DISTURBED Frontman Is Ready To Fill OZZY OSBOURNE's Shoes

May 23, 2006

Gary Graff of Billboard.com is reporting that DISTURBED is getting ready to rock the Ozzfest tour again — even moreso because the Chicago quartet knows it has to stand in for the festival's namesake on this summer’s run.

"I'm anticipating a huge tour," says DISTURBED frontman David Draiman. "I think that us and SYSTEM [OF A DOWN] are going to be an amazing bill. The rest of the supporting acts are also great bands. It's probably one of the better lineups I've seen in recent years."

But it's a lineup mostly without OZZY OSBOURNE — who's only playing 10 of Ozzfest XI's 25 dates. Draiman says that "definitely adds pressure" for the headliners, though he doubts Osbourne will be far from anyone's minds throughout the tour.

"Ozzfest will always be Ozzfest — it was created for Ozzy and will always be about him. That'll never change," explains Draiman, who took some time off earlier this year to recover from vocal strain. "I'm thankful for whatever dates he can play, and I think SYSTEM and us will just have to do the best we can to carry that torch a little bit for him when he's not around. But you can never expect in a million years that you're going to make up completely for his absence; he's not a dispensable individual. He's the godfather of metal."

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