Black Sabbath’s farewell bash was meant to be a celebration of heavy metal’s foundations.
But not every moment hit the right note. Case in point: Disturbed frontman David Draiman getting booed at Villa Park during the all-star jam portion of the show.
Draiman hit the stage on Saturday night (July 5) to front covers of ‘Sweet Leaf’ and ‘Shot In The Dark’, flanked by a band of metal heavyweights pulled from Anthrax, Megadeth and Guns N’ Roses. But before he even grabbed the mic, a chunk of the crowd made their feelings known — loud and clear.
The booing was immediate, and not subtle. Draiman, who’s been a vocal pro-Israel advocate for years, has made enemies online and off with his politics — calling Roger Waters “a monster” and brushing off critics with a defiant “I don’t give a shit.”
This crowd, though. They gave several shits.
After the show, Draiman responded on X, accusing the press and “#FreePalestine crowd” of twisting the story. He claimed the boos were minor and said he wasn’t “booed off stage,” adding that some viral clips have been doctored with fake crowd noise. “Still here,” he wrote. “Still unapologetically a fiercely pro-Israel Jew… Put that in your pipes and smoke it.”
The livestream — still available for those who want to decide for themselves — shows the songs landed better than the intro did, but the backlash wasn’t nothing. Whether it was politics, timing, or just poor vibes, the moment broke the otherwise euphoric tone of the day.
It’s hard to ignore what this says about the current state of metal culture. Sabbath’s goodbye was about unity — legends coming together, genre lines blurring. But Draiman’s reception reminds us that the stage isn’t separate from the world outside it.
And as politics and identity keep colliding with performance, the question isn’t whether musicians should “stay out of it” — it’s whether fans will let them stand in it at all.
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