Imagine dragons как пишется

This article is about the band. For their self-titled EP, see Imagine Dragons (EP).

Imagine Dragons
Imagine Dragons live in 2018
Background information
Also known as	Ragged Insomnia
Origin	Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
Genres	Pop rock electropop pop indie pop arena rock alternative rock
Years active	2008–present
Labels	Kidinakorner Interscope
Members	Dan Reynolds Wayne Sermon Ben McKee Daniel Platzman
Past members	Andrew Tolman Brittany Tolman Theresa Flaminio Dave Lemke Andrew Beck Aurora Florence
Website	imaginedragonsmusic.com

Imagine Dragons are an American pop rock band based in Las Vegas, Nevada, consisting of lead singer Dan Reynolds, guitarist Wayne Sermon, bassist Ben McKee and drummer Daniel Platzman.^[1] 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».^[1][2][3][4] MTV called them «the year’s biggest breakout band»,^[5] and Billboard named them their «Breakthrough Band of 2013» and «Biggest Band of 2017»,^[6] and placed them at the top of their «Year in Rock» rankings for 2013,^[7] 2017,^[8] and 2018.^[9] Imagine Dragons topped the Billboard Year-End «Top Artists – Duo/Group» category in 2018.^[10]

The band’s second studio album Smoke + Mirrors (2015) reached number one in the US, Canada and the UK.^[11][12] 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.^[13] 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.^[14] The band released their fifth studio album Mercury – Act 1 on September 3, 2021 and its follow-up Mercury – Act 2 on July 1, 2022, to similar reviews.

Imagine Dragons has won three American Music Awards, nine Billboard Music Awards, one Grammy Award, one MTV Video Music Award, and one World Music Award. In May 2014, the band was nominated for 14 Billboard Music Awards, including Top Artist of the Year and a Milestone Award, which recognizes innovation and creativity of artists across different genres. In April 2018, the band was nominated 11 more times for Billboard Music Awards.^[15]

Imagine Dragons has sold more than 75 million records worldwide, making them one of the world’s best-selling music artists.^[16] They were the most streamed group of 2018 on Spotify^[17] and are the first rock act to have four songs, «Radioactive», «Demons», «Believer», and «Thunder», to surpass one billion streams each.^[18] According to Billboard, «Believer», «Thunder», and «Radioactive» were the three best performing rock songs of the 2010s.^[19]

History[edit]

2008–2011: Early years[edit]

In 2008, lead singer Dan Reynolds met drummer Andrew Tolman at Brigham Young University, where they were both students.^[20] 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.^[21] 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 long-time high school friend Wayne Sermon, who had graduated from Berklee College of Music, to play guitar. Tolman later recruited his wife, Brittany Tolman, to sing back-up and play keys, and the band began to play shows together again. Lemke left the band later on, leading Sermon to recruit another Berklee music student, Ben McKee, to join the band as their bassist and complete the line-up.^[22][23] 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.^[24]

The band released a self-titled EP Imagine Dragons on September 1, 2009, and Hell and Silence on March 10, 2010, both recorded at Battle Born Studios, in Las Vegas.^[25][26][27] Six months after releasing their third EP, It’s Time on March 12, 2011, they signed a record deal with Interscope Records on November 18, 2011.^[28]

They got their first big break when Train’s frontman Pat Monahan fell sick just prior to the Bite of Las Vegas Festival 2009. Imagine Dragons were called to fill in and performed to a crowd of more than 26,000 people.^[29] Local accolades including «Best CD of 2011» (Vegas SEVEN),^[30] «Best Local Indie Band 2010» (Las Vegas Weekly),^[31] «Las Vegas’ Newest Must See Live Act» (Las Vegas CityLife),^[32] Vegas Music Summit Headliner 2010,^[33] and more sent the band on a positive trajectory. In November 2011, they signed with Interscope Records and began working with English Grammy Award-winning producer Alex da Kid.^[34] Eventually, the Tolmans left the group. Daniel Platzman and keyboardist Theresa Flaminio were recruited by Ben McKee in August 2011, prior to the band’s label deal in November 2011.^[35]

2012–2014: Night Visions[edit]

Theresa Flaminio departed from Imagine Dragons in early 2012, leaving them as a four-piece. The band worked closely with Alex da Kid, with whom they recorded their first major-label release at Westlake Recording Studios in West Hollywood, California. An EP entitled Continued Silence was released on Valentine’s Day (February 14, 2012) digitally and peaked at number 40 on the Billboard 200. The band also released an EP titled Hear Me in 2012.

Shortly after, «It’s Time» was released as a single and peaked at number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100.^[36] The music video debuted on April 17, 2012, on all MTV affiliates and was subsequently nominated for an MTV Video Music Award in the «Best Rock Video» category.^[37] «It’s Time» was certified a 6× platinum single by the RIAA.^[38]

The band finished recording their debut album Night Visions in the summer of 2012 at Studio X inside Palms Casino Resort and released the album in the United States on September 4, 2012. It peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart with first week sales in excess of 83,000 copies, the highest charting for a debut rock album since 2006.^[39] The album also reached No. 1 on the Billboard Alternative and Rock Album charts as well as the top ten on the Australian, Austrian, Canadian, Dutch, German, Irish, Norwegian, Portuguese, Scottish, Spanish, and United Kingdom Albums charts. It won a Billboard Music Award for Top Rock Album and was nominated for the Juno Award for International Album of the Year.^[40] Night Visions is certified platinum in the US by the RIAA as well as in Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK. The album produced three tracks that reached the Billboard Top 40, four tracks in the ARIA Top 40, and five tracks charting in the UK Top 40.

The album’s second single «Radioactive» reached No. 1 on the Billboard Alternative Songs, Billboard Rock Songs, and Swedish singles chart and has sold more than 14 million singles in the United States, entering the top 3 of the most selling songs digitally ever.^[41] It also smashed the record of the longest running song on the Billboard Hot 100 by spending 87 weeks before being broken by The Weeknd’s «Blinding Lights» in 2021.^[42] «Radioactive» stayed at No. 1 on the Hot Rock Songs chart for a record-breaking 23 weeks and ultimately became the genre’s biggest hit of 2013.^[43] It peaked at No. 3, becoming their first top ten single in the United States and broke the record for the longest run into the top five. It is the best-selling rock song on the Nielsen SoundScan running list of best-selling rock songs in digital history.^[44] By the end of 2013, «Radioactive» had already sold over 3 million copies.^[45] Rolling Stone called it «the biggest rock hit of the year». It was also the most streamed song of 2013 on Spotify in the United States.^[46] It was nominated for the Grammy Award for Record of the Year and the Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, winning the latter of the two. The band performed a medley of «Radioactive» and «M.A.A.D City» alongside rapper Kendrick Lamar at the ceremony. A remixed version of «Radioactive», featuring a newly added verse from Lamar, was released the next day and performed on the February 1, 2014 episode of Saturday Night Live.

Third single «Demons» reached No. 1 on the Billboard Pop Songs, peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent 61 weeks on it.^[38][47] In 2021, RIAA declared that the song has become the band’s third diamond selling song in the US.^[41]

Fourth single «On Top Of The World» reached a peak of No. 79 on the Billboard Hot 100 and also spent 20 weeks on the chart.^[41]

In the US, the non-singles off the album, «Bleeding Out» and «Amsterdam» were certified platinum while «Hear Me» and «Tiptoe» were certified gold.^[41]

Billboard listed them as one of «2012’s Brightest New Stars» and later «The Breakout Band of 2013».^[48] Imagine Dragons won the 2014 Billboard Music Awards for Top Duo/Group, Top Hot 100 Artist, and Top Rock Artist. Amazon.com called the band their «Favorite Rock Artist of 2012».^[49]

In 2013, Imagine Dragons returned to Europe and North America with the Night Visions Tour.^[50] The band announced 13 additional US summer tour dates which also sold out.^[51] The band then announced a North America Amphitheatre tour.^[52] Pollstar listed the band in their Top 20 Concert Tours list by average box office gross despite their average ticket price being the third lowest on the list.^[53]

The band released a live album, Live at Independent Records, in April 2013.^[54]

2014–2016: Smoke + Mirrors[edit]

The idea behind the second studio album, dubbed as their «New Year’s resolution»,^[55] was to create music and finish it when the band feels that their work is done.^[56] Since the beginning of the Night Visions Tour, the band had been writing new material for an upcoming album, and, even as early as the start of the tour, had been recording demos for the album, before entering the studio.^[57] By the time that they entered the studio to work on the album, they had amassed 50 demos to work from.^[58]

Prior to the album’s release, Imagine Dragons released a number of singles for other projects including a song for the film Transformers: Age of Extinction, called «Battle Cry» (June 2014) and song «Warriors» for the 2014 League of Legends World Championship (September 2014).^[59]

On October 24, they revealed the lead single to the upcoming album, «I Bet My Life» via several visual snippets on Facebook and Instagram. It was released on October 27.^[60] It was sent to US Alternative radio for ads on November 3.^[61] On December 16, the band announced their second album Smoke + Mirrors, along with the release of its second single «Gold». «Shots» was released as the album’s third single on January 26, 2015.

Imagine Dragons played at the Mayan Theater in Los Angeles on February 5, 2015. The half-hour set included the live debut of unreleased songs «Summer» and «I’m So Sorry». On February 8, the band partnered with Target for a performance of «Shots» as part of a live commercial aired during the Grammy Awards. Smoke + Mirrors was released on February 17. The album debuted atop the Billboard 200, making it the band’s first number one album. The band began a world tour in support of the album on June 3 in Portland, Oregon.

During the band’s tour, Imagine Dragons released two non-album singles. «Roots» was released on August 26, 2015, and «I Was Me» on October 12, 2015, via iTunes. The band also released a cover of «I Love You All the Time» by Eagles of Death Metal on December 18, 2015, in support of the victims of the November 2015 Paris attacks. The Smoke + Mirrors Tour ended on February 5, 2016, in Amsterdam. The band released a one night only concert film, Imagine Dragons In Concert: Smoke + Mirrors, in select theaters on March 2, 2016, which was later released on DVD and Blu-Ray.

Following the tour, the band planned to take a hiatus. They released the soundtracks songs «Not Today» from Me Before You and «Sucker for Pain» from Suicide Squad with Lil Wayne, Wiz Khalifa, Logic, Ty Dolla Sign, and X Ambassadors in April and June, respectively.

2016–2020: Evolve and Origins[edit]

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.^[62] 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 same color».

On February 1, 2017, Imagine Dragons released «Believer» as the lead single for their next album. «Believer» was used as part of a Super Bowl ad for the Nintendo Switch.^[63] On April 27, 2017, the band released «Thunder» as the second single from their third album.^[64] On May 8, 2017, Imagine Dragons announced their third studio album Evolve, as well as a new track «Whatever It Takes», which was released on the same day.^[65] A tour in support for the album was also announced within the same day. The tour was held across 33 countries from September 2017 through September 2018.

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. «Whatever It Takes» was released as an official single off the album a few months later on October 6, 2017.^[66] 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. The song was released as part of a re-issue of Evolve on February 21, 2018.^[67]

On June 12, 2018, Imagine Dragons announced a new single in collaboration with Kygo titled «Born to Be Yours» on Twitter. The song was released on June 15, 2018.^[68] In 2018, Imagine Dragons also became co-owners of esports team Rogue.^[69]

On July 12, 2018, Imagine Dragons announced a new single titled «Natural» on Twitter. The song was released on July 17, 2018.^[70] The song was used as the anthem for the 2018 ESPN College Football season.^[71] The band concluded the Evolve tour in Tampa, Florida on August 10. On September 18, 2018, Imagine Dragons announced a new single titled «Zero», which was released the following day. It was used in the end credits of the Walt Disney Animation Studios film Ralph Breaks the Internet.^[72]

On October 3, 2018, Imagine Dragons announced their fourth studio album, Origins, which was released on November 9, 2018. «Natural» and «Zero» serve as the lead singles off the album, while «Born to Be Yours» is featured on the international deluxe edition of the album. The band has described this album as a sister album to their previous work Evolve.^[73] On October 31, 2018, Imagine Dragons released the third single off the album, «Machine».^[74] Lastly, on November 6, 2018, Imagine Dragons released the album’s fourth single, «Bad Liar».^[75] Origins debuted at number two in the US, making it their fourth top five album. It reached the top ten in multiple countries, but received mixed reviews from critics.

On January 7, 2019, Imagine Dragons performed the halftime show for the 2019 College Football Championship game. The band performed «Natural», «Bad Liar», «Thunder», and a special version of «Believer» with rapper Lil Wayne. The new version of the song was released on streaming platforms the following day.^[76]

In June 2019, Beat Games released a paid downloadable content (DLC) music pack for virtual reality rhythm game Beat Saber, called «Imagine Dragons Music Pack», that includes ten songs by Imagine Dragons.^[77][78]

On June 20, 2019, Imagine Dragons released a new version «Birds», featuring Italian singer Elisa, as the fifth and final single from Origins.^[79] On July 23, 2019, an animated video for the original version of the song was released.^[80]

In December 2019, Reynolds announced that he was taking a break from producing and writing music to focus on fatherhood.^[81]

On January 20, 2020, the band released a music video for «Nothing Left to Say», a song from their debut album Night Visions.^[82]

2021–present: Mercury – Acts 1 & 2[edit]

On March 8, 2021, Imagine Dragons announced the release of two singles, «Follow You» and «Cutthroat», which were released on March 12.^[83][84] 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.^[84] The song was released on July 2, 2021.^[84] 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.^{[citation needed]}

In October, the band re-released their first three extended plays onto streaming services and digital retailers. Each EP features a previously unreleased bonus track. The band also released the single «Enemy» featuring rapper JID, as part of the soundtrack to the Netflix series Arcane, on October 28. It is the second collaboration between Imagine Dragons and League of Legends, following «Warriors».^{[citation needed]}

Soon after the release of Mercury – Act 1, the band began teasing towards a follow-up album that would also be executively produced by Rubin. In January 2022, Reynolds stated that the album was «almost done» and would be released following the first leg of the Mercury Tour. The tour began on February 6 in Miami and concluded on September 15 in Los Angeles.^{[citation needed]} On March 11, 2022, the band released a single titled «Bones», which serves as the lead single to their sixth studio album Mercury – Act 2.^[85] On April 6, the band announced that Mercury – Act 2 would be released on July 1, 2022. The 18-track album was released as part of a compilation album containing both Mercury albums.^[86]

The band released a ten year anniversary expanded edition of Night Visions on September 9, 2022 featuring two previously unreleased demos, «Love of Mine» and «Bubble». «Love of Mine» was released on September 2.^{[citation needed]}

Musical style and influences[edit]

Imagine Dragons’ musical style has mainly been described as pop rock,^[87][88][89] electropop,^{[90][91][92][93]} pop,^[94][91] indie pop,^[95][96] indie rock,^[97] arena rock,^[98][99] and alternative rock.^[100] Their music also contains influences from synth-pop, dance-pop, trip hop, folk, drum and bass, dubstep, industrial, EDM, R&B, and hip hop.^{[101][102][103][104][105][106][107][108][109][110][111]}

Dan Reynolds cites Arcade Fire, Nirvana, Muse, The Beatles, Paul Simon, Coldplay, Linkin Park,^[112] Harry Nilsson, and U2 as some of his and the band’s artistic influences. In terms of success, Reynolds credits bands like Foster the People and Mumford & Sons for bringing alternative pop music to a new level of commercial success in recent years.^[113]

Public image[edit]

Despite their popularity and large social media followings, reception towards Imagine Dragons from other musicians and music critics has been mixed since their breakthrough to the mainstream. Review aggregator Metacritic reports that the band’s first four studio albums—Night Visions, Smoke + Mirrors, Evolve, and Origins—have scores of 53, 60, 47, and 59, respectively, out of 100, indicating generally mixed reviews.^[114] The band’s music has been criticized for its repetitive lyrics, «overblown» arena rock production, overemphasis on reverberation effects, sticking to formulas, and genre-hopping.^[115][116] Following the band’s halftime show performance at the 2019 College Football National Championship, American music publication Spin ran an article titled ‘Is Imagine Dragons The Worst Band Ever?’, which described the band’s songs as having lyrics that are «a composite of motivational platitudes and pseudo-dramatic yelps, barely merit repeating, if only because Reynolds seems so willing to do that himself» and featuring a «punishing, squelching rhythmic force.»^[117] The band has frequently been compared to Canadian rock band Nickelback by critics, referring to Nickelback’s own negative public perception.

Despite this criticism, the band has described themselves as «genre-less». In an interview with Billboard at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards, Reynolds stated, «We’ve always kind of prided ourselves on being kind of a genre-less band. […] I have no idea how I’d categorize us. Sometimes it’s definitely pop; sometimes the songs are all guitar-driven. It depends on the song.»^[118]

The band has also been the subject of ridicule by several musicians. In a 2019 interview, Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor echoed the Nickelback comparisons, claiming that Nickelback were «passing the baton of being rock and roll’s scapegoat» to Imagine Dragons.^[119] Matty Healy of The 1975 described «Radioactive» as ‘nothingness’, stating, «It might as well be called ‘Pikachy Banana.'» In a 2018 interview, Mark Foster joked that his band Foster the People give their rejected material to Imagine Dragons. In response, Reynolds took to Twitter, denouncing what he described as «click-bait horse shit filled with vile and hate meant to feed humanity’s need to laugh at each other’s imperfections and fails.»^[120] Foster issued an apology to Reynolds on Twitter, expressing regret over the joke and praising him for his humanitarian efforts. Taylor, on the other hand, criticized Reynolds and claimed that his words were taken out of context, tweeting, «As long as people are stupid, letting salacious headlines do their thinking for them, there will always be controversy. Do some research and find the truth…».^[121] Healy responded in a radio interview, stating, «You’re a millionaire in a huge band. You don’t say, ‘Oh, I’m gonna do this, and also can I be void of criticism?’ It’s like … no.»^[122]

On the other hand, the band has been praised for their genre-bending style, and for keeping arena rock popular during the 2010s, a decade which saw guitars and bands dwindling in mainstream music.^[123]

Philanthropy[edit]

In 2013, along with the family of Tyler Robinson, Imagine Dragons started a charity called the Tyler Robinson Foundation, helping young people battling cancer. Beginning in 2014, the first annual Tyler Robinson Foundation Gala was held in Las Vegas.^[124] Imagine Dragons performed for «Playing It Forward» (S1 E2) to raise $100,000 for school music programs.^[125] The band partnered with mtvU to help choose four Fulbright-mtvU Fellowship recipients.^[126] They partnered with Do the Write Thing: National Campaign to Stop Violence for a fundraising event.^[127]

Imagine Dragons performed as part of Amnesty International’s «Bringing Human Rights Home» concert in Brooklyn on February 5, 2014.^[128] In 2015, Imagine Dragons released the track «I Was Me» for the One4 project with all proceeds going to the UN Refugee Agency to support fleeing refugees, particularly in the Middle East.^[129] Imagine Dragons also released cover track «I Love You All The Time» to benefit the victims of the terrorist attacks in Paris.^[130] In 2017, the band helped organize the annual LoveLoud Festival which aims to raise awareness about LGBTQ youth and benefit LGBTQ organizations such as the Trevor Project.^[131]

On June 22, 2018, in collaboration with film score composer Hans Zimmer, lead singer Dan Reynolds released a single titled «Skipping Stones». The song was released to correspond with his new documentary, Believer, a film that discusses the topic of the intersection between the LGBT community and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. All proceeds from the song benefit LGBTQ charities.^[132]

Band members[edit]

Timeline[edit]

Discography[edit]

• Night Visions (2012)
• Smoke + Mirrors (2015)
• Evolve (2017)
• Origins (2018)
• Mercury – Act 1 (2021)
• Mercury – Act 2 (2022)

Awards and nominations[edit]

Tours[edit]

• Fall Tour 2012 (2012)
• Night Visions Tour (2013–2014)^{[133][134][135]}
• Smoke + Mirrors Tour (2015–2016)
• Evolve World Tour (2017–2019)^[136]
• Mercury World Tour (2022–2023)^[137]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Official website
• Tyler Robinson Foundation
• Official — Imagine Dragons (YouTube)

This article is about the band. For their self-titled EP, see Imagine Dragons (EP).

Imagine Dragons
Imagine Dragons live in 2018
Background information
Also known as	Ragged Insomnia
Origin	Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
Genres	Pop rock electropop pop indie pop arena rock alternative rock
Years active	2008–present
Labels	Kidinakorner Interscope
Members	Dan Reynolds Wayne Sermon Ben McKee Daniel Platzman
Past members	Andrew Tolman Brittany Tolman Theresa Flaminio Dave Lemke Andrew Beck Aurora Florence
Website	imaginedragonsmusic.com

Imagine Dragons are an American pop rock band based in Las Vegas, Nevada, consisting of lead singer Dan Reynolds, guitarist Wayne Sermon, bassist Ben McKee and drummer Daniel Platzman.^[1] 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».^[1][2][3][4] MTV called them «the year’s biggest breakout band»,^[5] and Billboard named them their «Breakthrough Band of 2013» and «Biggest Band of 2017»,^[6] and placed them at the top of their «Year in Rock» rankings for 2013,^[7] 2017,^[8] and 2018.^[9] Imagine Dragons topped the Billboard Year-End «Top Artists – Duo/Group» category in 2018.^[10]

The band’s second studio album Smoke + Mirrors (2015) reached number one in the US, Canada and the UK.^[11][12] 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.^[13] 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.^[14] The band released their fifth studio album Mercury – Act 1 on September 3, 2021 and its follow-up Mercury – Act 2 on July 1, 2022, to similar reviews.

Imagine Dragons has won three American Music Awards, nine Billboard Music Awards, one Grammy Award, one MTV Video Music Award, and one World Music Award. In May 2014, the band was nominated for 14 Billboard Music Awards, including Top Artist of the Year and a Milestone Award, which recognizes innovation and creativity of artists across different genres. In April 2018, the band was nominated 11 more times for Billboard Music Awards.^[15]

Imagine Dragons has sold more than 75 million records worldwide, making them one of the world’s best-selling music artists.^[16] They were the most streamed group of 2018 on Spotify^[17] and are the first rock act to have four songs, «Radioactive», «Demons», «Believer», and «Thunder», to surpass one billion streams each.^[18] According to Billboard, «Believer», «Thunder», and «Radioactive» were the three best performing rock songs of the 2010s.^[19]

History[edit]

2008–2011: Early years[edit]

In 2008, lead singer Dan Reynolds met drummer Andrew Tolman at Brigham Young University, where they were both students.^[20] 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.^[21] 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 long-time high school friend Wayne Sermon, who had graduated from Berklee College of Music, to play guitar. Tolman later recruited his wife, Brittany Tolman, to sing back-up and play keys, and the band began to play shows together again. Lemke left the band later on, leading Sermon to recruit another Berklee music student, Ben McKee, to join the band as their bassist and complete the line-up.^[22][23] 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.^[24]

The band released a self-titled EP Imagine Dragons on September 1, 2009, and Hell and Silence on March 10, 2010, both recorded at Battle Born Studios, in Las Vegas.^[25][26][27] Six months after releasing their third EP, It’s Time on March 12, 2011, they signed a record deal with Interscope Records on November 18, 2011.^[28]

They got their first big break when Train’s frontman Pat Monahan fell sick just prior to the Bite of Las Vegas Festival 2009. Imagine Dragons were called to fill in and performed to a crowd of more than 26,000 people.^[29] Local accolades including «Best CD of 2011» (Vegas SEVEN),^[30] «Best Local Indie Band 2010» (Las Vegas Weekly),^[31] «Las Vegas’ Newest Must See Live Act» (Las Vegas CityLife),^[32] Vegas Music Summit Headliner 2010,^[33] and more sent the band on a positive trajectory. In November 2011, they signed with Interscope Records and began working with English Grammy Award-winning producer Alex da Kid.^[34] Eventually, the Tolmans left the group. Daniel Platzman and keyboardist Theresa Flaminio were recruited by Ben McKee in August 2011, prior to the band’s label deal in November 2011.^[35]

2012–2014: Night Visions[edit]

Theresa Flaminio departed from Imagine Dragons in early 2012, leaving them as a four-piece. The band worked closely with Alex da Kid, with whom they recorded their first major-label release at Westlake Recording Studios in West Hollywood, California. An EP entitled Continued Silence was released on Valentine’s Day (February 14, 2012) digitally and peaked at number 40 on the Billboard 200. The band also released an EP titled Hear Me in 2012.

Shortly after, «It’s Time» was released as a single and peaked at number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100.^[36] The music video debuted on April 17, 2012, on all MTV affiliates and was subsequently nominated for an MTV Video Music Award in the «Best Rock Video» category.^[37] «It’s Time» was certified a 6× platinum single by the RIAA.^[38]

The band finished recording their debut album Night Visions in the summer of 2012 at Studio X inside Palms Casino Resort and released the album in the United States on September 4, 2012. It peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart with first week sales in excess of 83,000 copies, the highest charting for a debut rock album since 2006.^[39] The album also reached No. 1 on the Billboard Alternative and Rock Album charts as well as the top ten on the Australian, Austrian, Canadian, Dutch, German, Irish, Norwegian, Portuguese, Scottish, Spanish, and United Kingdom Albums charts. It won a Billboard Music Award for Top Rock Album and was nominated for the Juno Award for International Album of the Year.^[40] Night Visions is certified platinum in the US by the RIAA as well as in Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK. The album produced three tracks that reached the Billboard Top 40, four tracks in the ARIA Top 40, and five tracks charting in the UK Top 40.

The album’s second single «Radioactive» reached No. 1 on the Billboard Alternative Songs, Billboard Rock Songs, and Swedish singles chart and has sold more than 14 million singles in the United States, entering the top 3 of the most selling songs digitally ever.^[41] It also smashed the record of the longest running song on the Billboard Hot 100 by spending 87 weeks before being broken by The Weeknd’s «Blinding Lights» in 2021.^[42] «Radioactive» stayed at No. 1 on the Hot Rock Songs chart for a record-breaking 23 weeks and ultimately became the genre’s biggest hit of 2013.^[43] It peaked at No. 3, becoming their first top ten single in the United States and broke the record for the longest run into the top five. It is the best-selling rock song on the Nielsen SoundScan running list of best-selling rock songs in digital history.^[44] By the end of 2013, «Radioactive» had already sold over 3 million copies.^[45] Rolling Stone called it «the biggest rock hit of the year». It was also the most streamed song of 2013 on Spotify in the United States.^[46] It was nominated for the Grammy Award for Record of the Year and the Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, winning the latter of the two. The band performed a medley of «Radioactive» and «M.A.A.D City» alongside rapper Kendrick Lamar at the ceremony. A remixed version of «Radioactive», featuring a newly added verse from Lamar, was released the next day and performed on the February 1, 2014 episode of Saturday Night Live.

Third single «Demons» reached No. 1 on the Billboard Pop Songs, peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent 61 weeks on it.^[38][47] In 2021, RIAA declared that the song has become the band’s third diamond selling song in the US.^[41]

Fourth single «On Top Of The World» reached a peak of No. 79 on the Billboard Hot 100 and also spent 20 weeks on the chart.^[41]

In the US, the non-singles off the album, «Bleeding Out» and «Amsterdam» were certified platinum while «Hear Me» and «Tiptoe» were certified gold.^[41]

Billboard listed them as one of «2012’s Brightest New Stars» and later «The Breakout Band of 2013».^[48] Imagine Dragons won the 2014 Billboard Music Awards for Top Duo/Group, Top Hot 100 Artist, and Top Rock Artist. Amazon.com called the band their «Favorite Rock Artist of 2012».^[49]

In 2013, Imagine Dragons returned to Europe and North America with the Night Visions Tour.^[50] The band announced 13 additional US summer tour dates which also sold out.^[51] The band then announced a North America Amphitheatre tour.^[52] Pollstar listed the band in their Top 20 Concert Tours list by average box office gross despite their average ticket price being the third lowest on the list.^[53]

The band released a live album, Live at Independent Records, in April 2013.^[54]

2014–2016: Smoke + Mirrors[edit]

The idea behind the second studio album, dubbed as their «New Year’s resolution»,^[55] was to create music and finish it when the band feels that their work is done.^[56] Since the beginning of the Night Visions Tour, the band had been writing new material for an upcoming album, and, even as early as the start of the tour, had been recording demos for the album, before entering the studio.^[57] By the time that they entered the studio to work on the album, they had amassed 50 demos to work from.^[58]

Prior to the album’s release, Imagine Dragons released a number of singles for other projects including a song for the film Transformers: Age of Extinction, called «Battle Cry» (June 2014) and song «Warriors» for the 2014 League of Legends World Championship (September 2014).^[59]

On October 24, they revealed the lead single to the upcoming album, «I Bet My Life» via several visual snippets on Facebook and Instagram. It was released on October 27.^[60] It was sent to US Alternative radio for ads on November 3.^[61] On December 16, the band announced their second album Smoke + Mirrors, along with the release of its second single «Gold». «Shots» was released as the album’s third single on January 26, 2015.

Imagine Dragons played at the Mayan Theater in Los Angeles on February 5, 2015. The half-hour set included the live debut of unreleased songs «Summer» and «I’m So Sorry». On February 8, the band partnered with Target for a performance of «Shots» as part of a live commercial aired during the Grammy Awards. Smoke + Mirrors was released on February 17. The album debuted atop the Billboard 200, making it the band’s first number one album. The band began a world tour in support of the album on June 3 in Portland, Oregon.

During the band’s tour, Imagine Dragons released two non-album singles. «Roots» was released on August 26, 2015, and «I Was Me» on October 12, 2015, via iTunes. The band also released a cover of «I Love You All the Time» by Eagles of Death Metal on December 18, 2015, in support of the victims of the November 2015 Paris attacks. The Smoke + Mirrors Tour ended on February 5, 2016, in Amsterdam. The band released a one night only concert film, Imagine Dragons In Concert: Smoke + Mirrors, in select theaters on March 2, 2016, which was later released on DVD and Blu-Ray.

Following the tour, the band planned to take a hiatus. They released the soundtracks songs «Not Today» from Me Before You and «Sucker for Pain» from Suicide Squad with Lil Wayne, Wiz Khalifa, Logic, Ty Dolla Sign, and X Ambassadors in April and June, respectively.

2016–2020: Evolve and Origins[edit]

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.^[62] 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 same color».

On February 1, 2017, Imagine Dragons released «Believer» as the lead single for their next album. «Believer» was used as part of a Super Bowl ad for the Nintendo Switch.^[63] On April 27, 2017, the band released «Thunder» as the second single from their third album.^[64] On May 8, 2017, Imagine Dragons announced their third studio album Evolve, as well as a new track «Whatever It Takes», which was released on the same day.^[65] A tour in support for the album was also announced within the same day. The tour was held across 33 countries from September 2017 through September 2018.

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. «Whatever It Takes» was released as an official single off the album a few months later on October 6, 2017.^[66] 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. The song was released as part of a re-issue of Evolve on February 21, 2018.^[67]

On June 12, 2018, Imagine Dragons announced a new single in collaboration with Kygo titled «Born to Be Yours» on Twitter. The song was released on June 15, 2018.^[68] In 2018, Imagine Dragons also became co-owners of esports team Rogue.^[69]

On July 12, 2018, Imagine Dragons announced a new single titled «Natural» on Twitter. The song was released on July 17, 2018.^[70] The song was used as the anthem for the 2018 ESPN College Football season.^[71] The band concluded the Evolve tour in Tampa, Florida on August 10. On September 18, 2018, Imagine Dragons announced a new single titled «Zero», which was released the following day. It was used in the end credits of the Walt Disney Animation Studios film Ralph Breaks the Internet.^[72]

On October 3, 2018, Imagine Dragons announced their fourth studio album, Origins, which was released on November 9, 2018. «Natural» and «Zero» serve as the lead singles off the album, while «Born to Be Yours» is featured on the international deluxe edition of the album. The band has described this album as a sister album to their previous work Evolve.^[73] On October 31, 2018, Imagine Dragons released the third single off the album, «Machine».^[74] Lastly, on November 6, 2018, Imagine Dragons released the album’s fourth single, «Bad Liar».^[75] Origins debuted at number two in the US, making it their fourth top five album. It reached the top ten in multiple countries, but received mixed reviews from critics.

On January 7, 2019, Imagine Dragons performed the halftime show for the 2019 College Football Championship game. The band performed «Natural», «Bad Liar», «Thunder», and a special version of «Believer» with rapper Lil Wayne. The new version of the song was released on streaming platforms the following day.^[76]

In June 2019, Beat Games released a paid downloadable content (DLC) music pack for virtual reality rhythm game Beat Saber, called «Imagine Dragons Music Pack», that includes ten songs by Imagine Dragons.^[77][78]

On June 20, 2019, Imagine Dragons released a new version «Birds», featuring Italian singer Elisa, as the fifth and final single from Origins.^[79] On July 23, 2019, an animated video for the original version of the song was released.^[80]

In December 2019, Reynolds announced that he was taking a break from producing and writing music to focus on fatherhood.^[81]

On January 20, 2020, the band released a music video for «Nothing Left to Say», a song from their debut album Night Visions.^[82]

2021–present: Mercury – Acts 1 & 2[edit]

On March 8, 2021, Imagine Dragons announced the release of two singles, «Follow You» and «Cutthroat», which were released on March 12.^[83][84] 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.^[84] The song was released on July 2, 2021.^[84] 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.^{[citation needed]}

In October, the band re-released their first three extended plays onto streaming services and digital retailers. Each EP features a previously unreleased bonus track. The band also released the single «Enemy» featuring rapper JID, as part of the soundtrack to the Netflix series Arcane, on October 28. It is the second collaboration between Imagine Dragons and League of Legends, following «Warriors».^{[citation needed]}

Soon after the release of Mercury – Act 1, the band began teasing towards a follow-up album that would also be executively produced by Rubin. In January 2022, Reynolds stated that the album was «almost done» and would be released following the first leg of the Mercury Tour. The tour began on February 6 in Miami and concluded on September 15 in Los Angeles.^{[citation needed]} On March 11, 2022, the band released a single titled «Bones», which serves as the lead single to their sixth studio album Mercury – Act 2.^[85] On April 6, the band announced that Mercury – Act 2 would be released on July 1, 2022. The 18-track album was released as part of a compilation album containing both Mercury albums.^[86]

The band released a ten year anniversary expanded edition of Night Visions on September 9, 2022 featuring two previously unreleased demos, «Love of Mine» and «Bubble». «Love of Mine» was released on September 2.^{[citation needed]}

Musical style and influences[edit]

Imagine Dragons’ musical style has mainly been described as pop rock,^[87][88][89] electropop,^{[90][91][92][93]} pop,^[94][91] indie pop,^[95][96] indie rock,^[97] arena rock,^[98][99] and alternative rock.^[100] Their music also contains influences from synth-pop, dance-pop, trip hop, folk, drum and bass, dubstep, industrial, EDM, R&B, and hip hop.^{[101][102][103][104][105][106][107][108][109][110][111]}

Dan Reynolds cites Arcade Fire, Nirvana, Muse, The Beatles, Paul Simon, Coldplay, Linkin Park,^[112] Harry Nilsson, and U2 as some of his and the band’s artistic influences. In terms of success, Reynolds credits bands like Foster the People and Mumford & Sons for bringing alternative pop music to a new level of commercial success in recent years.^[113]

Public image[edit]

Despite their popularity and large social media followings, reception towards Imagine Dragons from other musicians and music critics has been mixed since their breakthrough to the mainstream. Review aggregator Metacritic reports that the band’s first four studio albums—Night Visions, Smoke + Mirrors, Evolve, and Origins—have scores of 53, 60, 47, and 59, respectively, out of 100, indicating generally mixed reviews.^[114] The band’s music has been criticized for its repetitive lyrics, «overblown» arena rock production, overemphasis on reverberation effects, sticking to formulas, and genre-hopping.^[115][116] Following the band’s halftime show performance at the 2019 College Football National Championship, American music publication Spin ran an article titled ‘Is Imagine Dragons The Worst Band Ever?’, which described the band’s songs as having lyrics that are «a composite of motivational platitudes and pseudo-dramatic yelps, barely merit repeating, if only because Reynolds seems so willing to do that himself» and featuring a «punishing, squelching rhythmic force.»^[117] The band has frequently been compared to Canadian rock band Nickelback by critics, referring to Nickelback’s own negative public perception.

Despite this criticism, the band has described themselves as «genre-less». In an interview with Billboard at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards, Reynolds stated, «We’ve always kind of prided ourselves on being kind of a genre-less band. […] I have no idea how I’d categorize us. Sometimes it’s definitely pop; sometimes the songs are all guitar-driven. It depends on the song.»^[118]

The band has also been the subject of ridicule by several musicians. In a 2019 interview, Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor echoed the Nickelback comparisons, claiming that Nickelback were «passing the baton of being rock and roll’s scapegoat» to Imagine Dragons.^[119] Matty Healy of The 1975 described «Radioactive» as ‘nothingness’, stating, «It might as well be called ‘Pikachy Banana.'» In a 2018 interview, Mark Foster joked that his band Foster the People give their rejected material to Imagine Dragons. In response, Reynolds took to Twitter, denouncing what he described as «click-bait horse shit filled with vile and hate meant to feed humanity’s need to laugh at each other’s imperfections and fails.»^[120] Foster issued an apology to Reynolds on Twitter, expressing regret over the joke and praising him for his humanitarian efforts. Taylor, on the other hand, criticized Reynolds and claimed that his words were taken out of context, tweeting, «As long as people are stupid, letting salacious headlines do their thinking for them, there will always be controversy. Do some research and find the truth…».^[121] Healy responded in a radio interview, stating, «You’re a millionaire in a huge band. You don’t say, ‘Oh, I’m gonna do this, and also can I be void of criticism?’ It’s like … no.»^[122]

On the other hand, the band has been praised for their genre-bending style, and for keeping arena rock popular during the 2010s, a decade which saw guitars and bands dwindling in mainstream music.^[123]

Philanthropy[edit]

In 2013, along with the family of Tyler Robinson, Imagine Dragons started a charity called the Tyler Robinson Foundation, helping young people battling cancer. Beginning in 2014, the first annual Tyler Robinson Foundation Gala was held in Las Vegas.^[124] Imagine Dragons performed for «Playing It Forward» (S1 E2) to raise $100,000 for school music programs.^[125] The band partnered with mtvU to help choose four Fulbright-mtvU Fellowship recipients.^[126] They partnered with Do the Write Thing: National Campaign to Stop Violence for a fundraising event.^[127]

Imagine Dragons performed as part of Amnesty International’s «Bringing Human Rights Home» concert in Brooklyn on February 5, 2014.^[128] In 2015, Imagine Dragons released the track «I Was Me» for the One4 project with all proceeds going to the UN Refugee Agency to support fleeing refugees, particularly in the Middle East.^[129] Imagine Dragons also released cover track «I Love You All The Time» to benefit the victims of the terrorist attacks in Paris.^[130] In 2017, the band helped organize the annual LoveLoud Festival which aims to raise awareness about LGBTQ youth and benefit LGBTQ organizations such as the Trevor Project.^[131]

On June 22, 2018, in collaboration with film score composer Hans Zimmer, lead singer Dan Reynolds released a single titled «Skipping Stones». The song was released to correspond with his new documentary, Believer, a film that discusses the topic of the intersection between the LGBT community and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. All proceeds from the song benefit LGBTQ charities.^[132]

Band members[edit]

Timeline[edit]

Discography[edit]

• Night Visions (2012)
• Smoke + Mirrors (2015)
• Evolve (2017)
• Origins (2018)
• Mercury – Act 1 (2021)
• Mercury – Act 2 (2022)

Awards and nominations[edit]

Tours[edit]

• Fall Tour 2012 (2012)
• Night Visions Tour (2013–2014)^{[133][134][135]}
• Smoke + Mirrors Tour (2015–2016)
• Evolve World Tour (2017–2019)^[136]
• Mercury World Tour (2022–2023)^[137]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Official website
• Tyler Robinson Foundation
• Official — Imagine Dragons (YouTube)

Imagine Dragons — американская инди-рок группа, образованная в Лас-Вегасе в 2008 году. Стали известны после выпуска дебютного студийного альбома Night Visions в сентябре 2012 года. Американский журнал Billboard назвал их самыми яркими новыми звёздами 2013 года, а журнал Rolling Stone назвал их сингл «Radioactive» самым большим рок-хитом 2012 года.

История[]

Формирование группы (2008-2012)[]

Imagine Dragons — инди-рок-группа, в состав которой входят четыре человека. Была основана в Лас-Вегасе в 2008 году. Название группы представляет собой анаграмму, значение которой знают лишь Дэн Рейнольдс, Уэйн Сермон, Дэн Плацман и Бен Макки — участники Imagine Dragons. История группы началась с того, что Дэн Рейнольдс привлёк для участия в собственной группе своего друга Уэйна Сермона, который отлично играл на гитаре. Группа быстро набирала популярность. А уже в Лас-Вегасе к Дэну и Уэйну присоединились басист Бен Макки и барабанщик Дэниэл Платцман, друзья Сермона.

В начале 2009-го ребята начали работать в студии. И уже 1 февраля выпускают свой первый мини — альбом Imagine Dragons. А 1 апреля следующего года свет увидел их мини — альбом Hell and Silence (в записи участвовал номинант «Грэмми» Марк Нидхэм). Оба альбома были записаны в звукозаписывающей студии Battle Born Studios. Вскоре им было предложено выступить на ежегодном фестивале Bite of Las Vegas, как «Самая востребованная группа 2010» на местном 107.9FM. Они были выбраны хедлайнерами на фестивале Vegas Music Summit, а Лас Вегас CityLife назвал их «Группой, которую необходимо увидеть вживую», они стали «Лучшей инди группой 2010 года» по мнению Las Vegas Weekly, и были удостоены премии «Лучшая пластинка 2011 года» от журнала Vegas Seven. В ноябре 2011 года Imagine Dragons подписали контракт с американским звукозаписывающим лейблом Interscope Records. Они тесно сотрудничали с продюсером Алексом Да Кидом, с которым они и записали свой первый диск в Уэст-Голливуде. Их мини-альбом был назван Continued Silence и выпущен 14 февраля 2012 года. К выпуску своего дебютного альбома Imagine Dragons готовились очень тщательно.

«Выпуская серию EP, мы прощупывали почву. Нам хотелось, чтобы наш дебютный альбом был удачным», — признался в одном интервью Уэйн.

Night Visions (2012-2014)[]

4 сентября 2012 года вышел первый полноценный альбом группы — Night Visions. Он достиг 2 позиции в чарте Billboard 200. Сингл «It’s Time» занял 22-ю строчку в Billboard Hot 100, 4-ю в Billboard Alternative и в Billboard Rock, а позднее стал платиновым.

В преддверии выхода альбома группа выпустила ряд синглов для других проектов, включая саундтреки «Who We Are» к фильму «Голодные игры: И вспыхнет пламя» и «Battle Cry» к фильму «Трансформеры: Эпоха истребления», а также песню «Warriors», приуроченную к Чемпионату мира по игре League of Legends. В фильме «Трансформеры: Эпоха истребления» прозвучала также демозапись «All for You».

Smoke + Mirrors (2015-2016)[]

В сентябре 2014 года группа выпустила сингл «I Bet My Life», а в ноябре сняла на него клип. В декабре вышел второй сингл — «Gold». Вскоре состоялся анонс альбома, который был выпущен 17 февраля 2015 года. Он был назван «Smoke + Mirrors». В поддержку альбома состоялся мировой тур Smoke and Mirrors World Tour, в котором группа посетила Россию. 24 января 2016 года Imagine Dragons выступили в СК Олимпийский в Москве, а 26 января в Ледовом дворце Санкт Петербурга. Помимо этого, группа записала фильм Smoke + Mirrors Live, который был показан 2 марта 2016 года в кинотеатрах по всему миру.

В ноябре 2016 года группа подтвердила слухи о написании третьего студийного альбома, также выпустив сингл «Levitate», который вошёл в список саундтреков фильма «Пассажиры».

Evolve (2017)[]

8 мая 2017 года группа анонсировала выход нового альбома. Релиз альбома Evolve состоялся 23 июня 2017 года. Песня «Believer» Imagine Dragons одержала победу в номинации «Лучшая рок/альтернатива песня» на церемонии «Teen Choice Awards», которая прошла 14 августа 2017 года ночью по московскому времени.

Origins (2018)[]

4 октября 2018 года на официальном канале Imagine Dragons на видеохостинге YouTube вышел трейлер нового альбома «Origins». Его релиз состоялся 9 ноября того же года.

Состав[]

Текущие участники[]

• Дэн Рейнольдс — вокал, кахон, бас-барабан, малый барабан, акустическая гитара (2008 — настоящее время)
• Бен Макки — бас-гитара, бэк-вокал, клавишные, акустическая бас-гитара, электрическая мандолина, бас-барабан (2009 — настоящее время)
• Уэйн Сермон — гитара, электрическая мандолина, альт, бэк-вокал, том-том, акустическая гитара, бас-барабан (2009— настоящее время)
• Дэн Платцман — ударные, виолончель, альт, бэк-вокал, кахон, акустическая гитара, малый барабан, скрипка (2011 — настоящее время)

Бывшие участники[]

• Эндрю Толмэн — ударная установка, вокал (2008—2011)
• Бриттани Толмэн — пианино, вокал (2009—2011)
• Тереза Фламинио — клавишные (2011—2012)
• Аврора Флоренс — клавишные, вокал, скрипка (2008)
• Дэйв Лэмк — бас-гитара, вокал (2008—2009)
• Эндрю Бэк — электро-гитара, вокал (2008)

Участники турне[]

• Райан Уокер — клавиши, электрогитара, малый барабан, бэк-вокал, акустическая гитара, электрическая мандолина, синтезатор, бас-барабан, цимбалы (2011—2015)
• Уильям Уэллс (2015—2017)
• Эллиот Шварцман (2017—н. в.)

Дискография[]

Основная статья: Дискография

Благотворительность[]

Imagine Dragons активно занимаются благотворительностью. В 2013 году ребята организовали фонд помощи детям с онкозаболеваниями, который получил название Tyler Robinson Foundation, в честь погибшего от рака фаната — Тайлера Робинсона. Ежегодно группа проводит благотворительные гала-концерты с целью сбора денег в фонд, вело-заезды и ужины.

Концертные туры[]

• Imagine Dragons on Tour (2011—2012)
• Fall Tour 2012 (2012)
• Europe Tour 2012 (2012)
• Night Visions Tour (2013)
• Into the Night Tour (2014)
• Smoke + Mirrors Tour (2015—2016)
• Evolve Tour (2017—2018)
• Mercury Tour (2021-2022)

Imagine Dragons (произн. имэ́джин дрэ́гонс, дословно с англ. — «Вообрази Драконов») — американская поп-рок-группа, образованная в 2008 году в городе Лас-Вегас, США. Стали известны после выпуска дебютного студийного альбома Night Visions в сентябре 2012 года. Американский журнал Billboard назвал их самыми яркими новыми звёздами 2013 года^[1] и самой большой группой 2017 года^[2], а журнал Rolling Stone назвал их сингл «Radioactive» самым большим рок-хитом года^[3].

История группы

Формирование группы

Imagine Dragons — поп-рок-группа, в состав которой входят четыре человека. Была основана в Лас-Вегасе в 2008 году. Название группы представляет собой анаграмму, значение которой знают лишь участники самой группы. История группы началась с того, что Дэниэл Рейнольдс привлёк для участия в собственной группе своего друга и товарища по колледжу барабанщика Эндрю Толмана, который, в свою очередь пригласил в группу свою жену Бриттани Толман (клавишные и бэк-вокал) и Дэниела (Уэйна) Сермона, который отлично играл на гитаре. Группа быстро набирала популярность. А уже в Лас-Вегасе к Дэну и Уэйну присоединился басист Бенджамин (Бен) МакКи, приглашённый Уэйном. В 2010 году Эндрю и Бриттани сообщили об уходе из группы для создания семьи. Тогда Бен МакКи пригласил в группу барабанщика Дэниэла (Платца) Платцмана. Позже к ним присоединилась Аврора Флоренс, заменяющая Бриттани, а после её ухода — Тереза Фламинио. После ухода Терезы состав группы больше не менялся.

В начале 2009 года музыканты начали работать в студии. И уже 1 сентября выпустили свой первый альбом Imagine Dragons. А 1 июня следующего года свет увидел их мини-альбом Hell and Silence (в записи участвовал номинант «Грэмми» Марк Нидхэм). Оба альбома были записаны в звукозаписывающей студии Battle Born Studios. Вскоре им было предложено выступить на ежегодном фестивале Bite of Las Vegas, как «Самая востребованная группа 2010» на местном 107.9FM. Они были выбраны хедлайнерами на фестивале Vegas Music Summit, а газета Las Vegas CityLife  (англ.) (рус. назвала их «группой, которую необходимо увидеть вживую». По мнению газеты Las Vegas Weekly  (англ.) (рус., они стали «Лучшей инди-группой 2010 года», а также были удостоены премии «Лучшая пластинка 2011 года» от журнала Vegas Seven. В ноябре 2011 года Imagine Dragons подписали контракт с американским звукозаписывающим лейблом Interscope Records. Они тесно сотрудничали с продюсером Алексом Да Кидом, с которым они и записали свой первый диск в Уэст-Голливуде. Их EP был назван Continued Silence и выпущен 14 февраля 2012 года.

Night Visions (2012—2014)

4 сентября 2012 года вышел первый полноценный альбом группы — Night Visions. Пластинка долгое время была в середине списка Billboard-200, лишь к началу 2013 года работа обрела популярность. В частности, хит «Radioactive» был в аутсайдерах списка на момент своего выхода (март 2012 года), однако к апрелю 2013 он достиг 7 места в Billboard Hot 100, 1 места в Billboard Alternative Songs и Billboard Rock Songs. Был поставлен абсолютный рекорд за всю более чем полувековую историю по наибольшему времени нахождения в общенациональном хит-параде США: 87 недель в Billboard Hot 100 (май 2014). Сингл вошёл в топ-3 самых продаваемых песен по итогам 2013 года. В итоге композиция получила более 30 платиновых сертификаций и 2 бриллиантовые, в том числе в США.

В преддверии выхода второго альбома группа выпустила ряд синглов для других проектов, включая саундтреки «Who We Are» к фильму «Голодные игры: И вспыхнет пламя» и «Battle Cry» к фильму «Трансформеры: Эпоха истребления», а также песню «Warriors», приуроченную к Чемпионату мира по игре League of Legends^[4].
В фильме «Трансформеры: Эпоха истребления» прозвучала также демозапись «All for You».

Smoke + Mirrors (2015—2016)

В сентябре 2014 года группа выпустила сингл «I Bet My Life», а в ноябре сняла на него видеоклип. В декабре вышел второй сингл — «Gold». Вскоре состоялся анонс альбома, который был выпущен 17 февраля 2015 года. Он был назван Smoke + Mirrors. В поддержку альбома состоялся мировой тур Smoke and Mirrors World Tour, в котором группа посетила Россию. 24 января 2016 года Imagine Dragons выступили в СК Олимпийский в Москве, а 26 января — в Ледовом дворце Санкт-Петербурга. Помимо этого, группа записала фильм Smoke + Mirrors Live, который был показан 2 марта 2016 года в кинотеатрах по всему миру.

В ноябре 2016 года группа подтвердила слухи о написании третьего студийного альбома, также выпустив сингл «Levitate», который вошёл в список саундтреков фильма «Пассажиры».

Evolve (2017—2018)

8 мая 2017 года группа анонсировала выход нового альбома^[5]. Релиз альбома Evolve (название стилизовано как ƎVOLVE) состоялся 23 июня 2017 года.

Хиты «Believer» и «Thunder» сравнительно быстро достигли миллиарда просмотров на сервисе YouTube. Песня «Believer» Imagine Dragons одержала победу в номинации «Лучшая рок/альтернативная песня» на церемонии «Teen Choice Awards», которая прошла 14 августа 2017 года.

На премии Grammy в 2018 году был номинирован как «Лучший вокальный поп-альбом».

Origins (2018)

12 июня 2018 года Imagine Dragons на своей странице в Twitter анонсировали выход новых синглов «Born to Be Yours», записанный в партнёрстве с Kygo и «Natural». Официально их выход состоялся 15 и 17 июля соответственно. 19 сентября был выпущен новый сингл «Zero», использовавшийся в финальных титрах фильма «Ральф против интернета» компании Walt Disney Animation Studios.

3 октября 2018 года группа анонсировала выход своего четвёртого студийного альбома Origins, релиз которого состоялся 9 ноября. «Zero» и «Natural» стали ведущими синглами альбома, в то время как «Born to Be Yours» была представлена в международном подарочном издании альбома. Сама группа охарактеризовала этот альбом как сестринский к их предыдущему альбому Evolve. 31 октября был выпущен третий сингл альбома «Machine». Наконец, 6 ноября, группа выпустила четвёртый сингл альбома «Bad Liar».

7 января 2019 года Imagine Dragons выступили в перерыве матча College Football Championship. Группа исполнила такие хиты, как «Natural», «Thunder», «Bad Liar» и специальную версию песни «Believer», исполненную совместно с Lil Wayne.

В июне 2019 года Beat Games выпустила платный загружаемый контент (DLC) — музыкальный пакет для ритм-игры виртуальной реальности Beat Saber под названием «Imagine Dragons Music Pack», в который вошло десять песен Imagine Dragons.

20 июня 2019 года был выпущен пятый сингл альбома «Birds» в соавторстве с итальянской певицей Elisa. 23 июля вышло анимационное видео к песне.

18 декабря 2019 года было объявлено о временном прекращении группой музыкальной деятельности. Было решено Дэном Рейнольдсом и коллегами по коллективу сделать перерыв ради семьи^[6][7]. Срок возвращения на сцену не определён. Но по утверждению фронтмена, отпуск продлится на полгода как минимум^[8].

Mercury — Act 1 & 2 (2021 — наст. время)

3 августа 2020 года, Дэн Рейнольдс анонсировал выход пятого альбома группы.

8 марта 2021 года группа объявила в социальных сетях о выпуске двух новых синглов, «Follow You» и «Cutthroat», которые были выпущены 12 марта 2021 года^[9]. Они послужат главными синглами грядущего пятого студийного альбома группы^[10].

29 июня 2021 года группа объявила о выпуске нового сингла под названием «Wrecked», а днем позже — о старте предзаказа альбома Mercury — Act 1, выпуск которого состоится 3 сентября 2021 года^[11]. Песня вышла 2 июля 2021 года^[11][12]. Музыканты посвятили жене брата Дэна Рейнольдса, умершей от рака в 2019 году^[13].

Mercury — Act 1 был выпущен 3 сентября 2021 года, вместе с синглом «Monday». Альбом был встречен критиками неоднозначно. Он дебютировал на девятом месте в США. Релиз альбома совпал с анонсом тура в его поддержку.^{[источник не указан 143 дня]}

28 октября 2021 года был выпущен клип «Enemy» вместе с J.I.D. приуроченный к сериалу «Arcane». Саму песню в сериале можно услышать в заставке и в некоторых моментах.

Вскоре после выпуска «Mercury — Act 1» группа начала дразнить фанатов следующим альбомом, который также будет продюсироваться Рубином. В январе 2022 года Рейнольдс заявил, что альбом «почти готов» и будет выпущен после первого этапа Mercury Tour. Тур начался 6 февраля в Майами и завершился 15 сентября в Лос-Анджелес. 11 марта 2022 года группа выпустила сингл «Bones», который стал заглавным синглом к их шестому студийному альбому «Mercury — Act 2».^[14] 6 апреля группа объявила, что «Mercury — Act 2» выйдет 1 июля 2022 года. Альбом из 18 треков был выпущен как часть сборника, содержащего оба альбома «Mercury».^[15]

Группа выпустила расширенное издание «Night Visions», посвященное десятилетию альбома 9 сентября 2022 года, в него вошли два ранее не издававшихся демо, «Love of Mine» и «Bubble». «Love of Mine» вышел 2 сентября.

Состав

Текущие участники

• Дэн Рейнольдс — вокал, кахон, бас-барабан, малый барабан, акустическая гитара (2008 — настоящее время)
• Бен Макки — бас-гитара, бэк-вокал, клавишные, акустическая бас-гитара, электрическая мандолина, бас-барабан (2009 — настоящее время)
• Уэйн Сермон — гитара, электрическая мандолина, альт, бэк-вокал, том-том, акустическая гитара, бас-барабан (2009— настоящее время)
• Ден Плацман — ударные, виолончель, альт, бэк-вокал, кахон, акустическая гитара, малый барабан, скрипка (2011 — настоящее время)

Бывшие участники

• Аврора Флоренс — клавишные, вокал, скрипка (2008)
• Эндрю Бэк — электрогитара, вокал (2008)
• Дэйв Лэмк — бас-гитара, вокал (2008—2009)
• Эндрю Толман  (англ.) (рус. — ударная установка, вокал (2008—2011)
• Бриттани Толман — пианино, вокал (2009—2011)
• Тереза Фламинио  (англ.) (рус. — клавишные (2011—2012)

Участники турне

• Райан Уокер — клавиши, электрогитара, малый барабан, бэк-вокал, акустическая гитара, электрическая мандолина, синтезатор, бас-барабан, цимбалы (2011—2015)
• Уильям Уэллс (2015—2017)
• Эллиот Шварцман (2017—н. в.)

Дискография

• Night Visions (2012)
• Smoke + Mirrors (2015)
• Evolve (2017)
• Origins (2018)
• Mercury — Act 1 (2021)
• Mercury — Act 2 (2022)

Благотворительность

Imagine Dragons активно занимаются благотворительностью. В 2013 году участники группы организовали фонд помощи детям с онкозаболеваниями, который получил название Tyler Robinson Foundation, в честь погибшего от рака фаната — Тайлера Робинсона^[16]. Ежегодно группа проводит благотворительные гала-концерты с целью сбора денег в фонд, вело-заезды и ужины. В 2022 году группа приняла участие в благотворительности на платформе United24 в помощь Украине.

Музыкальный стиль и влияния

Музыкальный стиль группы преимущественно описывается как поп-рок^[17][18][19], электропоп^{[20][21][22][23]}, поп^[24][21], инди-поп^[25][26], инди-рок^[27][28], арена-рок^[29][30] и альтернативный рок^[31][32][33]. В музыке также присутствуют влияния синти-попа, данс-попа, трип-хопа, фолка, драм-н-бейса, дабстепа, индастриала, EDM, ритм-н-блюза и хип-хопа^{[34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44]}.

Дэн Рейнольдс указывает в качестве источников вдохновения группы Arcade Fire, Nirvana, Muse, The Beatles, Пола Саймона, Coldplay, Linkin Park,^[45] Гарри Нилсона и U2. Относительно успеха, Рейнольдс отмечает такие группы, как Foster the People и Mumford & Sons, как тех, которые вывели альтернативную поп-музыку на новый уровень коммерческого успеха в последние годы^[46].

Концертные туры

• Imagine Dragons on Tour (2011—2012)
• Fall Tour 2012 (2012)
• Europe Tour 2012 (2012)
• Night Visions Tour (2013)
• Into the Night Tour (2014)
• Smoke + Mirrors Tour (2015—2016)
• Evolve Tour (2017—2018)
• Mercury World Tour (2022)

Награды и номинации

В общей сложности группа имеет 73 номинации, среди которых 23 — победные. В список наград группы входят такие престижные премии как Grammy Awards, American Music Awards, Billboard Music Awards и другие.

Год	Номинированная работа	Организация	Награда	Результат
2012	«It’s Time»	MTV Video Music Awards	Лучшее рок-видео	Номинация
2013	«Radioactive»	Teen Choice Awards	Лучшая рок-песня	Победа
2013	«Imagine Dragons»	Teen Choice Awards	Лучшая рок-группа	Номинация
2013	«Imagine Dragons»	World Music Awards	Лучшая в мире рок-группа	Победа
2014	«Imagine Dragons»	Grammy	Лучшее исполнение рок-композиции	Победа
2014	«Demons»	iHeartRadio Music Awards	Лучшая альтернативная песня	Победа
2014	«Imagine Dragons»	Teen Choice Awards	Лучшая рок-группа	Победа
2017	«Believer»	Teen Choice Awards	Лучшая рок-альтернатива песня	Победа
2017	«Imagine Dragons»	NRJ Music Awards	Группа года	Победа
2017	«Imagine Dragons»	iHeartRadio MMVAs/MuchMusic Video Awards	Международная группа года	Победа
2018	«Imagine Dragons»	Teen Choice Awards	Лучшая рок-группа	Победа
2018	«Imagine Dragons»	iHeartRadio Music Awards	Альтернативный рок-артист года	Победа
2018	«Whatever it Takes»	MTV Video Music Awards	Лучшая рок-песня	Победа
2018	«Whatever it Takes»	Teen Choice Awards	Лучшая альтернативная песня	Победа
2018	«Imagine Dragons»	NRJ Music Awards	Группа года	Победа
2018	«Evolve»	iHeartRadio Music Awards	Лучший рок-альбом	Победа
2018	«Evolve»	Grammy	Лучший вокальный поп-альбом	Номинация
2018	«Evolve»	Billboard Music Awards	Лучший рок-альбом	Победа

Примечания

Ссылки

• Tyler Robinson Foundation
• imaginedragonsmusic.com — официальный сайт Imagine Dragons

Эта страница в последний раз была отредактирована 23 февраля 2023 в 06:17.

Как только страница обновилась в Википедии она обновляется в Вики 2.
Обычно почти сразу, изредка в течении часа.

Imagine Dragons is a pop-rock band from Las Vegas, Nevada. They gained exposure after the release of their debut studio album, Night Visions, in September 2012. Since then, they have gone on a world tour, and gained exposure on major late night shows like The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Billboard magazine named them «The Breakthrough Band of 2013», and Rolling Stone magazine called their single Radioactive «the biggest rock hit of the year.»^[1]

History

Early Years (2008-2010)

In 2008, lead singer Dan Reynolds met drummer Andrew Tolman at Brigham Young University, where they were both students. They recruited Aurora Florence, Dave Lemke, and Andrew Beck for their band (Dan Reynolds acted as lead vocalist, Andrew Tolman was the drummer, Aurora Florence acted as the violinist and vocalist, Dave Lemke was the guitarist, and Andrew Beck acted the keyboardist and volcalist). The original band recorded an unofficial album, Speak To Me, and 7 demos (which were given to a fan by Aurora and later recovered in July 2017). Aurora Florence and Andrew Beck left after less than a year. In 2009, Tolman recruited longtime high school friend Daniel Wayne Sermon, who had recently returned to his hometown of American Fork, Utah from the Berklee College of Music. Tolman later recruited his wife, Brittany Tolman, to sing backup and play keys. Sermon then recruited another Berklee music student, Ben McKee, to join the band after recording their first EP from this lineup, Imagine Dragons (EP). With Reynolds singing lead, Imagine Dragons won BYU’s «Battle of the Bands» and other local competitions. The band released another EP titled Hell and Silence in 2010, recorded at Battle Born Studios, in Las Vegas, NV.

They got their first big break when Train’s frontman fell sick just prior to the Bite of Las Vegas Festival 2010. Imagine Dragons were called to fill in and performed to a crowd of more than 26,000 people. Local accolades including «Best Local Indie Band 2010» (Las Vegas Weekly), «Las Vegas’ Newest Must See Live Act» (Las Vegas CityLife),Vegas Music Summit Headliner 2010, and more sent the band on a positive trajectory.^[2]

Night Visions (2012-2014)

Theresa Flaminio departed from Imagine Dragons in early 2012, leaving them as a four-piece. The band worked closely with Alex da Kid, with whom they recorded their first major label release at Westlake Recording Studios in West Hollywood, California. An EP entitled Continued Silence was released on Valentine’s Day (February 14, 2012) digitally and peaked at number 40 on the Billboard 200. The band also released an EP titled Hear Me in 2012.

Shortly after, «It’s Time» was released as a single and peaked at number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100.The music video debuted on April 17, 2012 on all MTV affiliates and was subsequently nominated for an MTV Video Music Award in the «Best Rock Video» category. «It’s Time» was certified a double platinum single by the RIAA.

The band finished recording their debut album Night Visions in the summer of 2012 at Studio X inside Palms Casino Resort and released the album in the United States on the day after Labor Day (September 4, 2012). It peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart with first week sales in excess of 83,000 copies, the highest charting for a debut rock album since 2006. The album also reached No. 1 on the Billboard Alternative and Rock Album charts as well as the top ten on the Australian, Austrian, Canadian, Dutch, German, Irish, Norwegian, Portuguese, Scottish, Spanish, and United Kingdom Albums charts. It won a Billboard Music Award for Top Rock Album and was nominated for the Juno Award for International Album of the Year. Night Visions is certified platinum by the RIAA as well as in Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK. The album produced three tracks that reached the Billboard Top 40, four tracks in the ARIA Top 40, and five tracks charting in the UK Top 40.

The band embarked on the Night Visions Tour in 2013.
The album’s second single «Radioactive» reached No. 1 on the Billboard Alternative Songs, Billboard Rock Songs, and Swedish singles chart and has sold more than seven million singles in the United States, smashing a record by spending 87 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100. «Radioactive» stayed at No. 1 on the Hot Rock Songs chart for a record-breaking 23 weeks and ultimately became the genre’s biggest hit of 2013.[38] It peaked at No. 3, becoming their first top ten single in the United States and broke the record for the longest run into the top five. It is the best-selling rock song on the Nielsen SoundScan running list of best-selling rock songs in digital history.[39] By the end of 2013, «Radioactive» had already sold over 3 million copies.[40] Rolling Stone called it «the biggest rock hit of the year». It was also the most streamed song of 2013 on Spotify in the United States.[41] It was nominated for the Grammy Award for Record of the Year and the Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, winning the latter of the two. In 2015, it was certified diamond by the RIAA for sales in excess of 10 million copies in the United States.[42] Third single «Demons» reached No. 1 on the Billboard Pop Songs and No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and has sold more than 5 million copies in the United States to date.[35][43]

Billboard listed them as one of «2012’s Brightest New Stars» and later «The Breakout Band of 2013».[44] Imagine Dragons won the 2014 Billboard Music Awards for Top Duo/Group, Top Hot 100 Artist, and Top Rock Artist. Amazon.com called the band their «Favorite Rock artist of 2012».[45]

In 2013, Imagine Dragons returned to Europe and North America with the Night Visions Tour.[46] The band announced 13 additional US summer tour dates which also sold out.[47] The band then announced a North America Amphitheatre tour.[48] The band also confirmed that they were unable to fulfill the request of acting as support for Muse.[49] Pollstar listed the band in their Top 20 Concert Tours list by average box office gross despite their average ticket price being the third lowest on the list.[50]

The band released a live album, Live at Independent Records, in April 2013.[51]^[3]

Smoke + Mirrors (2014-2016)

The idea behind the second studio album, dubbed as their «New Year’s resolution»,[52] was to create music and finish it when the band feels that their work is done.[53] Since the beginning of the Night Visions Tour, the band had been writing new material for an upcoming album, and, even as early as the start of the tour, had been recording demos for the album, before entering the studio.[54] By the time that they entered the studio to work on the album, they had amassed 50 demos to work from.[55]

Imagine Dragons released a number of singles for other projects including a song for the film Transformers: Age of Extinction, called «Battle Cry» (June 2014) and song «Warriors» for the 2014 League of Legends World Championship (September 2014).[56] They also are one of the most liked pop rock bands in the U.S.A

On October 24, they revealed the lead single to the upcoming album, «I Bet My Life» via several visual snippets on Facebook and Instagram. It was released on October 27.[57] It was sent to US Alternative radio for adds on November 3.[58]

Working with Metric, which did a three-song acoustic set, Imagine Dragons played at the Mayan Theater in Los Angeles on February 5, 2015. The half-hour set included the breakthrough songs «It’s Time» and «Radioactive» from Night Visions. The performance was the live debut for «Summer» and «I’m So Sorry», along with «Gold» and «I Bet My Life» from the album Smoke + Mirrors, which was released on February 17, 2015. The band’s 2015 North American summer tour began in Portland, Oregon on June 3.

During the band’s tour, Imagine Dragons released two non-album singles. «Roots» was released on August 26, 2015 and «I Was Me» on October 12, 2015 via iTunes. The band also released a cover of «I Love You All the Time» by Eagles of Death Metal on December 18, 2015, in support of the victims of the November 2015 Paris attacks. The Smoke + Mirrors Tour ended on February 5, 2016 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

The band released a one night only concert film, Imagine Dragons In Concert: Smoke + Mirrors, in select theaters on March 2, 2016. The film was released on DVD and Blu-Ray under the title Imagine Dragons: Smoke + Mirrors Live.^[4]

Evolve (2016-2018)

On September 27, 2016, Imagine Dragons began teasing their third studio album with a tweet simply saying «studio». The band continued posting cryptic messages on their Twitter account for the next four months. On January 28, 2017, the band started posting a series of videos teasing the album’s first single.[59] 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 same color».

On February 1, 2017, Imagine Dragons released «Believer» as the lead single for their next album. «Believer» was used as part of the Super Bowl ad for the Nintendo Switch.[60] Imagine Dragons were part of the Wayhome summer 2017 lineup in Oro-Medonte, Ontario.[61] On April 27, 2017, Imagine Dragons released «Thunder» as the second single from their third album.[62] On May 8, 2017, Imagine Dragons announced their third studio album Evolve, as well as a new track «Whatever It Takes», which was released on the same day.[63] A tour in support for the album was also announced within the same day. The tour was held across 33 countries from September 2017 through September 2018.

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 band performed in NOS Alive, Portugal on July 8.[64] «Whatever It Takes» was released as an official single off the album a few months later on October 6, 2017.[65] 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. The song was released as part of a re-issue of Evolve on February 21, 2018.[66] ^[5]

Origins (2018-2020)

On June 12, 2018, Imagine Dragons announced a new single in collaboration with Kygo titled «Born to Be Yours» on Twitter. The song was released on June 15, 2018.[67]

On July 12, 2018, Imagine Dragons announced a new single titled «Natural» on Twitter. The song was released on July 17, 2018.[68] The song was used as the anthem for the 2018 ESPN College Football season.[69] On September 18, 2018, Imagine Dragons announced a new single titled «Zero», which was released on September 19, 2018. It was used in the end credits of the Walt Disney Animation Studios film Ralph Breaks the Internet.[70]

On October 3, 2018, Imagine Dragons announced their fourth studio album, Origins, which was released on November 9, 2018. «Natural» and «Zero» serve as the lead singles off the album, while «Born to Be Yours» is featured on the international deluxe edition of the album. The band has described this album as a sister album to their previous work Evolve.[71] On October 31, 2018, Imagine Dragons released their third single off the album, «Machine».[72] Lastly, on November 6, 2018, Imagine Dragons released their fourth single of the album, «Bad Liar».[73]

On January 7, 2019, Imagine Dragons performed the halftime show for the 2019 College Football Championship game. The band performed «Natural», «Bad Liar», «Thunder», and a special version of «Believer» with rapper Lil Wayne. The new version of the song was released on streaming platforms the following day.[74]^[6]

Mercury — Act 1 & 2 (2020-present)

A year and a half after the release of Origins, Ben announced they were working on a new album and it was going to be the best one. When they ended the record, Dan said he «loved this record the most».

The first snippets of the album appeared on 4 secret videos which got posted in Imagine Dragons’s YouTube channel after they were found. These videos would give a lot of hints during the album’s cycle, for example, there were many Mercury references and that hinted the album’s title.

On March 8, 2021, Imagine Dragons announced a dual single featuring Follow You and Cutthroat, very different from each other. Not long after that, they said «the new album would have two sides, one looking to the world and the people around Dan (Follow You side) and the other one looking at Dan’s emotions and inner world (Cutthroat side), with one song at the end that tied both sides. He also said the title of the album was going to reflect the themes of duality of the album. At that moment, they hadn’t decided to split the album in two yet.

Very shortly after, 19 songs were registered on BMI and ASCAP. 8 of these songs were left out, and out of the 11 remaining ones, two songs were renamed (Number One got renamed to #1 and Beautiful Day got renamed to No Time For Toxic People).

On June 29, 2021, a new single, Wrecked (which got registered on BMI before), was announced, expected to release on July 2. Its artwork hinted it was gonna be from the Cutthroat side of the album. That same day, a tweet from the band was posted. It was a black image with white text reading «IF ANYONE GUESSES THE ALBUM TITLE TONIGHT, WE WILL ANNOUNCE IT TOMORROW». The most popular guess was Today And Tomorrow, but someone went on saying Mercury. And that was the album’s title, but it wasn’t just Mercury. The full title was Mercury — Act 1. It was going to have 13 songs (with Wrecked as track 3, Follow You as track 10 and Cutthroat as track 11) and was expected to release on September 3. A few weeks after, Dan almost confirmed there was gonna be an Act 2 with the song that was going to tie both sides.

Dan said Mercury — Act 1 had that title because the word «mercurial» means «characterized by rapid and unpredictable changeableness of mood». They changed the title to Mercury to make it easier to remember and to make it sound more like a world.

On mid July 2021, a new song, No Time For Toxic People, appeared at a Jeep commercial.

The tracklist and song lengths were revealed on August 20, 2021, two weeks before Mercury — Act 1’s release. Fans had guessed most of the tracklist before by looking the producer list on Apple Music and a low-resolution Target tracklist picture, but still they didn’t know that two songs had been renamed. The renames were discovered when the tracklist was announced.

The next day, they released a self-titled single under the name Ragged Insomnia, which was gonna help finding a password for the #MercuryAscending hashtag. Alexa was a very useful hint to help fans get that password, it turned out to be «everybody is a genius». That week was very intense; some snippets were revealed too, along with the lyrics of Dull Knives, one of the songs that were gonna appear on Mercury — Act 1. It also was confirmed that Mercury — Act 1 wasn’t gonna have any deluxe versions.

Not long after the album release, the Mercury tour was announced, it was starting on early February 2022.

On April 6, the band announced that Mercury – Act 2 would be released on July 1, 2022. The 18-track album will be released as part of a double album containing both Mercury albums.^[7]

Charitable contributions

The group along with the family started The Tyler Robinson Foundation named after Tyler Robinson who died of cancer and was a fan of Imagine Dragons. The foundation helps people battling with cancer.^[8]

Influences

Dan Reynolds cites Arcade Fire, Muse, The Beatles, Paul Simon, and Harry Nilsson as some of his and the band’s artistic influences. In terms of success, Reynolds credits the groundbreaking work of bands like Mumford & Sons for bringing indie rock to a new levels of commercial success in recent years.^[9]

Band Members

Current Members

• Dan Reynolds — Vocals, Percussion, Guitar (2008–present)
• Ben McKee — Bass, Backing Vocals, Keyboards (2009–present)
• Wayne «Wing» Sermon — Guitar, Cello, Backing Vocals (2009–present)
• Daniel Platzman — Drums, Viola, Backing Vocals (2011–present)

Former Members

• Andrew Tolman — Drums, Backing Vocals (2008–2011)
• Aurora Florence — Piano, Vocals, Violin (2008)
• Andrew Beck — Guitar, Vocals (2008)
• Dave Lemke — Bass (2008-2009)
• Brittany Tolman — Piano, Backing Vocals (2009–2011)
• Theresa Flaminio — Piano, Backing Vocals (2011–2012)

Touring Members

• Ryan Walker — Piano, Keyboards, Rhythm Guitar, Mandolin, Backing Vocals, Tambourine (2012–2015)
• Will Wells — Piano, Keyboards, Rhythm Guitar, Mandolin, Backing Vocals (2015–2017)
• Elliot Schwartzman — Piano, Keyboards, Rhythm Guitar, Mandolin, Backing Vocals (2017–Present)

Discography

Studio Albums

• Night Visions (2012)
• Smoke + Mirrors (2015)
• Evolve (2017)
• Origins (2018)
• Mercury — Act 1 (2021)
• Mercury — Act 2 (2022)

Extended Plays

• Speak To Me (2008)
• Imagine Dragons (2009)
• Hell and Silence (2010)
• It’s Time (2011)
• Continued Silence (2012)
• Hear Me (2012)
• The Archive (2013)
• iTunes Session (2013)
• Shots (Remixes) (2015)
• Live At AllSaints Studios (2017)
• Mercury — Act 1 (Amazon Music Live) (2021)

References

Imagine Dragons is a pop-rock band from Las Vegas, Nevada. They gained exposure after the release of their debut studio album, Night Visions, in September 2012. Since then, they have gone on a world tour, and gained exposure on major late night shows like The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Billboard magazine named them «The Breakthrough Band of 2013», and Rolling Stone magazine called their single Radioactive «the biggest rock hit of the year.»^[1]

History

Early Years (2008-2010)

In 2008, lead singer Dan Reynolds met drummer Andrew Tolman at Brigham Young University, where they were both students. They recruited Aurora Florence, Dave Lemke, and Andrew Beck for their band (Dan Reynolds acted as lead vocalist, Andrew Tolman was the drummer, Aurora Florence acted as the violinist and vocalist, Dave Lemke was the guitarist, and Andrew Beck acted the keyboardist and volcalist). The original band recorded an unofficial album, Speak To Me, and 7 demos (which were given to a fan by Aurora and later recovered in July 2017). Aurora Florence and Andrew Beck left after less than a year. In 2009, Tolman recruited longtime high school friend Daniel Wayne Sermon, who had recently returned to his hometown of American Fork, Utah from the Berklee College of Music. Tolman later recruited his wife, Brittany Tolman, to sing backup and play keys. Sermon then recruited another Berklee music student, Ben McKee, to join the band after recording their first EP from this lineup, Imagine Dragons (EP). With Reynolds singing lead, Imagine Dragons won BYU’s «Battle of the Bands» and other local competitions. The band released another EP titled Hell and Silence in 2010, recorded at Battle Born Studios, in Las Vegas, NV.

They got their first big break when Train’s frontman fell sick just prior to the Bite of Las Vegas Festival 2010. Imagine Dragons were called to fill in and performed to a crowd of more than 26,000 people. Local accolades including «Best Local Indie Band 2010» (Las Vegas Weekly), «Las Vegas’ Newest Must See Live Act» (Las Vegas CityLife),Vegas Music Summit Headliner 2010, and more sent the band on a positive trajectory.^[2]

Night Visions (2012-2014)

Theresa Flaminio departed from Imagine Dragons in early 2012, leaving them as a four-piece. The band worked closely with Alex da Kid, with whom they recorded their first major label release at Westlake Recording Studios in West Hollywood, California. An EP entitled Continued Silence was released on Valentine’s Day (February 14, 2012) digitally and peaked at number 40 on the Billboard 200. The band also released an EP titled Hear Me in 2012.

Shortly after, «It’s Time» was released as a single and peaked at number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100.The music video debuted on April 17, 2012 on all MTV affiliates and was subsequently nominated for an MTV Video Music Award in the «Best Rock Video» category. «It’s Time» was certified a double platinum single by the RIAA.

The band finished recording their debut album Night Visions in the summer of 2012 at Studio X inside Palms Casino Resort and released the album in the United States on the day after Labor Day (September 4, 2012). It peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart with first week sales in excess of 83,000 copies, the highest charting for a debut rock album since 2006. The album also reached No. 1 on the Billboard Alternative and Rock Album charts as well as the top ten on the Australian, Austrian, Canadian, Dutch, German, Irish, Norwegian, Portuguese, Scottish, Spanish, and United Kingdom Albums charts. It won a Billboard Music Award for Top Rock Album and was nominated for the Juno Award for International Album of the Year. Night Visions is certified platinum by the RIAA as well as in Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK. The album produced three tracks that reached the Billboard Top 40, four tracks in the ARIA Top 40, and five tracks charting in the UK Top 40.

The band embarked on the Night Visions Tour in 2013.
The album’s second single «Radioactive» reached No. 1 on the Billboard Alternative Songs, Billboard Rock Songs, and Swedish singles chart and has sold more than seven million singles in the United States, smashing a record by spending 87 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100. «Radioactive» stayed at No. 1 on the Hot Rock Songs chart for a record-breaking 23 weeks and ultimately became the genre’s biggest hit of 2013.[38] It peaked at No. 3, becoming their first top ten single in the United States and broke the record for the longest run into the top five. It is the best-selling rock song on the Nielsen SoundScan running list of best-selling rock songs in digital history.[39] By the end of 2013, «Radioactive» had already sold over 3 million copies.[40] Rolling Stone called it «the biggest rock hit of the year». It was also the most streamed song of 2013 on Spotify in the United States.[41] It was nominated for the Grammy Award for Record of the Year and the Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, winning the latter of the two. In 2015, it was certified diamond by the RIAA for sales in excess of 10 million copies in the United States.[42] Third single «Demons» reached No. 1 on the Billboard Pop Songs and No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and has sold more than 5 million copies in the United States to date.[35][43]

Billboard listed them as one of «2012’s Brightest New Stars» and later «The Breakout Band of 2013».[44] Imagine Dragons won the 2014 Billboard Music Awards for Top Duo/Group, Top Hot 100 Artist, and Top Rock Artist. Amazon.com called the band their «Favorite Rock artist of 2012».[45]

In 2013, Imagine Dragons returned to Europe and North America with the Night Visions Tour.[46] The band announced 13 additional US summer tour dates which also sold out.[47] The band then announced a North America Amphitheatre tour.[48] The band also confirmed that they were unable to fulfill the request of acting as support for Muse.[49] Pollstar listed the band in their Top 20 Concert Tours list by average box office gross despite their average ticket price being the third lowest on the list.[50]

The band released a live album, Live at Independent Records, in April 2013.[51]^[3]

Smoke + Mirrors (2014-2016)

The idea behind the second studio album, dubbed as their «New Year’s resolution»,[52] was to create music and finish it when the band feels that their work is done.[53] Since the beginning of the Night Visions Tour, the band had been writing new material for an upcoming album, and, even as early as the start of the tour, had been recording demos for the album, before entering the studio.[54] By the time that they entered the studio to work on the album, they had amassed 50 demos to work from.[55]

Imagine Dragons released a number of singles for other projects including a song for the film Transformers: Age of Extinction, called «Battle Cry» (June 2014) and song «Warriors» for the 2014 League of Legends World Championship (September 2014).[56] They also are one of the most liked pop rock bands in the U.S.A

On October 24, they revealed the lead single to the upcoming album, «I Bet My Life» via several visual snippets on Facebook and Instagram. It was released on October 27.[57] It was sent to US Alternative radio for adds on November 3.[58]

Working with Metric, which did a three-song acoustic set, Imagine Dragons played at the Mayan Theater in Los Angeles on February 5, 2015. The half-hour set included the breakthrough songs «It’s Time» and «Radioactive» from Night Visions. The performance was the live debut for «Summer» and «I’m So Sorry», along with «Gold» and «I Bet My Life» from the album Smoke + Mirrors, which was released on February 17, 2015. The band’s 2015 North American summer tour began in Portland, Oregon on June 3.

During the band’s tour, Imagine Dragons released two non-album singles. «Roots» was released on August 26, 2015 and «I Was Me» on October 12, 2015 via iTunes. The band also released a cover of «I Love You All the Time» by Eagles of Death Metal on December 18, 2015, in support of the victims of the November 2015 Paris attacks. The Smoke + Mirrors Tour ended on February 5, 2016 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

The band released a one night only concert film, Imagine Dragons In Concert: Smoke + Mirrors, in select theaters on March 2, 2016. The film was released on DVD and Blu-Ray under the title Imagine Dragons: Smoke + Mirrors Live.^[4]

Evolve (2016-2018)

On September 27, 2016, Imagine Dragons began teasing their third studio album with a tweet simply saying «studio». The band continued posting cryptic messages on their Twitter account for the next four months. On January 28, 2017, the band started posting a series of videos teasing the album’s first single.[59] 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 same color».

On February 1, 2017, Imagine Dragons released «Believer» as the lead single for their next album. «Believer» was used as part of the Super Bowl ad for the Nintendo Switch.[60] Imagine Dragons were part of the Wayhome summer 2017 lineup in Oro-Medonte, Ontario.[61] On April 27, 2017, Imagine Dragons released «Thunder» as the second single from their third album.[62] On May 8, 2017, Imagine Dragons announced their third studio album Evolve, as well as a new track «Whatever It Takes», which was released on the same day.[63] A tour in support for the album was also announced within the same day. The tour was held across 33 countries from September 2017 through September 2018.

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 band performed in NOS Alive, Portugal on July 8.[64] «Whatever It Takes» was released as an official single off the album a few months later on October 6, 2017.[65] 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. The song was released as part of a re-issue of Evolve on February 21, 2018.[66] ^[5]

Origins (2018-2020)

On June 12, 2018, Imagine Dragons announced a new single in collaboration with Kygo titled «Born to Be Yours» on Twitter. The song was released on June 15, 2018.[67]

On July 12, 2018, Imagine Dragons announced a new single titled «Natural» on Twitter. The song was released on July 17, 2018.[68] The song was used as the anthem for the 2018 ESPN College Football season.[69] On September 18, 2018, Imagine Dragons announced a new single titled «Zero», which was released on September 19, 2018. It was used in the end credits of the Walt Disney Animation Studios film Ralph Breaks the Internet.[70]

On October 3, 2018, Imagine Dragons announced their fourth studio album, Origins, which was released on November 9, 2018. «Natural» and «Zero» serve as the lead singles off the album, while «Born to Be Yours» is featured on the international deluxe edition of the album. The band has described this album as a sister album to their previous work Evolve.[71] On October 31, 2018, Imagine Dragons released their third single off the album, «Machine».[72] Lastly, on November 6, 2018, Imagine Dragons released their fourth single of the album, «Bad Liar».[73]

On January 7, 2019, Imagine Dragons performed the halftime show for the 2019 College Football Championship game. The band performed «Natural», «Bad Liar», «Thunder», and a special version of «Believer» with rapper Lil Wayne. The new version of the song was released on streaming platforms the following day.[74]^[6]

Mercury — Act 1 & 2 (2020-present)

A year and a half after the release of Origins, Ben announced they were working on a new album and it was going to be the best one. When they ended the record, Dan said he «loved this record the most».

The first snippets of the album appeared on 4 secret videos which got posted in Imagine Dragons’s YouTube channel after they were found. These videos would give a lot of hints during the album’s cycle, for example, there were many Mercury references and that hinted the album’s title.

On March 8, 2021, Imagine Dragons announced a dual single featuring Follow You and Cutthroat, very different from each other. Not long after that, they said «the new album would have two sides, one looking to the world and the people around Dan (Follow You side) and the other one looking at Dan’s emotions and inner world (Cutthroat side), with one song at the end that tied both sides. He also said the title of the album was going to reflect the themes of duality of the album. At that moment, they hadn’t decided to split the album in two yet.

Very shortly after, 19 songs were registered on BMI and ASCAP. 8 of these songs were left out, and out of the 11 remaining ones, two songs were renamed (Number One got renamed to #1 and Beautiful Day got renamed to No Time For Toxic People).

On June 29, 2021, a new single, Wrecked (which got registered on BMI before), was announced, expected to release on July 2. Its artwork hinted it was gonna be from the Cutthroat side of the album. That same day, a tweet from the band was posted. It was a black image with white text reading «IF ANYONE GUESSES THE ALBUM TITLE TONIGHT, WE WILL ANNOUNCE IT TOMORROW». The most popular guess was Today And Tomorrow, but someone went on saying Mercury. And that was the album’s title, but it wasn’t just Mercury. The full title was Mercury — Act 1. It was going to have 13 songs (with Wrecked as track 3, Follow You as track 10 and Cutthroat as track 11) and was expected to release on September 3. A few weeks after, Dan almost confirmed there was gonna be an Act 2 with the song that was going to tie both sides.

Dan said Mercury — Act 1 had that title because the word «mercurial» means «characterized by rapid and unpredictable changeableness of mood». They changed the title to Mercury to make it easier to remember and to make it sound more like a world.

On mid July 2021, a new song, No Time For Toxic People, appeared at a Jeep commercial.

The tracklist and song lengths were revealed on August 20, 2021, two weeks before Mercury — Act 1’s release. Fans had guessed most of the tracklist before by looking the producer list on Apple Music and a low-resolution Target tracklist picture, but still they didn’t know that two songs had been renamed. The renames were discovered when the tracklist was announced.

The next day, they released a self-titled single under the name Ragged Insomnia, which was gonna help finding a password for the #MercuryAscending hashtag. Alexa was a very useful hint to help fans get that password, it turned out to be «everybody is a genius». That week was very intense; some snippets were revealed too, along with the lyrics of Dull Knives, one of the songs that were gonna appear on Mercury — Act 1. It also was confirmed that Mercury — Act 1 wasn’t gonna have any deluxe versions.

Not long after the album release, the Mercury tour was announced, it was starting on early February 2022.

On April 6, the band announced that Mercury – Act 2 would be released on July 1, 2022. The 18-track album will be released as part of a double album containing both Mercury albums.^[7]

Charitable contributions

The group along with the family started The Tyler Robinson Foundation named after Tyler Robinson who died of cancer and was a fan of Imagine Dragons. The foundation helps people battling with cancer.^[8]

Influences

Dan Reynolds cites Arcade Fire, Muse, The Beatles, Paul Simon, and Harry Nilsson as some of his and the band’s artistic influences. In terms of success, Reynolds credits the groundbreaking work of bands like Mumford & Sons for bringing indie rock to a new levels of commercial success in recent years.^[9]

Band Members

Current Members

• Dan Reynolds — Vocals, Percussion, Guitar (2008–present)
• Ben McKee — Bass, Backing Vocals, Keyboards (2009–present)
• Wayne «Wing» Sermon — Guitar, Cello, Backing Vocals (2009–present)
• Daniel Platzman — Drums, Viola, Backing Vocals (2011–present)

Former Members

• Andrew Tolman — Drums, Backing Vocals (2008–2011)
• Aurora Florence — Piano, Vocals, Violin (2008)
• Andrew Beck — Guitar, Vocals (2008)
• Dave Lemke — Bass (2008-2009)
• Brittany Tolman — Piano, Backing Vocals (2009–2011)
• Theresa Flaminio — Piano, Backing Vocals (2011–2012)

Touring Members

• Ryan Walker — Piano, Keyboards, Rhythm Guitar, Mandolin, Backing Vocals, Tambourine (2012–2015)
• Will Wells — Piano, Keyboards, Rhythm Guitar, Mandolin, Backing Vocals (2015–2017)
• Elliot Schwartzman — Piano, Keyboards, Rhythm Guitar, Mandolin, Backing Vocals (2017–Present)

Discography

Studio Albums

• Night Visions (2012)
• Smoke + Mirrors (2015)
• Evolve (2017)
• Origins (2018)
• Mercury — Act 1 (2021)
• Mercury — Act 2 (2022)

Extended Plays

• Speak To Me (2008)
• Imagine Dragons (2009)
• Hell and Silence (2010)
• It’s Time (2011)
• Continued Silence (2012)
• Hear Me (2012)
• The Archive (2013)
• iTunes Session (2013)
• Shots (Remixes) (2015)
• Live At AllSaints Studios (2017)
• Mercury — Act 1 (Amazon Music Live) (2021)

References

Imagine Dragons
Основная информация
Жанры	инди-рок[1][2] альтернативный рок[3][4][2] поп-рок[2] электроник-рок[5] арена рок[6][7]
Годы	с 2008
Страна	США
Город	Лас-Вегас
Откуда	Майн
Язык песен	английский
Лейблы	Interscope Records KIDinaKORNER
Состав	Дэн Рейнольдс Бэн МакКи Уэйн Сермон Дэн Платцман
Бывшие участники	Эндрю Толман Бриттани Толман Аврора Флоренс
imaginedragonsmusic.com
Imagine Dragons на Викискладе

Imagine Dragons (дословно «Вообрази драконов») — американская инди-группа, образованная в Лас-Вегасе в 2008 году. Стали известны после выпуска дебютного студийного альбома Night Visions в сентябре 2012 года. Американский журнал Billboard назвал их самыми яркими новыми звёздами 2013 года^[8] и самой большой группой 2017 года^[9], а журнал Rolling Stone назвал их сингл «Radioactive» самым большим рок-хитом года^[10]

История

Формирование группы (2008—2012)

Imagine Dragons — поп-рок-группа, в состав которой входят четыре человека. Была основана в Лас-Вегасе в 2008 году. Название группы представляет собой анаграмму, значение которой знают лишь участники самой группы. История группы началась с того, что Дэниэл Рейнольдс привлёк для участия в собственной группе своего друга и товарища по колледжу барабанщика Эндрю Толмана, который, в свою очередь пригласил в группу свою жену Бриттани Толман (клавишные и бэк-вокал) и Дэниела (Уэйна) Сермона, который отлично играл на гитаре. Группа быстро набирала популярность. А уже в Лас-Вегасе к Дэну и Уэйну присоединился басист Бенджамин (Бен) МакКи, приглашённый Уэйном. В 2010 году Эндрю и Бриттани сообщили об уходе из группы для создания семьи. Тогда Бен МакКи пригласил в группу барабанщика Дэнияла (Платца) Платцмана. Позже к ним присоединилась Аврора Флоренс, заменяющая Бриттани, а после её ухода — Тереза Фламинио. После ухода Терезы состав группы больше не менялся.

В начале 2009 года музыканты начали работать в студии. И уже 1 февраля выпустили свой первый мини-альбом Imagine Dragons. А 1 апреля следующего года свет увидел их мини-альбом Hell and Silence (в записи участвовал номинант «Грэмми» Марк Нидхэм). Оба альбома были записаны в звукозаписывающей студии Battle Born Studios. Вскоре им было предложено выступить на ежегодном фестивале Bite of Las Vegas, как «Самая востребованная группа 2010» на местном 107.9FM. Они были выбраны хедлайнерами на фестивале Vegas Music Summit, а газета Las Vegas CityLife (англ.)русск. назвала их «группой, которую необходимо увидеть вживую». По мнению газеты Las Vegas Weekly (англ.)русск., они стали «Лучшей инди-группой 2010 года», а также были удостоены премии «Лучшая пластинка 2011 года» от журнала Vegas Seven. В ноябре 2011 года Imagine Dragons подписали контракт с американским звукозаписывающим лейблом Interscope Records. Они тесно сотрудничали с продюсером Алексом Да Кидом, с которым они и записали свой первый диск в Уэст-Голливуде. Их EP был назван Continued Silence и выпущен 14 февраля 2012 года. К выпуску своего дебютного альбома Imagine Dragons готовились очень тщательно.
«Выпуская серию EP, мы прощупывали почву. Нам хотелось, чтобы наш дебютный альбом был удачным», — признался в одном интервью Уэйн.^{[источник не указан 171 день]}

Night Visions (2012—2014)

4 сентября 2012 года вышел первый полноценный альбом группы — Night Visions. Он достиг 2 позиции в чарте Billboard 200. Сингл «It’s Time» занял 22-ю строчку в Billboard Hot 100, 4-ю в Billboard Alternative и в Billboard Rock, а позднее стал платиновым.

В преддверии выхода альбома группа выпустила ряд синглов для других проектов, включая саундтреки «Who We Are» к фильму «Голодные игры: И вспыхнет пламя» и «Battle Cry» к фильму «Трансформеры: Эпоха истребления», а также песню «Warriors», приуроченную к Чемпионату мира по игре League of Legends^[11].
В фильме «Трансформеры: Эпоха истребления» прозвучала также демозапись «All for You».

Smoke + Mirrors (2015—2016)

В сентябре 2014 года группа выпустила сингл «I Bet My Life», а в ноябре сняла на него видеоклип. В декабре вышел второй сингл — «Gold». Вскоре состоялся анонс альбома, который был выпущен 17 февраля 2015 года. Он был назван «Smoke + Mirrors». В поддержку альбома состоялся мировой тур Smoke and Mirrors World Tour, в котором группа посетила Россию. 24 января 2016 года Imagine Dragons выступили в СК Олимпийский в Москве, а 26 января в Ледовом дворце Санкт Петербурга. Помимо этого, группа записала фильм Smoke+Mirrors Live, который был показан 2 марта 2016 года в кинотеатрах по всему миру.

В ноябре 2016 года группа подтвердила слухи о написании третьего студийного альбома, также выпустив сингл «Levitate», который вошёл в список саундтреков фильма «Пассажиры».

Evolve (2017 — Наше время)

8 мая 2017 года группа анонсировала выход нового альбома^[12]. Релиз альбома Evolve (название стилизовано как ƎVOLVE) состоялся 23 июня 2017 года. Песня «Believer» Imagine Dragons одержала победу в номинации «Лучшая рок/альтернатива песня» на церемонии «Teen Choice Awards», которая прошла 14 августа 2017 года.

16 июля выпустили сингл Natural, который на YouTube за 4 часа просмотрели 300 тысяч человек^[13].

28 июля выступили на фестивале LOVELOUD, поддержали ЛГБТ-сообщество,собрав 1 миллион долларов.

18 сентября выпустили трек для мультфильма Ральф против интернета под названием «Zero». 23 октября 2018 года вышел клип на песню «Zero»^[14].

3 октября 2018 года группа анонсировала новый альбом «Origins».

Состав

Текущие участники

• Дэн Рейнольдс — вокал, кахон, бас-барабан, малый барабан, акустическая гитара (2008 — настоящее время)
• Бен МакКи (англ.)русск. — бас-гитара, бэк-вокал, клавишные, акустическая бас-гитара, электрическая мандолина, бас-барабан (2009 — настоящее время)
• Уэйн Сермон — гитара, электрическая мандолина, альт, бэк-вокал, том-том, акустическая гитара, бас-барабан (2009— настоящее время)
• Дэн Платцман (англ.)русск. — ударные, виолончель, альт, бэк-вокал, кахон, акустическая гитара, малый барабан, скрипка (2011 — настоящее время)

Бывшие участники

• Эндрю Толман (англ.)русск. — ударная установка, вокал (2008—2011)
• Бриттани Толмэн — пианино, вокал (2009—2011)
• Тереза Фламинио (англ.)русск. — клавишные (2011—2012)
• Аврора Флоренс — клавишные, вокал, скрипка (2008)
• Дэйв Лэмк — бас-гитара, вокал (2008—2009)
• Эндрю Бэк — электро-гитара, вокал (2008)

Участники турне

• Райан Уокер — клавиши, электрогитара, малый барабан, бэк-вокал, акустическая гитара, электрическая мандолина, синтезатор, бас-барабан, цимбалы (2011—2015)
• Уильям Уэллс (2015—2017)
• Эллиот Шварцман (2017—н. в.)

Галерея

• 

• 

Дискография

• Night Visions (2012)
• Smoke + Mirrors (2015)
• Evolve (2017)
• Origins (2018)

Благотворительность

Imagine Dragons активно занимаются благотворительностью. В 2013 году ребята организовали фонд помощи детям с онкозаболеваниями, который получил название Tyler Robinson Foundation, в честь погибшего от рака фаната — Тайлера Робинсона. Ежегодно группа проводит благотворительные гала-концерты с целью сбора денег в фонд, вело-заезды и ужины.

Концертные туры

• Imagine Dragons oon Tour (2011—2012)
• Fall Tour 2012 (2012)
• Europe Tour 2012 (2012)
• Night Visions Tour (2013)
• Into the Night Tour (2014)
• Smoke + Mirrors Tour (2015—2016)
• Evolve Tour (2017—2018)

Награды и номинации

В общей сложности группа имеет 73 номинации, среди которых 23 — победные. В список наград группы входят такие престижные премии как Grammy Awards, American Music Awards, Billboard Music Awards и другие.

Год	Номинированная работа	Организация	Награда	Результат
2012	«It’s Time»	MTV Video Music Awards	Лучшее рок-видео	Номинация
2013	«Imagine Dragons»	Teen Choice Awards	Лучшая рок-группа	Номинация
2014	«Imagine Dragons»	Grammy	Лучшее исполнение рок-композиции	Победа
2014	«Imagine Dragons»	Teen Choice Awards	Лучшая рок-группа	Победа
2017	«Believer»	Teen Choice Awards	Лучшая рок/альтернатива песня	Победа

Примечания

Ссылки

• imaginedragonsmusic.com — официальный сайт Imagine Dragons