DISTURBED To 'Take Quite A Bit Of Time Off Next Year': 'We Just Feel Like We Could Use A Break'

DISTURBED guitarist Dan Donegan says that he and his bandmates will "take quite a bit of time off next year".

The 57-year-old musician made his comments just two days after DISTURBED singer David Draiman wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that he wasn't sure when the group would tour again, explaining, "We all need a nice long break."

Earlier today (Friday, October 31),Donegan took to his Instagram Live to reflect on DISTURBED's just-completed European headlining tour celebrating the 25th anniversary of the band's debut album, "The Sickness", with support from MEGADETH. He said in part (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "[We had a] very successful run out there in Europe — packed shows, packed arenas and a bunch of sold-out ones. [We had an] amazing time. The MEGADETH guys were great. Dave Mustaine is a legend. He's got a great band behind him — really cool guys. And, yeah, it was a really fun tour to be on. Everybody was healthy, feeling good. David [Draiman] was singing strong. Sometimes it gets tricky traveling that much and going from country to country to try to stay healthy, being in different time zones, trying to get adjusted to the time change and being on planes and tour buses and all the traveling can get tricky to stay healthy. And luckily everybody did, for the most part. I think we held up pretty good and sounded strong. I think we were playing our best; I think we've gotten better. So it's been an amazing run."

As for DISTURBED's plans for the coming months, Dan said: "We are done [playing shows for now]. We are done with 'The Sickness', done with the anniversary tour. [We'll be] home for the rest of the year, and probably gonna take quite a bit of time off next year. So no discussions of doing anything else. We just feel like we could use a break. It's been a pretty strong run earlier this year. We started in the U.S. and a little bit into Canada and finishing this European run, we just feel we could enjoy some time home. And [we've] got a lot of stuff going on in our personal lives. [We've] got holidays coming up. Unfortunately, a handful of us had some relatives pass away while we were in Europe. So I had an uncle pass away last week. My guitar tech had his father and a cousin, a week apart from each other, both passed away. So those are the things that happen when you live life on tour and on the road. And it's such a heartbreaking thing, to be away from home and you get that kind of phone call when somebody close to you or a family member passes away."

DISTURBED kicked off the U.S. leg of "The Sickness 25th Anniversary Tour" on February 25 at Ford Idaho Center Arena in Nampa, Idaho. The trek celebrated 25 years of DISTURBED's seminal debut album which launched the band into public consciousness and is one of the most important and influential heavy metal albums of all time.

Since "The Sickness" was released in 2000, the album was certified five times platinum by the RIAA, spent a total of 106 weeks on the US Billboard 200 chart, and Revolver named it one of "Top 25 Debut Hard Rock Albums." Billboard said of the title track upon release: "'Down With The Sickness' is, of course, the quintessential DISTURBED song, harnessing all the band's seethe and its now-famous tribal beat and guitar chug into three and a half minutes of alt-metal mayhem. It's menacing, it's rhythmic, it's rebellious."

In February, DISTURBED released a new single, "I Will Not Break", via the band's own label, Mother Culture Records.