Imagine Dragons is an American pop rock band from Las Vegas, Nevada, consisting of lead singer Dan Reynolds, guitarist Wayne Sermon, bassist Ben McKee, and drummer Daniel Platzman.
The band first gained exposure with the release of their single “It’s Time”, followed by their award-winning debut studio album Night Visions (2012), which resulted in the chart-topping singles “Radioactive” and “Demons”. Rolling Stone named “Radioactive”, which held the record for most weeks charted on the Billboard Hot 100, the “biggest rock hit of the year”.
The band’s second studio album Smoke + Mirrors (2015) reached number one in the US, Canada, and the UK. This was followed by their third studio album Evolve (2017), which resulted in three chart-topping singles, “Believer”, “Thunder”, and “Whatever It Takes”, also making them the artist with the most weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot Rock Songs chart.
The album reached the top five in many countries. The band’s fourth studio album Origins (2018) featured the single “Natural”, which became their fifth song to top the Hot Rock Songs chart. Although all four albums were commercially successful, critical reception was mixed.
The band released their fifth studio album Mercury – Act 1 on September 3, 2021.
Full name: Imagine Dragons
Origin: Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
Genre: Pop rock, electro, pop, pop indie pop arena rock alternative rock
Labels: Kidinakorner, Interscope
Members: Dan Reynolds, Wayne Sermon, Ben McKee, Daniel Platzman
Career:
In 2008, lead singer Dan Reynolds met drummer Andrew Tolman at Brigham Young University, where they were both students. Reynolds and Tolman recruited Andrew Beck, Dave Lemke, and Aurora Florence to play guitar, bass, and piano respectively for their band.
Their name is an anagram for a phrase only known to members of the group, which Reynolds stated each member approved of.
The five-piece released an extended play titled Speak to Me that year, but Beck and Florence left the band later that year. In 2009, Tolman recruited longtime high school friend Wayne Sermon, who had graduated from Berklee College of Music, to play guitar.
The band garnered a large following in their hometown of Provo, Utah, before the members moved to Las Vegas, the hometown of Dan Reynolds, where the band recorded and released their first three EPs.
Imagine Dragons began recording their third studio album in September 2016. The band teased the upcoming album by posting cryptic messages on their Twitter account for the next four months.
They released the song “Levitate”, recorded for the film Passengers, on December 2, 2016. On January 28, 2017, the band started posting a series of videos teasing the album’s first single.
The time-lapse videos featured lead singer Dan Reynolds drawing surreal images on a drawing pad. Morse code was hidden in the videos and translated to “objects of the same color”.
Evolve was released on June 23, 2017, worldwide. The album reached the top five in most countries but was met with mixed critical reception. The album and the single “Thunder” received nominations for Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, respectively, at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards.
The song won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Rock Video in 2018. On February 14, 2018, Imagine Dragons announced a new single titled “Next to Me” on Twitter.
On March 8, 2021, Imagine Dragons announced the release of two singles, “Follow You” and “Cutthroat”, which were released on March 12.
The band began teasing their upcoming album which was executively produced by Rick Rubin. On June 29, 2021, the band announced the single “Wrecked”, along with the pre-order for their fifth studio album Mercury – Act 1 a day later. The song was released on July 2, 2021.
Mercury – Act 1 was released on September 3, along with the single “Monday”. Similar to their previous work, the album was met with mixed critical reception. It debuted at number nine in the US. The album’s release coincided with the announcement of a tour in support of the album.
Imagine Dragons’ musical style has mainly been described as pop rock, electropop, pop, indie pop, indie rock, arena rock, and alternative rock.
Their music also contains influences from synth-pop, dance-pop, trip-hop, folk, drum and bass, dubstep, industrial, EDM, R&B, and hip hop.
Band Members:
Dan Reynolds – lead vocals, guitars, piano, keyboards, bass, drums, percussion (2008–present)
Wayne Sermon – guitars, backing vocals, mandolin, drums, percussion, piano, synthesizers (2009–present)
Ben McKee – bass, piano, keyboards, synthesizers, backing vocals, guitars, drums, percussion (2009–present)
Daniel Platzman – drums, percussion, backing vocals, guitars, viola, keyboards (2011–present)
Studio albums
Night Visions (2012)
Smoke + Mirrors (2015)
Evolve (2017)
Origins (2018)
Mercury – Act 1 (2021)
Mercury – Act 2 (2022)
Awards:
Imagine Dragons: Favorite Alternative Artist
Favorite Pop/Rock Band/Duo/Group
Into The Night Tour Tour of the Year
Imagine Dragons Band of the Year
Evolve Top Rock Album
Imagine Dragons Concert Marketing & Promotion Award