Imagine Dragons

Fusing musical influences like Arcade Fire, Nirvana, The Beatles and Paul Simon into their music, Imagine Dragons have taken the rock of their gurus to new heights.

The band was formed in 2008 when lead singer Dan Reynolds met drummer Andrew Tolman at university. Tolman recruited long-time high school friend and later lead guitarist Daniel Wayne Sermon who had just graduated from Berklee College of Music. Tolman also recruited his wife Brittany Tolman to sing back-up. Sermon then recruited another Berklee music student, bassist Ben McKee, who had practically grown up in a recording studio, completing the line-up.

Playing in their township of Utah, the band earned a large following. After some time the band moved to Las Vegas, where they eventually dropped their first three mini albums. The first EP, a self-titled one, arrived in 2010, followed by the second, Hell And Silence, in the same year. They didn’t waste time and dropped another EP It’s Time, a year later, before they finally scored a recording deal for a full-length release.

The band got their big break when they were called to step in for rock band Train at the ‘Bite of Las Vegas Festival’ when Train’s lead singer fell sick. This sudden spurt of luck proved beneficial for them and raised their popularity to new heights among concert goers.

Their collaboration with top-notch Grammy winning producer Alexander Grant, known by his moniker Alex da Kid (Eminem, Rihanna), paved their way for the future. Alex felt the band had that little extra to go a long way and make a name. Alex’s hip-hop sensibilities and Imagine Dragons’ anthemic rock fused together to create an explosive new sound that made its way to audiences who were looking for something new.

Their fourth EP Continued Silence was the stepping stone to where Imagine Dragons was heading — success after a struggle. While the first three EPs did not strike, it was the band’s fourth try that hit it big. Radioactive and Demons reached the Top 3 on the Hot 100 and continued to become one of the Top 10 multiple times. Radioactive broke the record for the longest run into the Top 5 and became the best-selling rock song on the Nielsen SoundScan running list of best-selling rock songs in digital history.

Great songwriting is bound to be noticed eventually.

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