Disturbed frontman David Draiman said "something has gone wrong" with the Grammy Awards that his Chicago band is facing Beyonce in the best rock performance category.
"When did it all become 'rock'? If you look at every other genre, there are so many categories and sub-categories. For rock, this is all we've got, so everything ends up being jammed into these four categories," Draiman told Billboard magazine.
"Is it diverse? Absolutely. It's too diverse! When you can have, with all due respect, a Beyonce and a Disturbed in the same category, something has gone wrong. Not taking anything away from her whatsoever, we're just very different from each other."
Disturbed's March performance of Simon and Garfunkel's "The Sound of Silence" on Conan O'Brien's show faces stiff competition from Beyonce's "Don't Hurt Yourself" with Jack White and the title track fromDavid Bowie's final album "Blackstar." Twenty One Pilots and Alabama Shakes round out the rock performance nominees, which were announced Tuesday.
other.”
Watch: Disturbed – ‘The Sound Of Silence’ (On Conan)
Read more at http://musicfeeds.com.au/news/disturbed-david-draiman-isnt-happy-competing-beyonce-rock-grammy/#yMmOp3DyMBmbIhjt.99Disturbed, which formed in the '90s, secured its first Grammy nomination eight years ago for its single "Inside the Fire." The band lost to The Mars Volta in the best hard rock performance category.
Draiman said if the band is going to lose to someone this year, "I'd love for it to be Bowie. The nice thing about Bowie is that he's been nominated in five categories, so he can give us this one! It's a pipe dream, dude, but even pipe dreams are worth smoking."
The Grammy Awards is scheduled to air live 7 p.m. Feb. 12 on CBS. James Corden is set to host the event, which will take place at Staples Center in Los Angeles.
David Draiman at the Ozzfest and Knotfest in Los Angeles on May 12, 2016.
"When you can have, with all due respect, a Beyonce and a Disturbed in the same category, something has gone wrong," says David Draiman.
On Tuesday morning (Dec. 6), hard-rock vets Disturbed secured the second Grammy nomination of their career, as their somber live rendition of Simon & Garfunkel’s “The Sound of Silence” was among the finalists for Best Rock Performance. The Chicago quartet, who included the cover on their 2015 album Immortalized, will compete against Twenty One Pilots’ Top 10 smash “Heathens”; the title track from David Bowie’s final album, Blackstar; a live performance of Alabama Shakes’ “Joe”; and “Don’t Hurt Yourself,” from Beyonce featuring Jack White.
When asked about that last nominee — Beyonce’s first appearance in the rock category, from her Album of the Year nominee Lemonade — Disturbed frontman David Draiman tells Billboard that, yes, competing with Queen Bey in this context is a little startling. "I have mad respect for all the artists in this category, including and especially Jack White,” Draiman says. "Is it strange [to be up against Beyonce]? I think the reason you asked the question is because it is. It definitely stands out — like, one of these things is not like the other, you know? But what are you going to do?"
Yet Beyonce’s unexpected nomination in the rock field is "not what bothers” Draiman, whose group has scored five No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 chart since its formation two decades ago. "What bothers me is that everybody in this category are giants of the field,” he explains. "These are the biggest of the big, the people who made a serious impact this year. Those boys in Twenty One Pilots did some damage this year. And Bowie, a posthumous award happens all the time, and who more deserving? It’s crazy the amount of talent in this category.”
Draiman continues, "When did it all become ‘rock'? If you look at every other genre, there are so many categories and sub-categories. For rock, this is all we’ve got, so everything ends up being jammed into these four categories. Is it diverse? Absolutely. It’s too diverse! When you can have, with all due respect, a Beyonce and a Disturbed in the same category, something has gone wrong. Not taking anything away from her whatsoever, we’re just very different from each other.”
To be nominated for “The Sound of Silence,” which started climbing the Hot 100 chart after a March performance on Conan and eventually peaked at No. 42, is “very humbling,” says Draiman. After 20 years of delivering intense rock singles like “Down With the Sickness” and “Ten Thousand Fists,” Disturbed has the chance to snag its first Grammy Award, after being nominated and losing -- for "Inside the Fire," in the now-defunct Best Hard Rock Performance category -- in 2009.
"It wasn’t something that we expected,” admits Draiman. "This song seems to have touched and affected so many different people. It feels wonderful. It’s been tangible now, maybe more than ever — the recognition factor has multiplied like tenfold, which is weird for me.”
Would Disturbed perform at the Grammys if asked? “I would love to do it,” says Draiman. And asked about the group’s chances of winning, the frontman is already assuming Bowie’s “Blackstar” has it in the bag. "If we’re gonna lose to someone, I’d love for it to be Bowie,” he says. "The nice thing about Bowie is that he’s been nominated in five categories, so he can give us this one!” Draiman laughs. "It’s a pipe dream, dude, but even pipe dreams are worth smoking."
DISTURBED Singer Says Competing With BEYONCÉ For 'Rock' GRAMMY Is 'Strange'
According to The Pulse Of Radio, DISTURBED frontman David Draiman said in a new interview with Billboard.com that it's "strange" to be competing against Beyoncé in the "Best Rock Performance" category at this year's Grammy Awards. DISTURBED is nominated for its live performance of "The Sound Of Silence", while Beyoncé is up for her track "Don't Hurt Yourself", which features Jack White.
Draiman remarked: "I have mad respect for all the artists in this category, including and especially Jack White. Is it strange [to be up against Beyoncé]? I think the reason you asked the question is because it is. It definitely stands out — like, one of these things is not like the other, you know? But what are you going to do?"
The other nominees in the category include TWENTY ONE PILOTS for "Heathens", David Bowie for the title track from his "Blackstar" album and ALABAMA SHAKES for a live rendition of their song "Joe".
Draiman added that the relative lack of rock categories at the Grammys, as compared to the pop, rap and country genres, is what has led to such a varied group of nominees. He explained: "If you look at every other genre, there are so many categories and sub-categories. For rock, this is all we've got, so everything ends up being jammed into these four categories."
He added: "Is it diverse? Absolutely. It's too diverse! When you can have, with all due respect, a Beyoncé and a DISTURBED in the same category, something has gone wrong. Not taking anything away from her whatsoever, we're just very different from each other."
Draiman told The Pulse Of Radio a while back that he wasn't even sure where his band fit into the modern metal scene. "I don't know that the metal that we were spawned from really exists anymore," he said. "Bands like IRON MAIDEN, JUDAS PRIEST, METALLICA, BLACK SABBATH, none of the bands which are called metal, or which are really referred to nowadays as metalcore, are really anything like these bands. So I don't even know that we fit in what is called metal today."
"The Sound Of Silence", a cover of the SIMON & GARFUNKEL classic, appears on DISTURBED's 2015 album "Immortalized" — although their Grammy nomination is for the band's performance of the song on "Conan".
DISTURBED's last Grammy nomination was in 2009, when it was up in the now-retired "Best Hard Rock Performance" category for "Inside The Fire".
Read more at http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/disturbed-singer-says-competing-with-beyonce-for-rock-grammy-is-strange/#WmRdg7CAz63m1pVB.99
Disturbed awoke Tuesday morning and learned that they had been nominated for a GRAMMY for Best Rock Performance for their rendition of “The Sound of Silence” while appearing on Conan. We spoke with Disturbed frontman David Draiman about the nomination, his recollection of the Conan performance, got his thoughts on the Grammy experience and who he hopes wins the Best Rock Performance category if Disturbed doesn’t. Check out the chat below.
So how did you find out about the nomination?
I checked the website first thing in the morning (laughs).
“The Sound of Silence” got a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Performance, and it’s for your rendition on Conan. What can you tell me about that performance in particular that stood out to you?
The fact that I was sick as a dog (laughs). I remember I was definitely fighting something off, but it was a cool experience. It was cool performing with an actual orchestra. It was really vibing and the mood helped, I think, enhance the delivery. The stars just aligned that night and everything went right.
Obviously, “The Sound of Silence” is a cover of a Simon & Garfunkel classic. It wasn’t too long after that or around the same time that you heard from Paul Simon. Can you talk about what it meant to get that nod of recognition from Mr. Simon?
Your ultimate wish is for the artist to hopefully give you their blessing. It’s rare if they end up getting pissed off by it (laughs), but it is a possibility and it is really, really nice when you get a songwriter as terrific as Paul to reach out to say that he appreciated what you did with one of the most well known songs of all-time.
Very true. Looking at the nominations, there was some good stuff chosen this year, but one of the head scratchers was Metallica for Best Rock Song instead of Best Metal Performance. Your thoughts on them getting nominated in a rock category?
Uh …. I don’t know (laughs). They should be in metal. They are … Metallica, but maybe they classify things differently these days. You’re talking about the same organization that put us and I think it was The Mars Volta together in the same category and now I’m in the same category with Beyonce, for example. So, we’re nominated. That’s the main thing (laugh). They need to do some homework in a bunch of different areas, I’m sure, but it’s something that doesn’t necessarily surprise me.
Right? Have you been to the ceremony before and any thoughts on this year?
We went when we were nominated for “Inside the Fire” and it was an interesting experience, but we will be in Europe at the time this year touring with Avenged Sevenfold, so unless something crazy comes up, who knows? If we were winning an award, I can guarantee you this is the time when we actually can’t be there (laughs). That would be the way it would work out. But there’s crazy, crazy competition in this category. We’re up against some of the most legendary artists of all-time and a posthumous award for David Bowie seems like the right thing to do. So it’s tough man. If we lose to anybody, I hope it’s to him.
Big fan of Bowie?
Very much, very much.
As Draiman stated, the band will be on tour overseas during Grammy night, but you can find out who wins the Best Rock Performance Grammy on Sunday, Feb. 12 when James Corden hosts the 59th Annual Grammy Awards at 8PM ET on CBS. Stay tuned for more of our chat with David Draiman coming soon and keep up to date with Disturbed’s touring plans here.
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