- Pop alternative rock band formed in 2008 from Las Vegas Nevada. Members of the band are Dan Reynolds (front man, lead vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards, drums, bass), Wayne Sermon (lead guitar, mandolin, drums, backing vocals), Ben McKee (bass guitar, keyboards, drums, backing vocals) and Daniel Platzman (drums, viola, keyboards, backing vocals). All members of the band contribute to songwriting.
- Reynolds met drummer Andrew Tolman when they both attended Brigham Young University. They formed a band with 3 other musicians in 2008, calling themselves Imagine Dragons. They won a battle of the bands competition at BYU, and Reynolds decided to make a career with music. An EP called Speak To Me was released, which they self-produced. Reynolds and Tolman relocated the band to Las Vegas in 2009, with Sermon and McKee joining the group when the other musicians chose not to move.
- The band got a break when Train was unable to perform at the Bite of Las Vegas music festival in 2009 – Imagine Dragons were brought in as a last minute addition, and they performed for a crowd of over 25,000 people. Over the next 3 years, they released 3 EPs – the self titled Imagine Dragons, Hell and Silence, and It’s Time. The EPs showed the band’s style of writing “big” songs – lots of synthesized sound, massive guitars and percussion and harmony vocals. By now, they were winning local “Best Band” awards, and they toured the western U.S. and performed in music festivals, including SXSW in 2010. Just before they signed a recording contract in 2011, Tolman left the band, wanting to move back to Utah, and he was replaced with Platzman.
- Now with a major record deal, they released the Continued Silence EP in 2012, and later that year, their debut studio album Night Visions was released. Night Visions included songs from their previously released EPs, as well as some new material. It was a quick success. The first single, It’s Time, reached #15 on the Hot 100 chart, and #3 on the Hot Rock Songs chart. Singles that followed – Radioactive and Demons – fared even better, reaching #3 and #6 on the Hot 100 chart, and #1 and #2 on the Hot Rock Songs chart. The final single from the album, On Top of the World, is my favorite – it peaked at #10 on the Hot Rock Songs chart. Ultimately, the album peaked at #2 on the Billboard 200 album chart, and it was #1 on both the Alternative Album and Rock Album charts. It was certified 2x platinum in the U.S., and it sold over 7 million copies worldwide. Radioactive won the Grammy award in 2014 for Best Rock Performance, and it was the most streamed song on Spotify in 2013.
- Prior to their next album, Imagine Dragons contributed songs to soundtracks for 3 films – Battle Cry, Monster and Warriors all charted on the Hot Rock Songs chart. The Smoke + Mirrors album was released in 2015. It debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 album chart and eventually received platinum certification. All 3 singles – I Bet My Life, Gold and Shots – were top 12 songs on the Hot Rock Songs chart.
- Their third studio album, Evolve, was released in 2017. It was their most successful album, with 3 consecutive singles topping the Hot Rock Songs chart – Believer, Thunder, and Whatever It Takes. These songs also charted highly on the Hot 100 chart, reaching #4, #4 and #12 respectively. Two other singles – Roots and Next To Me – were top 10 songs on the Hot Rock Songs chart. Their most recent album, Origins, had a #1 Hot Rock single with Natural and a #2 Hot Rock single with Bad Liar.
- It’s safe to say that Imagine Dragons is one of the decade’s most successful alt rock bands, and in many ways they define the sound of alternative music today – full of hooks, fusing genres from hip hop to EDM to hard rock to pop music. The critics may not love them – but they have earned fans all over the world with their infectious songs. And I’m happy to count myself as one of them. Watch the video to my fave song, On Top of the World. Hard not to sing along with this song!