Disturbed

Disturbed was formed in Chicago, Illinois, in 1994, originally performing under the name Brawl. The group's earliest incarnation featured guitarist Dan Donegan, drummer Mike Wengren, and bassist Steve "Fuzz" Kmak, playing alongside vocalist Erich Awalt before he departed in 1996. In 1996, Erich Awalt left the group due to creative differences, prompting an audition process for a new vocalist, and David Draiman was selected after responding to an advertisement placed by the remaining members. With Draiman's addition, the band rebranded as Disturbed and began building a following through relentless local performances. Longtime friends Dan Donegan, Mike Wengren, and Fuzz played together in Chicago for some time before hooking up with singer David Draiman around 1996, building up a following on Chicago's South Side before a demo tape led to their signing to Giant Records. The band's true breakthrough arrived with their debut album. The Sickness was released on March 7, 2000, and peaked at number 29 on the US Billboard 200, spending a total of 106 weeks on the chart. In 2018, The Sickness was certified five times platinum by the RIAA for shipments of over five million copies in the US, making it the band's most successful album. Fueled by the singles "Stupify" and the now-iconic "Down with the Sickness," Disturbed became a defining act of the early-2000s nu metal movement. Disturbed gained more fans and exposure playing the main stage of the 2001 Ozzfest, then broke away to do their own self-described "victory lap" around the U.S. The band's classic lineup solidified when Draiman replaced original lead vocalist Erich Awalt in 1996 and Moyer replaced original bassist Steve "Fuzz" Kmak in 2004 , giving the group the four-piece configuration that would carry it through its most successful era.

Throughout the 2000s, Disturbed built one of hard rock's most consistent chart records. The band released the albums Believe (2002), Ten Thousand Fists (2005), Indestructible (2008), and Asylum (2010), all of which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. Their touring during this period was extensive, including headlining slots on Ozzfest and their own recurring "Music as a Weapon" tour series; 2006 brought a US tour for the band in order to promote Ten Thousand Fists, and they also headlined Ozzfest 2006, alongside System of a Down, Lacuna Coil, DragonForce, Avenged Sevenfold, and Hatebreed. Their fourth album cycle brought further momentum, as they released a new track titled "This Moment" on the soundtrack to the film Transformers in July 2007, and the first single from Indestructible, "Inside the Fire," followed in March 2008. The band's success reflected a broader commercial dominance, with over 17 million records sold worldwide, six RIAA certifications for their albums, singles from all eight albums reaching the top ten of the Mainstream Rock chart, and two Grammy Award nominations .

After a hiatus that began in 2011, Disturbed returned in 2015 with a career-defining moment that introduced them to a new generation of fans. On March 28, 2016, Disturbed performed a live cover of Simon & Garfunkel's "The Sound of Silence" on Late Night with Conan O'Brien , a stripped-down, orchestral reinterpretation that stunned audiences accustomed to their heavier material. The performance earned Disturbed a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Performance at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards , and the recording went on to accumulate hundreds of millions of streams and views, introducing the band's artistry to listeners far outside the metal world. Disturbed has continued releasing new music since, with Evolution (2018) and Divisive (2022) extending their run of chart success, and the band remains an active touring act, still frequently cited alongside Slipknot and Godsmack as one of modern hard rock's most commercially dominant groups.

It is fitting that a band built on relentless touring and hard-won rock stardom found its way so thoroughly into this archive. Wayne Dennon photographed Disturbed five times between 2004 and 2008, capturing the band across five different cities in four states during one of the most explosive stretches of their career, the Ten Thousand Fists and Indestructible eras when their live shows were reaching arena-level intensity. The 149 photographs from those nights remain some of the most viewed images in the collection, with visitors returning to them 116,707 times, a testament both to Disturbed's enduring fanbase and to the moments Wayne froze in time from the pit.