DISTURBED's DAN DONEGAN Opens Up About Battle With Gout: It 'Is No F***ing Joke'

DISTURBED guitarist Dan Donegan has opened up about his frustrating battle with gout. The 55-year-old musician, who lives in a southwest Chicago suburb, discussed his health issues earlier this week while taking to Instagram Live during a drive from his home to see his father. Donegan told his 64 thousand Instagram followers in part (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I've been up since 1:02 a.m. last night. [I] haven't slept. I'm fucking in pain. My knee is killing me. I don't know what the fuck happened. And I don't know if any of you have experience with gout. I'm not really sure if it could affect the joints and the knee and stuff like that. I know it's mostly the big toe. I've had that before and it is fucking brutal pain. It's worse than giving childbirth to twins."

He continued: "You know how dramatic us men could be. I've had really bad colds that was, like, very difficult. So it's like giving childbirth. But I always mess around with that because… But gout, seriously, is no fucking joke. That is such fucking pain, and I don't wish that upon my worst enemy. And it's not affecting my toes right now. So that's why I didn't know if it… It doesn't happen often. I haven't had a gout flareup all year. It's been a while. [I had] a small flareup maybe earlier last year, but that was it. I kind of caught it early on, but, man, when that kicks in, that'll fucking fuck you up. You can't walk, everything hurts on your toe, and you can't put a sheet on your toe. No matter what you do, you're in pain, and it is fucking brutal. And I'm not sure if that's what's going on, if it could affect the joints of the knees. So if there's anybody who, who has experience with gout, if they know it could affect your knee or the joints, your ankles or your knee…"

Donegan added: "Man, it is tough. It's not arthritis. I know that. I've gone before to my doctor for tests. So I know I had a high uric acid level 'cause I eat a lot of red meat and I drink alcohol, two of the worst things for gout. And I do it probably religiously every day. There's always red meat or wine or vodka or something. And I guess I should probably watch my intake on all that, 'cause, man, when you get a flareup, you're gonna fuckin pay for it. It's tough. So, if anybody has any… I'm gonna try to look at your comments on here. If you have any experience with gout or anything like that, if you know it could affect the joints in your knee or anything… And whoever has seen us live before, obviously we're pretty active on stage and jump around a lot. And I already have kind of a bad knee to begin with, but when that adrenaline kicks in on stage, you kind of forget about that knee pain. It's usually not there all the time; it just comes and goes, and, like I said, sometimes it didn't even bother me all year. I was fine, but I kind of felt it coming out last night. Yes, since 1:02 a.m. I haven't been able to go back to sleep, 'cause it hurts a lot. So, trying to get through that fucking sucks."

He went on to say: "So, let me read through here and see if anybody has any advice. I mean, I know red meat, alcohol, asparagus, anything that's gonna elevate your uric acid levels is bad for you. So, I guess I got lucky for quite a long period of time, but now something's kicking my ass at the moment. But I will not let that stop me."

This past March, DISTURBED garnered its 19th No. 1 on the Active Rock radio chart with "Don't Tell Me", the band's latest single, which features a guest appearance by Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inductee and HEART co-founder Ann Wilson. The song is DISTURBED's fourth No. 1 off the band's latest album, "Divisive".

This is the second time DISTURBED has earned four No. 1s on a single record, having previously accomplished the same feat on 2015's "Immortalized". Only nine rock albums since 1992 have been able to secure four No. 1 songs on the Mediabase Rock charts and two of them have been DISTURBED's.

Released in November 2022, "Divisive" was recorded earlier that year with producer Drew Fulk (MOTIONLESS IN WHITE, LIL PEEP, HIGHLY SUSPECT) in Nashville, Tennessee.

"Divisive" sold 26,000 equivalent album units in its first week of release, with 22,000 units via album sales. On the all-format Billboard 200 chart, "Divisive" debuted at No. 13.

DISTURBED has had five No. 1s on the all-genre chart, beginning with "Believe" in 2002.

According to Billboard, DISTURBED's "Take Back Your Life" summer 2023 tour grossed $17.4 million and sold 336,000 tickets.

DISTURBED averaged 11,573 tickets sold per show, up from 6,901 in 2019 and 4,404 in 2016. The average ticket price for the "Take Back Your Life" tour was $51.07.

DISTURBED's biggest headlining concert ever happened on September 2, 2023 at Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center in Noblesville, Indiana, where the band drew more than 20,000 fans.