DISTURBED's DAN DONEGAN Wanted 'A Reason To Fight' Song To Inspire People To Not Give Up

DISTURBED guitarist Dan Donegan spoke to Lux of the 105.7 The Point radio station about the inspiration behind the band's recent single "A Reason To Fight", which tackles depression and addiction. He said (see video below): "We've written over a hundred-something songs together, so a lot of times, not to rehash old ideas, David [Draiman, DISTURBED singer] will say just kind of feed him some ideas and see what we wanna touch on a bit. And that was one that struck a chord with me, or with all of us.

"I've had some close friends and family members that have suffered from either depression or alcohol or drug use, or whatever it may be," he continued. "I mean, we all have. And it just kind of hit me pretty hard at the time, 'cause I had someone real close to me who, I've seen them battle with prescription drugs, I've seen them battle with alcohol, and I could always see — I know that they're a good person. It doesn't make them a bad person. They're just fighting these demons, and I could see how ashamed they are of themselves — they feel that they let us down. And I wanted to try to touch on the fact to give some positivity to that message, to not give up that fight. I had a couple of lyrics ideas that I threw at David and then he kind of tweaked them a bit to work with his melody for it."

According to Donegan, he and his bandmates didn't fully realize the impact of the song's message until they started playing it live. "When [David] started talking to the crowd and we'd see the reaction from the fans, when [he] would ask them to raise their hands for anybody that has experienced depression or anxiety or any form or addiction, and to see almost every hand go up, it's just crazy. It's a very emotional moment. And just the impact for us to see that the first time — I mean, there's many times where it kind of breaks us down too. I think it brings people — they find therapy in that. They see that they're not alone. It's nothing to be ashamed of."

Earlier in the year, "A Reason To Fight" became DISTURBED's sixth No. 1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs airplay chart.

The achievement marked the first time a band had landed a sixth straight leader on the chart, breaking a tie with THREE DAYS GRACE, which logged five consecutive No. 1s in 2012-15.

Each of DISTURBED's last seven singles has reached No. 1 on Mainstream Rock Songs, a feat unmatched by any artist.

"A Reason To Fight" is taken from DISTURBED's latest album, 2018's "Evolution", which debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 chart, with 71,000 equivalent album units earned.