Dan Reynolds: Leader of Imagine Dragons (Believer), once dreamed of working for the FBI

Dan Reynolds is known as a talented singer-songwriter. He is also acclaimed by music enthusiasts for being the frontman of the rock band "Imagine Dragons" – an illustrious group around the world.

Daniel Coulter Reyolds was born on July 14, 1987, in Las Vegas, Nevada. He was one of nine children born to Christina and Ronald Reynolds. The musician's parents belonged to Mormons (a religious movement prevailing in the United States).

Traditionally, Mormon families have many children, so it is not surprising that the Reynolds have as many as 9 children, and the seventh is the famous singer - Dan Reynolds.

He comes from a music-crazed family, so Dan had the opportunity to study music very early - at the age of 6. However, as a child, Dan never dreamed of becoming a musician, instead he wanted to work for the FBI.

To make his dream come true, the guy chose the university path to develop his career. However, while in the lecture hall, musical fortune came to him - Daniel met other friends Wayne Sermon and Andrew Tolman. The three decided to form a band, and toured together at parties and bars.

In 2008, the band Imagine Dragons won the college competitions "Battle of the Groups" and "Got Talent", which made Dan Renolds think more seriously about a career in music. Daniel realized that he wasn't really suited to a career as a police officer, and decided to drop out of college and pursue music. In an interview, Dan Reynolds once said that dropping out of school at that time was a very difficult decision for him.

In 2010, Daniel's band and friends took a leap forward. Specifically, when the Bite of Las Vegas festival was about to take place - the key member of the band Train suddenly fell ill, so they could not perform. Imagine Dragons, Dan Reynolds' group, was chosen as a replacement group.

The concert was truly explosive, and from this event Imagine Dragons won a nomination for "Best Indie Band of 2010" by Las Vegas Weekly. The musicians also received the award for Best Record of 2011 from Vegas Seven magazine. And already in 2014, the group received the prestigious Grammy Award.

Besides his illustrious career, Dan is also an advocate for equal rights for homosexuals. He is also the organizer of the Loveloud Music Festival and the creator of the documentary Believer, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2018.

One of the Imagine Dragons songs, titled "It's Time," was featured in an episode of the TV show "Glee" — when the series' hero, Blaine, sang the song to her boyfriend Kurt.

The musician of the group "Imagine Dragons" also regularly participates in major charity works. In 2013, they founded the Tyler Robinson Foundation to help children with cancer.

In 2010, after the performance, Daniel met Aija Volkman - the lead singer of the American rock band "Nico Vega". They later co-recorded 4 songs, which were featured in an album titled "Egypt". And in 2011, the couple was officially married.

The 3 girls born in the marriage were: Arrow Eve and twins Gia James and Coco Rey. However, the couple announced their divorce after 7 years of marriage.

Imagine Dragons consists of four members: Dan Reynolds is the lead vocalist, Wayne Sermon plays guitar, Daniel Platzman plays drums and Ben McKee plays bass. The band is loved by audiences everywhere from many songs. Prominent among them is Radioactive, a hit that earned them two 2013 Grammy nominations and more than a billion views on YouTube.

Early in their debut, the Imagine Dragons had a large fan base in their hometown of Provo, Utah before moving to Las Vegas, lead vocalist Dan Reynolds' hometown.

The city of Las Vegas also saw the release of Imagine Dragons' first three EPs (Extended Play). "Our band wouldn't exist without Las Vegas, which is a great launching pad for many artists who are just starting out," Daniel previously told the media.

Speaking about the group's record, Reynolds said that "Night Visions" took three years to complete and that it was an album that made him really proud after all this time, Reynolds just hopes that the group's music inspires others – making them less lonely.

The album's Radioactive song was hugely successful, Radioactive peaked at number three on the Billboard hot 100 and topped four rock categories: Hottest Song, Most Broadcast Song, Digital Music and Best Selling Streaming Music.

Radioactive is also on the list of best-selling songs in digital history. Imagine Dragons themselves were nominated for two Grammy Awards, Record of the Year and Best Rock Performance, and they won the latter category for their song.

To make Night Visions more widely accessible to the public, the band embarked on a 145-date tour across North America and Europe before stopping in Lollapalooza, Sao Paulo, Brazil.

With an alternative Rock music style, Imagine Dragons is always the face of top Hollywood directors "choosing to send gold" to perform songs in top blockbusters.

In the past, many of Imagine Dragons' songs have become soundtracks to Hollywood hits. The first is to mention the song It's time in the movie The Perks of Being a Wallflower, followed by the super hit Radioactive in the work Host.

"We are extremely lucky that Dan, Wayne, Ben and Daniel were able to work with us. I remember being drawn to the emotion of Demons and Radioactive from the first time I heard these songs, and I knew I wanted to get that energy and that emotion for this movie. They created the epic, unrealistic sound for 'Battle Cry,'" says Michael Bay.

From the album Evolve (2017), Imagine Dragons began to receive negative reviews. The Guardian and The Independent both rated the album 2 out of 5, commenting that "electronic rock lacks vitality" or "the album feels like a ridiculous combination of Michael Bolton and Justin Timberlake". Professional music review site Metacritic even ranked Evolve as the worst album of the year.

Many colleagues also disparaged Imagine Dragons. Matt Healy, in an interview, said: "The music of Imagine Dragons is meaningless. Foster The People, an American band best known for their song Pumped Up Kicks, mocked: "What material isn't included on the new album, we give it to Imagine Dragons" on I Heart Radio.

Rock star Corey Taylor, the vocalist of the band Slipknot, also declared: "Imagine Dragons has officially usurped the throne of Nickelback, becoming the worst band I have ever seen."

The keyword phrase "Is Imagine Dragons the worst band that ever existed" brings up more than 14 million results when searching on Google. Many critics said that the American band was hated for being busy in business without focusing on the quality of the music.

Facing a strong wave of criticism, Dan Reynolds – the lead vocalist of Imagine Dragons responded on his personal page that he felt disappointed by the criticism coming from his own colleagues and artists like him. He insisted that this turbulence could not knock the band over and that Imagine Dragons continued to try to bring positive energy to fans through their music.