50 years after its original release, a cover version of "The Sound of Silence" was released by American heavy metal band Disturbed on December 7, 2015.[65][66] A music video was also released.[67] Their cover hit number one on the Billboard Hard Rock Digital Songs[68] and Mainstream Rock charts,[69] and is their highest-charting song on the Hot 100,[70] peaking at number 42. It is also their highest-charting single in Australia, peaking at number four. David Draiman sings it in the key of F#m. His vocal span goes from F#2 to A4 in scientific pitch notation.[71] In April 2016, Paul Simon endorsed the cover.[72] Additionally, on April 1, Simon sent Draiman an email praising Disturbed's performance of the rendition on American talk show Conan. Simon wrote, "Really powerful performance on Conan the other day. First time I'd seen you do it live. Nice. Thanks." Draiman responded, "Mr. Simon, I am honored beyond words. We only hoped to pay homage and honor to the brilliance of one of the greatest songwriters of all time. Your compliment means the world to me/us and we are eternally grateful."[73] As of September 2017, the single had sold over 1.5 million digital downloads[74] and had been streamed over 54 million times, estimated Nielsen Music.[75] As of June 2023, the music video has over 910 million views on YouTube, while the live performance on Conan has over 138 million, making it the most watched YouTube video from the show