48 Fun Facts About Imagine Dragons

Which member of Imagine Dragons is the band's lead guitarist?

Wayne Sermon. A Berklee College of Music graduate, he went on to recruit fellow Berklee student Ben McKee to play bass.

Before Imagine Dragons, Dan Reynolds spent two years as a missionary in which state?

Nebraska. He has said meeting gangs, addicts and broken families there made him see the world in a different way.

Where did Dan Reynolds meet the band's original drummer in 2008?

Reynolds met the band's first drummer while both were students at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, in 2008, and the band formed there.

Which Imagine Dragons song got a video spoofing the theory that the Moon landing was faked on a film set?

On Top of the World. Its makers hid Stanley Kubrick references throughout, a joke on the claim that the director staged the landing and left clues in his later films.

Whose illness gave Imagine Dragons their first big break at the 2009 Bite of Las Vegas Festival?

Train frontman Pat Monahan's. With Train off the bill, the unsigned band were called back on stage to fill the gap.

Which label signed Imagine Dragons in November 2011?

Interscope. Until then the band had put out three EPs entirely on their own, recording the first two at a Las Vegas studio.

Which English producer did Imagine Dragons start working with after signing a record deal?

Alex da Kid. He approached the band himself, emailing Reynolds out of the blue to ask whether they wanted to write together.

What was Imagine Dragons' debut single, released in February 2012?

It's Time. Reynolds wrote it at the lowest, most depressed point of his life, yet it climbed into the Billboard Hot 100's top 20.

What was Imagine Dragons' debut album?

Night Visions. Its hit 'Radioactive' grew out of Reynolds's depression, yet the band set its video in an underground fight club for puppets.

In which city did Imagine Dragons film a black-and-white video of Dan Reynolds dancing among alien-faced dancers?

Dubai. Director Joseph Kahn filmed around landmarks such as the Burj Khalifa and Dubai Marina after the band teased fans with desert photos.

Which song broke the Hot 100 weeks record held by 'Radioactive'?

Blinding Lights. 'Radioactive' lasted 87 weeks partly because trailers kept it in earshot, among them ones for the game Assassin's Creed III and the film The Host.

Which Grammy did 'Radioactive' win at the 2014 ceremony?

Best Rock Performance. The track topped alternative radio first, and only after that did it cross over to pop stations and climb the Hot 100.

Which rapper joined Imagine Dragons for a 'Radioactive' mash-up at the 2014 Grammys?

Kendrick Lamar. A remix with a new Lamar verse followed, and they performed it together on Saturday Night Live.

Which 2014 film got the Imagine Dragons song 'Battle Cry'?

Transformers: Age of Extinction. Director Michael Bay hand-picked the band to write a song for his summer blockbuster.

What was the lead single from Smoke + Mirrors?

I Bet My Life. Reynolds wrote it about his once-strained relationship with his parents and the bond they still hold on to.

Which retailer aired a live commercial of the band performing 'Shots' during the 2015 Grammys?

Target bought a four-minute block of the 2015 Grammys broadcast for a live commercial of the band playing 'Shots', nine days before Smoke + Mirrors came out.

Whose 'I Love You All the Time' did Imagine Dragons cover in December 2015 for Paris attack victims?

Eagles of Death Metal. Josh Homme urged artists to cover the song so the proceeds could go to victims of the Bataclan attack.

'Sucker for Pain', with Lil Wayne, Wiz Khalifa and others, came from which film's soundtrack?

'Sucker for Pain' appeared on the Suicide Squad soundtrack in June 2016, teaming Imagine Dragons with Lil Wayne, Wiz Khalifa, Logic, Ty Dolla Sign and X Ambassadors.

Which 2016 sci-fi film featured the song 'Levitate'?

Passengers. Sony set the song to footage of the leads falling in love aboard their spaceship, in both a trailer and a music video.

In which Imagine Dragons video do two It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia stars get a private concert?

Follow You. Kaitlin Olson books the band as a birthday surprise for Rob McElhenney, who turns up expecting his real favourite, The Killers.

Which product's Super Bowl ad used 'Believer' in 2017?

The Nintendo Switch. Reynolds has said 'Believer' grew out of painful chapters in his life, including living with ankylosing spondylitis.

What was Imagine Dragons' third studio album, released in June 2017?

Evolve. It followed a planned year off, which Reynolds said the band needed after not stopping in about six years.

Which song from Imagine Dragons' third album won the 2018 MTV Video Music Award for Best Rock Video?

Whatever It Takes. Its video floods the room until the band is underwater, then cuts to them playing on as the stage burns.

Which esports team did Imagine Dragons become co-owners of in 2018?

In 2018 Imagine Dragons joined Steve Aoki as investors in ReKTGlobal, the parent company of the esports team Rogue.

Which Disney animated film used 'Zero' over its end credits?

Ralph Breaks the Internet. Co-director Rich Moore called it a bold end-credits pick, because the song is about someone who feels like a zero.

Which song did Imagine Dragons mash up with Khalid at the 2017 AMAs?

Thunder. Dan Reynolds sings of classmates who laughed at his dreams of stardom, then turns the tables: he is on stage and they are up in the cheap seats.

Which Italian singer features on the final Origins single, 'Birds'?

Elisa. The band asked her to sing it with them while she was still busy working on a single of her own.

Which Netflix series' soundtrack featured 'Enemy' with rapper JID?

Arcane. Reynolds said the song is about internal conflict and division, echoing the show's story of two sisters pulled onto different paths.

What was the lead single from Mercury - Act 2?

Bones. Reynolds said he wrote it dreaming of what conquering death would feel like, having never found proof that life goes on.

Which former member returned as touring drummer when Daniel Platzman stepped away in 2023?

Andrew Tolman, the band's founding drummer, rejoined as touring drummer in 2023 after Daniel Platzman stepped back from the road.

Where was the concert filmed for Imagine Dragons: Live in Vegas, released on Hulu in 2023?

Allegiant Stadium. The band that once played six-hour casino gigs in Las Vegas came back to headline the city's largest stage.

Which video game did Imagine Dragons promote with 'Children of the Sky' in 2023?

Starfield. The song came out on August 30, 2023, and the game's composer, Inon Zur, helped work the Starfield theme into it.

What was the lead single from Imagine Dragons' 2024 album Loom?

Eyes Closed. It arrived on April 3, 2024, after weeks of cryptic teasers that sent fans hunting for clues on the band's website.

Which Imagine Dragons song is Dan Reynolds's tribute to his late sister-in-law, Alisha?

Wrecked. Reynolds was with her when cancer took her, the first death he had ever witnessed, and called the song his way of dealing with it.

Which frontman said Nickelback were handing Imagine Dragons the scapegoat baton?

Slipknot's Corey Taylor said in an interview that Nickelback had passed the 'scapegoat baton' to Imagine Dragons, the band that had inherited the flak once aimed at Nickelback.

What is the name of the charity Imagine Dragons founded in 2013 to help young people with cancer?

The Tyler Robinson Foundation. Tyler was a teenage fan who died of cancer at 17, and the band's 'Demons' video ends with a dedication to him.

Which festival did Imagine Dragons help organise in 2017 to raise awareness of LGBTQ youth?

LoveLoud. The first festival, held in Orem, Utah, gave its profits to LGBTQ groups including The Trevor Project and GLAAD.

Which composer collaborated with Dan Reynolds on the 2018 single 'Skipping Stones'?

Hans Zimmer. The song was made for Reynolds's documentary Believer, and its proceeds went to LGBTQ charities.

What did Imagine Dragons' United24 ambassadorship raise money for in 2022?

Ambulances for Ukrainian medics. The drive raised more than $6 million, enough to buy 92 vehicles already helping medics in the field.

Which band's frontman joked that his group gives its rejected songs to Imagine Dragons, then apologised?

Foster the People. Mark Foster said sorry weeks after Reynolds publicly called out bands that kept taking shots at his, and pledged to help him in future.

Which Imagine Dragons song was written for the 2014 League of Legends World Championship?

Warriors. The band paused work on their next album to write it, since League of Legends was their favourite game.

Which DJ collaborated with Imagine Dragons on 'Born to Be Yours' and later 'Stars Will Align'?

Kygo. The Norwegian DJ and the band both teased their first collaboration on social media days before it came out in June 2018.

Which producer executive-produced Imagine Dragons' Mercury albums?

Rick Rubin. Reynolds said Rubin pushed him to stop leaning on metaphor and write more vulnerably.

Which VR rhythm game released a paid Imagine Dragons music pack of ten songs in June 2019?

Beat Saber. The pack was unveiled alongside demos of a brand-new 360-degree level built around 'Believer'.

Which Latin star featured on the May 2024 remix of the lead single from Imagine Dragons' album Loom?

J Balvin. The Colombian reggaeton star turned the song into a bilingual track weeks before Loom came out that June.

Which Imagine Dragons single did Dan Reynolds co-write with his wife as their marriage was breaking down?

Bad Liar. The pair announced a divorce that year but never signed the papers, and when the song came out they were dating each other again.

Which Las Vegas casino do Imagine Dragons appear to rob in their 'Sharks' video?

Bellagio. The heist ends with Dan Reynolds pulling a lever that frees sharks into the resort's fountains, where he surfs among the fins.

Which Imagine Dragons song's video was released in support of World Mental Health Day in 2022?

I Don't Like Myself. The band partnered with the Crisis Text Line, whose number appears in the video's description.