David Michael Draiman was born March 13, 1973 in Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York, USA to a Jewish Orthodox family. He is the lead singer for the band Disturbed, which hails from Chicago, Illinois.

David's career in show business started early at the Ida Crown Jewish Academy in Chicago where he performed during school assemblies and was reportedly thrown off the stage. David has a brother Ben who lives with his wife in Jerusalem.

He is one of five artists who sang for the Queen of the Damned soundtrack, along with Wayne Static of Static-X, Jay Gordon of Orgy, Chester Bennington of Linkin Park, and Marilyn Manson. He originally left his family and beliefs behind to become a rockstar, which upset his grandfather (who was also a Holocaust survivor), and further produced the album Believe as a response to his grandfather's death. He attended Loyola University where he triple majored in Business Administration, Political Science, and Philosophy. He was seriously considering law school before he joined the band, which he discovered in an ad in the paper. In 2003 he also started his own record label, Intoxication Records, along with band member/guitarist, Dan Donegan, and drummer, Mike Wengren.

David Draiman remains Jewish, although when asked if he was religious in a February 2005 interview, he replied "No, not at all." His last job before becoming a musician full-time was as a part-time Health Care administrator and full-time construction worker. He has two homes, one in his Chicago hometown, and one in L.A. The L.A. one, he says, is to "escape the Chicago winters."

David is the only member of Disturbed that is currently single, and he has no qualms with admitting that he dives right into the rock star groupie lifestyle. He openly admits that it is far too difficult to maintain an actual steady relationship while dealing with extensive touring. This theme is explored in the lyrics of several Disturbed songs, namely "Mistress", "Pain Redefined", "Stricken" and "Guarded".

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1973 births | American male singers | American rock singers | American songwriters | American singer-songwriters | People from Brooklyn | Jewish-American singers | Living people | New York musicians

David Draiman