, would do well to remember a couple little things called MUSIC PIRACY, and BITTORRENT SITES. Before streaming took hold, both artists and the very music industry itself was on the verge of collapse. Why?

“Because the heads of the major labels at the time refused to see the future when a young Sean Fanning and Sean Parker, the guys behind a little startup called @napster, approached them with a new way to reach their consumers at unprecedented levels, and they shot them down.

“So instead, Fanning and Parker let Napster do it’s thing for free. Piracy and BitTorrent sites soon followed along with the new perception that “music should be free”. Artists suffered, record labels suffered and the industry itself nearly collapsed.

“It took STREAMING to bring it back to life. Streaming made the labels profitable again, made catalog artists regain a royalty stream, and made Piracy obsolete. Streaming made legacy artists catalogs, like @Neilyoung and others tremendously valuable.

“It created the current environment where people stream their music, and where musicians had the opportunity to sell their catalogs, which had regained their value, like Neil did. Could or should @Spotify have a better streaming royalty rate? I believe so…

“…but it doesn’t take away the FACT that without streaming, there would no longer BE A MUSIC INDUSTRY, and these artists who are complaining after they already sold their catalogs for gargantuan sums of money, would be liquidating their assets…

“…and many would be struggling to survive. Artists you want to blame someone? Blame the heads of the labels in the days prior to Napster who refused to adopt new technology in favor of an antiquated retail system that had a higher profit margin.

“Blame your lawyers and your management for not negotiating a better royalty percentage in your respective record deals, and blame YOURSELVES for not paying attention to it. The majority of the legacy artists out there have newfound riches from streaming…

“…and music fans have easier and higher quality access to the widest range of music in existence. In summary, stop bitching, educate yourselves and read your damn contracts. Streaming saved music. Wether you want to accept it or not…its the TRUTH.”

Because the heads of the major labels at the time refused to see the future when a young Sean Fanning and Sean Parker, the guys behind a little startup called @napster, approached them with a new way to reach their consumers at unprecedented levels, and they shot them down.

— David Draiman 🟦🎗️🇮🇱✡️☮️ (@davidmdraiman) February 9, 2022

It took STREAMING to bring it back to life. Streaming made the labels profitable again, made catalog artists regain a royalty stream, and made Piracy obsolete. Streaming made legacy artists catalogs, like @Neilyoung and others tremendously valuable.

— David Draiman 🟦🎗️🇮🇱✡️☮️ (@davidmdraiman) February 9, 2022

…but it doesn’t take away the FACT that without streaming, there would no longer BE A MUSIC INDUSTRY, and these artists who are complaining after they already sold their catalogs for gargantuan sums of money, would be liquidating their assets…

— David Draiman 🟦🎗️🇮🇱✡️☮️ (@davidmdraiman) February 9, 2022

Blame your lawyers and your management for not negotiating a better royalty percentage in your respective record deals, and blame YOURSELVES for not paying attention to it.

The majority of the legacy artists out there have newfound riches from streaming…

— David Draiman 🟦🎗️🇮🇱✡️☮️ (@davidmdraiman) February 9, 2022

…and music fans have easier and higher quality access to the widest range of music in existence.

In summary, stop bitching, educate yourselves and read your damn contracts.

Streaming saved music. Wether you want to accept it or not…its the TRUTH.

— David Draiman 🟦🎗️🇮🇱✡️☮️ (@davidmdraiman) February 9, 2022

Original Article by: metalsucks.net

Metal might not be getting the respect many think it deserves by the NFL, who continue to overlook the genre (Metallica, mainly) for the vaunted Super Bowl halftime show, an issue that surfaces like clockwork around this time every year. But it’s a different honor Disturbed frontman David Draiman is seeking: singing the national anthem before the game.

Disturbed shared a Facebook post over the weekend encouraging fans to write in Draiman’s name in a Billboard poll (Panic at the Disco! frontman Brendon Urie currently leads, with Lana Del Rey trailing by a significant margin and Barbra Streisand way behind in third), so Loudwire tracked him down and asked him about the topic. Draiman revealed it’s been a lifelong goal, saying:

“I’ve dreamt of doing it my entire life. Been rehearsing it since I was a little boy. I love my country, and I would be honored beyond words to have the opportunity to try and inspire, strengthen, and give hope, at a time when we need those things more than ever. Plus… it would be nice to have rock represented on SOME level at the Super Bowl, and to prove to everyone that there ARE rock singers out there who can do the anthem as much justice as ANY pop artists out there, and even possibly take it higher.”

Let’s not get carried away, Davey Boy: you’d be hard pressed to find many folks that would argue in favor of Draiman’s vocal skills over, say, Mariah Carey, but I concede it would be neat to see a metal-ish singer up there for a change, even if I’m not a fan. There is also this: Draiman has experience singing the national anthem… of Israel, which he did during Disturbed’s performance there this past July. So there is that!

Original Article: Loudersound.com

After two decades as a walking punchline, David Draiman has become one of the biggest metal stars of the 21st century. Who saw that coming? Well, David Draiman did…

David Draiman is staring at us. Not with the chest-beating conviction he channels onstage, but with the nervous expectation of a newborn deer, because we’re about to remind him of some old interview quotes. In 2002, before the release of second album Believe, he was describing the acoustic song Darkness to Metal Hammer when he threatened to “kill anyone who terms it a ballad”.

“Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!” Today’s David Draiman erupts with laughter, eyes crinkling at the sides. “Oh my god, the things we say when we’re young. That’s putting on such a front! Oy David, what did you do? I listen to some of the stuff I said back in the day, and it makes me cringe. But back then, no one was accepting of ballads. I was obviously way too cocky for my own good, and was so defensive. Maybe that’s what people picked up on, and they took it the wrong way.”

We have been talking about the reputation Disturbed have garnered since they broke into metal’s consciousness with the distinctive monkey noises and punchy hooks of 2000’s debut The Sickness. Whether it was his “cocky” remarks, the angry, unfiltered nature of his lyrics that were at odds with some of metal’s establishment – though totally in keeping with nu metal’s posturing – or his famous chin piercings, he became caricatured in the press and sidelined by old-school genre fans for years to come. And yet, Disturbed defied the haters to become one of the biggest metal bands in the world.

In the States, they’ve had five consecutive albums debut at Number One – an achievement bettered only by Metallica and normie rockers the Dave Matthews Band. They regularly pull arena crowds. In 2016, following the release of post-hiatus record Immortalized, they were the most-played band on rock radio in the US and Canada. Ironically, one particular ballad had a hand in that – their stirring cover of Simon & Garfunkel’s The Sound Of Silence. It’s been certified Double Platinum, and catapulted them onto mega-sized talk show Conan. That’s not only a metal band getting household exposure, but one whose previous defining song contained the lyric, ‘I don’t need this shit, you stupid sadistic abusive fucking whore. Would you like to see how it feels, mommy?’ Not only have they built a sizeable fanbase, they’ve gone mainstream.

“I did have major concerns going in,” David confesses. “I remember playing the track for a bunch of my colleagues and friends prior to it coming out, very secretively, and really being unsure. They were like, ‘Don’t be, this is magic. You’ve got lightning in a bottle here.’ I can come off as pretty confident most of the time, but truth be told, I’m my own severe, horrific critic. I can be objective about other people’s music, but when it comes to our own, I’m paranoid as fuck.”

Today, we are talking in the gardens of West Hollywood’s Sunset Marquis hotel, infamous for tales of rock’n’roll excess. These days, it radiates the knowing, polished air of wealth. David is at home here, relaxed, glass of chilled water in hand, periodically wiping his forehead to absorb the moisture created by a 30ºC sun blasting through the canopy of trees.

While Disturbed – completed by guitarist Dan Donegan, bassist John Moyer and drummer Mike Wengren – have long been on an upward trajectory, there’s a definite sense that The Sound Of Silence has changed their lives. Professionally, it’s meant straying from their comfort zone. Ten minutes before the Conan appearance, filmed with a 24-piece orchestra, David could be found pacing his dressing room, sweating, ravaged by illness and emotionally riddled with nerves.

“The other guys were fooling around, and here I am pacing like a maniac, trying to warm up and praying, praying, praying,” he remembers. “Because I was trashed vocally that day. I had no idea how it was going to sound. I tried to shut everybody and everything out, and focus on how I felt about the song and where it was taking me, and not worry about the camera. I can play in front of 100,000 people, no issue. That red light comes on on a TV camera, I get nervous. Stomach clenches up, it’s a whole different thing. Getting over the level of intimidation was tough.”

It’s also meant adjusting to a new, unprecedented amount of fame. At the time of writing, the performance has had more than 80million views on YouTube, while the official music video is pushing 405million. That’s more than the entire population of the US, and six times the population of the UK.

“Because my face was so front and centre in that video, the recognition factor is amplified. Everywhere I go now. It’s a significant difference. I used to be able to just be another bald guy, and now it doesn’t happen that way,” he says matter-of-factly. “I don’t have a problem with it, because everyone’s always so very, very respectful. It comes with the territory, and I’m absolutely beyond overwhelmed.”

Personally, it’s a success David’s been able to share with his mother and father, proud pillars of their religious community who he’s in LA to visit. “It’s surreal to have my parents talking one of my songs up to the neighbours!” he smiles.

Were they afraid to chat about your music before, given the language of some of your songs?

“Well, it was impossible not to talk about it at a certain point,” he reasons. “I’m their oldest son, they only have two of them, so the question will always come up, and it’s just as easy as doing a Google search; it’s impossible to hide. And don’t get me wrong, they’ve been proud, but this is something they can be unreservedly proud about. They can play it for the people in the community and be like, ‘Oh, that’s my son!’ Not like, ‘Ah… that’s my son…’”

How does that feel?

“I’m great with it.” Twinkle appearing in his eye, he flashes the mischievous smile of Disturbed’s mascot, The Guy. “I was great with it before, because there’s something to be said about being the black sheep. The rebellious entity within the family, or the one that strayed off the path. I kind of enjoy being that guy.”

(Image credit: Travis Shinn)

But being the black sheep is isolating when it’s not on your own terms. Despite Disturbed’s accomplishments, David is regularly ridiculed online. While he admits he’s done some “dumb things” and has no problem with being called out for legitimate missteps (“There’s nothing wrong with objectivity, and I would never want someone to be unnecessarily positively biased either”), he’s still scrutinised more than most in heavy music. The exposure prompted him to leave Twitter three years ago. So why are people still hating on him today?

“Who knows?” he says. “I truly don’t understand it. I think people develop a perception of you. I’m the first guy to admit that in my younger days, instead of speaking softly and carrying a big stick, I ended up doing the opposite of that. Which sometimes comes from excitement or youth or… sometimes confidence can ‘become’ arrogance, and certainly be perceived as that. And people have no idea how much self-doubt there is involved with it, and how much questioning you do.”

At the risk of slicing open a hornet’s nest, we bring up David’s last Metal Hammer feature in 2015. We said there was an air of humility to his words, but suggested it may well be fake humility, affected for the sake of appearance. When the magazine came out, his publicist called to tell us he was upset.

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