DISTURBED Allows Deaf 'Dancing With The Stars' Contestant To Use Band's Cover Of 'The Sound Of Silence'

May 23, 2016

Nyle DiMarco and Peta Murgatroyd's freestyle dance on Monday night's (May 23) "Dancing With The Stars" was set to DISTURBED's take on SIMON & GARFUNKEL's "The Sound Of Silence". The pair used the track after Nyle, who is deaf, penned a letter to the band asking their permission to incorporate the song into the routine.

"Nyle emailed us to ask for our permission to use our version of the song that has inspired him and hopes to convey an even bigger message to help people better understand the history of the deaf community," DISTURBED wrote in a Facebook post. "Tonight is the big night so help spread the word and cast your votes for Nyle! This is not only a great honor for a hard rock/metal band like us to be asked to be part of the biggest night of their show but for us to play a role in raising awareness for Nyle's cause."

Nyle's touching letter to DISTURBED was shared on the band's Facebook page and can be found below.

DISTURBED frontman David Draiman told Philadelphia radio station 93.3 WMMR that the band has been amazed by the response to its version of "The Sound Of Silence". Draiman explained: "We're pretty blown away — and surprised, to be honest — by the amount of positivity that has surrounded the cover. Because it was definitely a left turn, and it was something that, to be perfectly honest, I wouldn't have intended to go to, stylistically, on my own."

Draiman said that it took him three hours to record the vocals for the song — the longest vocal session of his career — and recalled hearing it three days later. He explained, "[I] was kind of tearing up listening to it, because it had been so long since I have allowed myself to go to that place vocally, and hearing it, and hearing it come out as well as I thought it did was not just gratifying, but like having a weight lifted off me."

"The Sound Of Silence" is taken from DISTURBED's sixth studio album, "Immortalized", which was released last August.

The album debuted at the top of the Billboard 200 chart, making it DISTURBED's fifth effort in a row to enter the chart at Number One, a feat shared only with METALLICA and DAVE MATTHEWS BAND.

DISTURBED kicked off a North American tour — its first in more than four years — on February 10 in Fargo.

Find more on Disturbed
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).