Disturbed’s David Draiman puzzled by chin piercing removal reaction

Disturbed frontman David Draiman used to have some pretty sweet (and iconic) chin piercings. The singer recently made headlines when he spoke out on his decision to remove them after many years of sporting them.

The musician explained it’s all just a matter of acting your age. That, and not looking like you just stepped out of the local mall sporting Tripp pants, waiting for your mom to pick you up.

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“They’re kind of a pain in the butt, to be honest,” Draiman says of his former signature facial danglers. “It just felt kind of weird walking around like a 45-year-old Hot Topic kid.” He adds of removing the piercings, “I just felt it was time.”

Now, Draiman is speaking out again, but this time over the massive reaction to his decision to remove them. In an interview with Hard Drive Online, as reported by THEPRP, Draiman delves into being puzzled over the amount of headlines his piercings made.

“It used to be that whenever I walked around with my old piercing that I was very rarely recognized—it wasn’t a common thing. I could be somewhat incognito. Doesn’t matter anymore. Because my face was so front and center in that [“The Sound Of Silence“] video and it’s been viewed so many times by so many people, now it’s like it doesn’t matter if I have ’em or not, people know.

“And to go to a question which I’m sure you’re going to ask in this interview anyway: Yeah, I felt it was time to do away with them. They’re cumbersome and just annoying and a pain. And it didn’t feel right at this age. I got all this nice salt and pepper going on over here.

“What I thought was hysterical was is that when the Metal Hammer article came out earlier on in beginning of this whole story, it was pretty obvious I didn’t have ’em in, so why didn’t people lose their minds at that point? What was the catalyst that all of a sudden launched a hundred articles that people went crazy about it? I really don’t think that anybody’s going to buy or not buy a Disturbed album and/or ticket because I am or am not wearing my labret piercings.”

The video Draiman is referring to has more than 444 million views at the time of this article. The song is a cover of Simon & Garfunkel’s original and appeared on the band’s 2015 LP Immortalized.

Disturbed’s latest full-length Evolution just dropped Friday, Oct. 19. They’ll be hitting the road early next year, and dates can be viewed below. Album and ticket information is available here.

2019 dates:

01/09 – San Diego, CA @ Valley View Casino Center
01/11 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Forum
01/12 – Las Vegas, NV @ T-Mobile Arena
01/14 – Glendale, AZ @ Gila River Arena
01/16 – Denver, CO @ Pepsi Center
01/17 – Albuquerque, NM @ Tingley Coliseum
01/19 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Vivint Smart Home Arena
01/22 – Lincoln, NE @ Pinnacle Bank Arena
01/23 – Kansas City, MO @ Sprint Center
01/25 – San Antonio, TX @ Alamodome
01/26 – Dallas, TX @ American Airlines Center
01/28 – Houston, TX @ Toyota Center
01/30 – Peoria, IL @ Peoria Civic Center
02/01 – Minneapolis, MN @ Target Center
02/16 – Nashville, TN @ Bridgestone Arena
02/18 – Philadelphia, PA @ Wells Fargo Center
02/20 – Pittsburgh, PA @ PPG Paints Arena
02/21 – Washington, D.C. @ Capital One Arena
02/23 – Uncasville, CT @ Mohegan Sun Arena
02/25 – New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden
02/27 – Worcester, MA @ DCU Center
03/01 – Montréal, QC @ Place Bell
03/02 – Buffalo, NY @ KeyBank Center
03/04 – Toronto, ON @ Scotiabank Arena
03/05 – Detroit, MI @ Little Caesars Arena
03/07 – Grand Rapids, MI @ Van Andel Arena
03/08 – Rosemont, IL @ Allstate Arena
04/18 – Madrid, Spain @ La Riviera
04/19 – Barelona, Spain @ Razzmatazz
04/21 – Zurich, Switzerland @ Halle 622
04/22 – Milan, Italy @ Alcatraz
04/24 – Vienna, Austria @ Wiener Stadhalle
04/25 – Munich, Germany @ Zenith
04/27 – Luxembourg, Luxembourg @ Rockhal
04/28 – Hamburg, Germany @ Sporthalle
04/30 – Stockholm, Sweden @ Annexet
05/01 – Oslo, Norway @ Sentrum Scene
05/03 – Copenhagen, Denmark @ K.B. Hallen
05/04 – Berlin, Germany @ Verti Music Hall
05/06 – Cologne, Germany @ Palladium
05/07 – Amsterdam, Netherlands @ AFAS Live
05/09 – Paris, France @ Elysee Montmartre
05/11 – London, England @ Alexandria, Palace
05/13 – Glasgow, Scotland @ O2 Academy
05/14 – Manchester, England @ O2 Apollo