Imagine Dragons was founded in 2008 in Las Vegas, Nevada. They have become one of the best rock bands in the world since 2012.
Initially, they were considered an alternative rock band that combined elements of pop, rock and electronic music in order to hit the mainstream music charts.
Imagine Dragons: how did it all start?
Dan Reynolds (vocalist) and Andrew Tolman (drummer) studied at Brigham Young University in 2008. Having met and revealed their talents, they began to create a group.
They soon met Andrew Beck, Dave Lemke and Aurora Florence. The name Imagine Dragons is an anagram. Only the members of the band officially know the words that the title refers to. The original lineup of the band recorded the EP Speak To Me in 2008.
Andrew Beck and Aurora Florence soon left the group. They were replaced by Wayne Sermon (guitarist) and Andrew Tolman's wife, Brittany Tolman (backing vocals and keyboards).
Wayne Sermon is a graduate of the Berklee College of Music in Massachusetts. When Dave Lemke left Imagine Dragons, he was replaced by Ben McKee (classmate of Wayne Sermon from Berkeley).
After a short time, the group was popular in Provo (Utah). And in 2009, the musicians decided to move to Las Vegas (the hometown of Dan Reynolds).
An early break for the team occurred in 2009. Then Pat Monahan (the main vocalist of Train) fell ill shortly before performing at the Bite of Las Vegas festival. The group, gathering their courage, decided at the last minute to perform in front of 26 people. Then the musicians received awards and the nomination "Best Local Indie Band of 2010".
The group continued to test the line-up. And soon in 2011, Brittany and Andrew Tolman left. Their replacement was Daniel Platzman. Teresa Flaminio (keyboardist) joined the band at the end of 2011. But she left after the release of the first album.
In November 2011, Imagine Dragons announced that they had signed a recording deal with Interscope Records. She also shared plans that she wants to work with English producer Alex da Kid on the first album.
Legendary line-up of Imagine Dragons
Dan Reynolds is a vocalist born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada. He is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As a teenager, he worked as a missionary in Nebraska for two years. When Dan was invited to open for alternative rock band Nico Vega in 2010, he met with the band's vocalist Aja Volkman. They recorded an EP and got married in 2011.
Wayne Sermon - guitarist, grew up in American Fork, Utah. He is also a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As a child, he learned to play the guitar and cello, but decided to focus more on the guitar. Wayne Sermon attended Berklee College of Music and graduated in 2008. In 2011, he married ballet dancer Alexandra Hall.
Ben McKee is a bassist from Forestville, California. He played bass in a jazz trio. Studied at Berklee College of Music. There he met future teammates Wayne Sermon and Daniel Platzman.
Daniel Platzman (drummer) was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. He attended Berklee College of Music and received a degree in film production. While visiting Berkeley, Ben met his future bandmates Ben McKee and Wayne Sermon. In 2014, Platzman wrote the original score for the documentary African Investigations.
pop stars
Imagine Dragons' first release for Interscope was the Continued Silence EP. It was released on Valentine's Day - February 14, 2012. The release peaked at number 40 on the Billboard Albums Chart. The group hit all the national charts.
The song It's Time, recorded by the band in 2010, was released as a single in August 2012. After being featured in commercials and on TV shows such as Glee, the It's Time single began climbing the pop charts. As a result, the song took 15th position on the Billboard Hot 100. And also 4th position on alternative radio. In September 2012, Night Visions was successfully released.
The album peaked at number 2 on the US Albums Chart and was certified double platinum for sales. It included the top 10 pop singles, which included Radioactive and Demons.
The group was noted as one of the "breakthrough" rock bands of 2013. Radioactive's song won a Grammy for Record of the Year and Best Rock Performance.
But the second album Smoke + Mirrors (2015) was a commercial disappointment. It peaked at number 1 on the albums chart but failed to get any top 10 pop singles. The lead single, I Bet My Life, failed to rise above number 28 on the pop chart.
The group refused to stay in place for long. And already in February 2017, the musicians released the single Believer before the third album Evolve. It was this single that took the 4th position on the Billboard Hot 100 and hit the 1st position among pop radio.
Imagine Dragons Top Singles
It's Time (2012)
This debut single, released by Interscope, was first performed in 2010, when the Tolmans were still members of the Imagine Dragons. It was posted on YouTube in December 2010. But did not receive an official release from Interscope until 2012.
It's Time was covered by Darren Criss on the television show Glee during the 2012 season. Many publications chose the song as one of the best singles released in 2012. The composition took the 4th position in the songs of 2012 on alternative radio.
Radioactive (2012)
The song was written by the musicians in collaboration with their producer Alex da Kid for the Night Visions album. She began one of the slowest "rise" in the history of the US pop chart. And at the end of 2013 it took the 3rd position in the Billboard Hot 100. The composition received the Grammy Award in the Record of the Year nomination.
Demons (2013)
Demons was promoted to pop radio as a single from Night Visions in September 2013.
It was another important milestone for the group. The Imagine Dragons started at number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and climbed to the top of the charts on popular radio.
Believer (2017)
The band's lead vocalist Dan Reynolds told People magazine that the single Believer was inspired by his battle with ankylosing spondylitis.
Released as the lead single from the album, Evolve Believer was a commercial success, returning the band to the top 10 for the first time in their four years of creative activity.
Interesting facts about the group
- Fans of the group call themselves "fire-breathers".
- Mac (brother of vocalist Dan Reynolds) is the band's manager.
- The band members are big fans of The Beatles. They even did an acoustic cover of Revolution at the Beatles' 50th anniversary show.
- A documentary film "Imagine Dragons: Creating Night Vision" was made about the group. It briefly describes the history of the release of the first album.
- Of the four members of the group, three of them have the name Daniel. They are Daniel (Dan) Reynolds, Daniel Platzman and Daniel Wayne Sermon.
- The band was the first musical guest to appear on The Muppets (2015). The artists starred in the first episode of "Pig Girls Don't Cry", which aired on September 22, 2015, where they sang the song Roots.
- On February 8, 2015, the band performed a live commercial for Target during the Grammys commercial break. During a 4-minute commercial break, Imagine Dragons performed Shots live in Las Vegas.
- On December 18, 2015, the band was one of many artists who released a special cover of I Love You All the Time Eagles of Death Metal in response to the November 13, 2015 attacks in Paris. All proceeds from the sale of the song were donated to the Friends of Fondation de France.
- If Cha-Ching (Till We Grow Older) is played backwards, lead singer Dan Reynolds can be heard singing the words "There is no anagram."
Imagine Dragons in 2021
On March 12, 2021, the group presented a new single, which included several tracks. We are talking about the compositions Follow You and Cutthroat. The novelties will be included in the band's new LP. A week ago, the guys announced that the premiere of a new collection will soon take place.
Imagine Dragons has pleased fans with the release of a new video for the track Cutthroat. The work was incredibly warmly received by fans and music critics.
