Dan Reynolds (musician)

Dan Reynolds
Reynolds in 2012
Background information
Birth name	Daniel Coulter Reynolds
Born	(1987-07-14) July 14, 1987
Origin	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Genres	Alternative rock, indie rock
Occupations	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, keyboards, synthesizer, piano, guitar, drums
Years active	2008–present
Labels	Interscope
Associated acts	Imagine Dragons, Egyptian
Website	imaginedragonsmusic.com

Daniel Coulter "Dan" Reynolds (born July 14, 1987) is an American musician, best known as the frontman of the Las Vegas-based rock band Imagine Dragons. He has also released an EP titled Egyptian - EP^[1] as a duo with his wife, Aja Volkman, who is also the lead singer for the band Nico Vega, under the moniker Egyptian.^[2]

Early life

Reynolds, seventh of nine children, was born on July 14, 1987 in Las Vegas, the son of Christene M. (née Callister) and Ronald Reynolds.^[3] Both are natives of Nevada, and Dan is a 4th generation Nevadan.^[4] He earned the rank of Eagle Scout in 2005.^[5] When Reynolds, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon Church) was 19 years old he volunteered full-time as a Mormon missionary in Nebraska for two years.^[6][7][8]

Career

Imagine Dragons (2008–present)

Reynolds was reluctant to become a professional musician partially because his bandmate, Wayne Sermon told him : "Don't do music because you want to do music--do music if you have to do music."^[9] After beginning school at BYU, Reynolds found that he could not "do anything else" and committed fully to a professional music career. In Utah, Reynolds met and recruited Wayne Sermon and drummer Andrew Tolman to form Imagine Dragons.^[10] With Reynolds singing lead, Imagine Dragons won BYU's "Battle of the Bands" and other local competitions.^[11] Bassist Ben McKee joined the band in Las Vegas and drummer Daniel Platzman, also a friend of Wayne's from Berklee College of Music, finalized the group. The band relocated to Las Vegas, where they caught 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.^[12] Local accolades including "Best CD of 2011" (Las Vegas SEVEN Magazine),^[13] "Best Local Indie Band 2010" (Las Vegas Weekly),^[14] "Las Vegas' Newest Must See Live Act" (Las Vegas CityLife),^[15] Vegas Music Summit Headliner 2010,^[16] and more sent the band on a positive trajectory. In November 2011 they signed with Interscope Records and began working with Grammy award winning producer Alex da Kid.^[17]

Debut album Night Visions brought the band mainstream success and made the highest debut for a new rock band in six years (since 2006). It reached #2 on the Billboard 200 and United Kingdom Albums charts and is certified platinum or gold in thirteen countries. It was also the most streamed album of 2013 on Spotify in the U.S.^[18] It is also nominated for the Juno Award for International Album of the Year. First Single "It's Time" reached #15 Billboard in the Hot 100. Second single "Radioactive" reached #1 on the Billboard Alternative songs chart, Billboard Rock songs chart, Swedish Singles chart, and #3 Billboard Hot 100. It set the all-time record for the longest reign at the top of the Billboard Rock Songs chart, with 23 consecutive weeks. Rolling Stone called it "the biggest rock hit of the year".^[19][20] It is the best-selling rock song in digital history with sales of more than 6.5 million copies in the United States.^[21] It also was the most streamed song of 2013 on Spotify in the U.S.^[18] Third single "Demons" reached #1 on the Billboard Pop songs chart and #6 Billboard Hot 100. Fourth single "On Top of the World" reached #100 on the Billboard Hot 100. Songs from the album have charted in the top ten singles in eighteen countries. Imagine Dragons were nominated in two Grammy Award categories including Record of the Year but won only Best Rock Performance. They also won an AMA for Favorite Alternative Artist. Billboard Magazine has listed the band as "The Breakthrough Act of 2013", and featured the band on its cover with the headline "Year of the Dragons" in July 2013.^[22][23] Billboard Magazine subsequently named the band the Top Year-Ending Rock Artist (2013).^[24]

Reynolds was invited to perform "Jumper" with Third Eye Blind at a concert in 2012.

Egyptian (2010-present)

Invited to perform an opening set for Nico Vega, Reynolds met Aja Volkman, the lead singer of Nico Vega, in 2010. He invited her to help him finish some demos he was working on.^{[25][26][27][28]} The two began a collaborative process which they titled Egyptian.^[26] They recorded, produced, and released independently a four track eponymous EP digitally.^[29][30] They later got married on March 5, 2011, and have a daughter, Arrow.

They have performed this material once at the M Resort in Las Vegas.^[31]

Discography

Other credits

• Egyptian - EP - Egyptian (2011)^[32]
• "Stranger" - X Ambassadors (2013) - co-writer^[33]
• "Nothing Quite Like Home" - G. Love & Special Sauce (2014) - co-writer^[34][35]

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dan Reynolds (musician).

• Official website
• Dan Reynolds (musician) on Facebook