Disturbed’s ‘Divisive’ Includes Track with Ann Wilson in Band’s First Guest Vocal Spot
Disturbed's first new album in four years, Divisive, hits streets on November 18 via Reprise Records - and it will also include a big benchmark for the band.
The multi-platinum heavy hitters have tapped their first-ever guest vocal spot for a track, and it's none other than legendary Heart singer Ann Wilson who duets with Disturbed vocalist David Draiman on a song called "Don't Tell Me."
Guitarist Dan Donegan talked to radio station WRIF about how the band finally settled on doing a collaboration, sharing, "Early in our career, we wanted to really establish ourselves without having any guests. We didn't really talk about it much, but just [felt], 'This is the band.' Not that we were ever against it, but this far along in our career… We're always pushing ourselves, trying to do stuff that's different musically. And there's so much talent out there and so many people we would love to do collaborations with now or later."
He also added that the band befriended Wilson on social media a few years ago after she praised one of their covers. "A few years back, somebody asked her in an interview ... if there's anything new out there musically that she's heard that she's fan of, and she mentioned she really loved our version of 'The Sound Of Silence'. And that kind of opened the door to a social media friendship between her and David a bit."
Donegan continued, "And then when we wrote this song, it just seemed like it would lend itself to Ann's voice and then trying to see that merge between her and David's voices together. She jumped on the opportunity. Immediately she responded, and we were, like, 'Holy shit. She just said yes to this.'" Donegan also shared that "it was a pretty magical moment to be in the room and to hear the two of them harmonize together." See the full video interview of Donegan's chat with WRIF below.
Ann Wilson and her sister Nancy have not only been big hitmakers in their own right behind behemoth Heart songs like "Barracuda" and "Magic Man," but they were also instrumental in helping to shape the Seattle grunge scene and have remained close with bands like Alice in Chains and Soundgarden. Though stepping out with a heavier, 2000's-era act like Disturbed is a big sea change for Ann too and makes this duet even more anticipated. The singer also tweeted about the matchup a few days back.
Disturbed first announced details of the new album Divisive on September 23 and released a new taste with the bold second single, "Unstoppable."
Draiman shared his thoughts on the message behind the album, saying in a statement, "The whole idea of the record is to be a wakeup call for everyone. Our society has become addicted to outrage. Music is the best cure for what ails us though. If only everyone reached out and used it. There’s no better environment to forget about all of this shit than live music. We can be together and realize we have more in common than not. Recognize what’s happening and let’s make a change for the better.”
Pre-order/pre-save Disturbed's new album Divisive here.