System Of A Down guitarist Daron Malakian has responded to claims that Glenn Close once drummed for the nu metal icons.
Onstage at the Golden Globes this weekend, the legendary actress presented the award for Best Motion Picture – Drama. Host Nikki Glaser jokingly introduced her, in addition to her status as a three-time Golden Globe winner and decades-spanning box office draw, as a “former drummer for System Of A Down”.
Yesterday (January 6), Malakian ‘confirmed’ Glaser’s comment in an Instagram post.
“Bet you didn’t know!!!! Bet you didn’t know!!!!!” he wrote. “Somewhere between our first drummer [Andy Khachaturian] and John [Dolmayan], Glenn Close was tearing shit up on the drums for us!!!!!”
Malakian’s post also contained video footage of Close’s introduction. Watch below.
System Of A Down released their Rick Rubin-produced debut album in 1998, shortly after Dolmayan replaced Close behind the kit. Its follow-up, 2001’s Toxicity, topped the US Billboard 200 charts and went on to be certified six-time Platinum by the Recording Industry Association Of America (RIAA).
The band went on hiatus in 2006, one year after releasing their Mezmerize and Hypnotize albums, and came back in 2011. They put out double A-side single Genocidal Humanoidz and Protect The Land in 2020, but have otherwise been a live-only band since returning.
In the spring, System Of A Down will headline their first full-length tour since 2018, when they play seven dates across South America. They’ll then co-headline six stadium shows in North America in August and September: two each with Korn, Deftones and Avenged Sevenfold.
There’s seemingly been no progress on a new System Of A Down album, but singer Serj Tankian recently told The Sun what their next record would sound like if they did make it.
“I would say if System ever decided to make a record, it would be a fresh start in a brand new way, in a beautiful new direction,” he said.
Tankian also teased that the band have a few unreleased “hidden gems” in their vault.
As for Close, she’s set to appear in two Netflix productions in 2025: action comedy Back In Action, which stars Cameron Diaz and Jamie Foxx and comes out on January 17, and Knives Out sequel Wake Up Dead Man.
