Disturbed's Dan Donegan hails rock fans as 'great parents'

Donegan, right, with bandmates Mike Wengren and David Draiman (Image credit: Getty)

Disturbed guitarist Dan Donegan has described metalheads as ‘great parents’ for bringing their children up to love heavy music.

Donegan says the band have noticed a whole new generation of fans in the audience since they returned from a four-year hiatus with last year’s comeback album Immortalized.

He tells Jenn Marino (via Blabbermouth): “It’s amazing to be off the road for four and a half years and come back and see that next generation of kids.

“That’s some great parenting there. Bringing their kids out to the shows now, and it’s a wide demographic of fans that we’ve kind of developed over the years.

“I’m not trying to knock all the other genres, but that stuff kind of comes and goes. Rock music, you get lifelong fans out of this genre.”

Donegan continues: “When we’re stomping around, making some noise, it’s just a reminder to the rest of the world that there’s a huge rock fanbase out there.

“And we may be the black sheep of the music industry, but that’s fine. We do our thing. This is a lifestyle-type music – this isn’t a trendy thing.”

Disturbed tour with Breaking Benjamin and Alter Bridge from July.

Fan called out by Disturbed frontman David Draiman brands him a bully

Disturbed, Breaking Benjamin, Alter Bridge 2016 tour dates

Jul 09: Syracuse Lakeview Amphitheatre, NY
Jul 10: Bristow Jiffy Lube Live, VA
Jul 12: Saratoga Performing Arts Center, NY
Jul 17: St Louis Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre, MO
Jul 19: Pittsburgh First Niagara Pavilion, PA
Jul 20: Indianapolis Klipsch Amphitheatre, IN
Jul 22: Hartford Xfinity Theatre, CT
Jul 23: Boston Xfinity Center, MA
Jul 24: Darien Center Lake Performing Arts Center, NY
Jul 26: Detroit DTE Energy Amphitheatre, MI
Jul 27: Cincinnati Riverbend Music Center, OH
Jul 29: Scranton Pavilion At Montage Mountain, PA
Jul 30: Wantagh Nikon At Jones Beach, NY
Jul 31: Holmdel PNC Banks Arts Center, NJ
Aug 04: Gilford Bank Of NH Pavilion, NH
Aug 08: Toronto Molson Canadian Amphitheatre, ON
Aug 12: Dallas Gexa Energy Amphitheatre, TX
Aug 13: Houston Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, TX
Aug 15: Denver Red Rocks Amphitheatre, CO
Aug 17: Albuquerque Isleta Amphitheatre, NM
Aug 19: Concord Pavilion, CA

Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022.