Imagine Dragons is a popular American rock band that has millions of fans from all over the world. The collective tops the international charts, their songs become hits and sound in Hollywood films.
Imagine Dragons: career start
Imagine Dragos is an indie rock band with diverse creativity and a special image that goes beyond certain genres and directions. The deep meaning and special nuances of the group's songs are determined by the peculiarities of the musicians' creative path and the history of the group.
Dan Reynolds, the founder and inspirer of the team, was born into a religious family with many children. Conservative parents raised 9 children in severity, not allowing them to express their emotions. Therefore, young Reynolds expressed his feelings in music.
After school, the future frontman went on a religious mission to Nebraska. He then attended Brigham Young University. Student life led the young man away from religion to music. Here Reynolds met Andrew Tolman. Together they formed the group Imagine Dragons.
At first, the group had an amateur status, its composition was constantly changing, new members came, old ones left. At the same time, Imagine Dragons was gaining its own style, constantly experimenting. The band played covers of famous songs, but also began to compose original music.
The path to glory
The members of Imagine Dragons do not reveal the secret of the group's name and logo. It is only known that these two words are an anagram, but its decoding remains a mystery, over which fans of the group have been pondering for a long time. The name literally translates from English as "Imagine a Dragon", so the team is often called simply "Dragons".
In its current form, the group began to form from the beginning of 2009. The two founders were soon joined by guitarist Wayne Sermona, who was Tolman's school friend. Sermon, in turn, attracted bassist Ben McKee, a friend of their Berkeley. The first line-up consisted of these four musicians.
The creation of the first mini-album took place in September 2009. Over the next two years, the band also released one mini-album a year. At this time, the group was not yet popular and earned money by performing in small clubs, at private concerts. Gradually, Imagine Dragons became famous in Utah and set out to conquer other cities in the United States of America.
The team of the group moved to Las Vegas. There they performed in casinos, strip clubs and other similar establishments. The organizers demanded to sing cover versions of famous songs, but the musicians also performed their own songs.
Rumors of a talented group quickly spread throughout Las Vegas. They began to be invited to various festivals and large venues.
Real fame came to the artists when one of their mini-albums fell into the hands of producer Alex De Kid, a great authority in the world of music. He immediately became interested in the team and offered them cooperation.
Members of Imagine Dragons
The composition of the group changed several times in the early years. Only Dan Reynlds and Wayne Sermon, the founders of the collectives, remained unchanged. In 2008, the band also included performer Andrew Beck (electric guitar and vocals). Dave Lamk played bass from 2008 to 2009.
Over the years, three girls participated in the group:
- Aurora Florence - in 2008, keyboards, violin and vocals;
- Brittany Tolman - 2009-2011, keyboards and vocals;
- Teresa Flamingo - 2011-2012, keyboards.
When the group reached its peak of fame, a golden line-up was formed:
- Dan Reynolds;
- Wayne Sermon;
- Ben McKee;
- Dan Platzman, who replaced Tolman on drums.
In this composition, the group exists to this day.
Glory days
A real resounding success came in 2012. Then Imagine Dragons released two mini-albums, which became very popular and made good money. In this position, the musicians were able to afford the release of a full-fledged disc.
The first major album - "Night Visions" was released soon. All of it immediately hit the top lines of major charts, songs from it were played on all radio stations, and sales went up - the album went platinum twice. In 2013, Imagine Dragons became the brightest stars in the music field, and the release of their album was named the main event of the year.
Critics also favorably received the work of the talented group. "Dragons" received many awards, including the most important one - "Grammy". The Radioactive track was named the main rock hit of the year by the authoritative Rolling Stone magazine. Thus came the rock band's finest hour.
Present time
In the wake of their success, the band continued to work hard to create original music. The number of fans among ordinary people and music critics multiplied exponentially.
The next album Imagine Dragons was released in 2015, almost 3 years after the first one. During this time, many videos were released, successful concerts were held, and work on new material was continuously underway.
The second album, Smoke + Mirrors, was not as popular as the first. It did not go platinum, but sales were still high - the album was named gold. Many songs from him became international hits, and critics did not spare similar enthusiastic words and awards.
The third album, "Evolve", was released 2 years later, in May 2017. The main hit from it was the song “Believer”, which after 4 months won the Teen Choice Awards in the nomination “Best song in the genre of Rock / Alternative”.
Imagine Dragons: interesting facts
Imagine Dragons is a band with an unusual sound, whose work is loved by both pop music lovers and rock fans. Vivid compositions were often used as soundtracks. Among the films and TV series in which the music of Imagine Dragons sounded:
- "Guest"
- Murder on the Orient Express
- "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire"
- "Transformers".
For some films, the musical group recorded songs on purpose, in other projects they took already existing compositions. It is difficult to list all the popular TV shows and films featuring the music of Imagine Dragons. Favorite in cinema - "Radioactive". She played in the films The Guest, Continuum, The Heat of Our Bodies, the TV series Arrow, The Vampire Diaries, The Hundred, True Blood. It was also used in computer games.
Working with the film industry is a separate page in the work of Imagine Dragons. Many of the songs from the albums were originally released as movie singles. For example, "Battle Cry" was released for "Transformers 4".
Interesting not only the musical side of the life of the members of Imagine Dragons and the discography of the group, but also small facts about their personality, habits, biography, hobbies, loved ones. For example, the lead singer of the group Reynolds is married to A. J. Volkman, with whom they create another musical project, Egyptian. The couple have three daughters - the eldest is Arrow Eve, the two youngest are Coco and Gia. The musician admits that he has been struggling with depression all his life, although it is in this state that it is easier for him to write songs and create real hits. Dan Reynolds says his family helps him cope with depression and get through difficult times.
Sermon, whom his friends call "Wing", is also married. His wife's name is Alexandra, they have two sons who were born one year apart: River James and Wolfgang. The musician composes songs at night when he suffers from insomnia. McKee has an unusual hobby - he sews and creates hats.
The group also has common hobbies. All members love drums, take part in charity events, spend a lot of time on social media and actively communicate with fans.
