David Michael Draiman was born to Jewish parents in the Brooklyn borough of New York City on March 13, 1973.[2] His father, YJ, had worked as a real estate developer and small-business owner before he was arrested for embezzlement and sent to prison when Draiman was 12 years old.[2] YJ would later become a candidate in the races for Mayor of Los Angeles in 2013,[3]2017,[4] and 2022. Draiman's brother, Benjamin,[5] is an ambient musician who lives in Israel.[6][7] His grandmother Ziona is a Yemenite Jew whose family immigrated to Israel in the early 1900s.[8]
While not personally observant of their Jewish faith, Draiman's parents sent him to Orthodox schools, where he believed he was on the path to receiving rabbinic ordination. He frequently spent time in Israel during his early life.[6] He attended five Jewish day schools, including Valley Torah High School in Los Angeles, where he formed his first band; Fasman Yeshiva High School in Skokie, Illinois, a near north suburb of Chicago; and the Wisconsin Institute for Torah Study in Milwaukee.[6] During his freshman year at the latter, he was asked to leave as he "rebelled against the conformity" and "just wanted to be a normal teenage kid", adding that he "couldn't really stomach the rigorous religious requirements of the life [there]".[6] He has admitted to being "a bit resentful" about his time at Jewish day schools, but nevertheless became trained as a hazzan (cantor) and encouraged his family to observe Shabbat.[6]
Draiman later enrolled at Ida Crown Jewish Academy, located in the West Ridge neighborhood of Chicago, and graduated from high school in 1991.[6] From 1991 to 1992, he became romantically involved with a girl who used heroin and eventually killed herself, which would inspire the Disturbed song "Inside the Fire". At the age of 18, on New Year's Day 1992, he attempted to kill himself but says that he instead woke up later to find himself nearly frozen to death underneath a parked 1972 Oldsmobile Cutlass. After detoxing, he described having a "moment of clarity" and never used heroin again.[2] After high school, he spent a year studying at the Yeshivas Neveh Zion in Kiryat Ye'arim on the outskirts of Jerusalem.[6]
After returning to the U.S. in 1992, Draiman commenced pre-law studies at Loyola University Chicago.[6] In 1996, he graduated with a BA in Political Science and Government, Philosophy, and Business Administration.[9] Initially considering offers to study at law school, he realized that criminal defense law was the only area of law that interested him, which made him unwilling to pursue law because he knew he would not be able to "really look at [himself] in the mirror and say 'I'm going to lie for a living and protect criminals'".[6] During his university studies, he also worked as a bank teller and in phone sales.[6] After graduating, he worked as an administrative assistant in a healthcare facility.[6] A year later, he earned an administrator's license and ran his own healthcare facility for five years before joining Disturbed.[6] Leaving that position strained his relationship with his grandfather, who was a traditional Hasidic Jew.[10]
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Draiman became the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Disturbed when its original lead singer left in 1996, two years after it had been formed under a different name. He auditioned and was asked to join the band after answering an advertisement the other members had placed in a local music publication in Chicago, which he later revealed was one of around 20 auditions for other bands he had attended that month.[11] Guitarist Dan Donegan said of Draiman's audition, "You know, out of all the singers that we had talked to or auditioned, he was the only singer who was ready to go with originals. And that impressed me, just to attempt that. After a minute or two, he just starts banging out these melodies that were huge... I'm playing my guitar and I'm grinning from ear to ear. [...] I was so psyched. Chill up my spine."[11]
On September 25, 2011, Draiman married model and actress Lena Yada. Their son was born in September 2013.[14][15][16] They divorced in 2023.[17] As of January 2024, he is in a relationship with model Sarah Uli.[18]
He has also described himself as "a very, very strong supporter of Israel". In 2019, he described former Pink Floyd member Roger Waters and other activists seeking to boycott Israel for alleged human rights abuses as "Nazi comrades".[21] In October 2023, he denounced the attacks on Israel by the Palestinian group Hamas as acts of terrorism.[22] In June 2024, during the Israel–Hamas war, Draiman uploaded a video to his Instagram, where he signs an Israel Defense Forces artillery shell with "Fuck Hamas". This drew polarized reactions from his fans online.[23]
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