If it wasn’t for Howard Stern of all people I may never have heard of Imagine Dragons, and in particular their frontman Dan Reynolds. On his radio show recently Stern had the band do a jazz version of Believer, which I subsequently learned had been a major hit for the band. So a crash course in Wiki told me that this pop/rock band has described themselves as “genre-less”. and has enjoyed many major successes in their career.
Ignorance is bliss I guess. However, there in the middle of all their musical history was a nugget of news that immediately grabbed my attention. Reyolds is a cis-gender heterosexual and a Mormon to boot, but he is also a passionate LGBTQ Ally. Many others claim to be, but Reynolds puts his money where his mouth is.
In 2018 he fronted BELIEVER an HBO documentary that exposed the painful ostracization and hatred of gay people in the Mormon community. However, Reynolds approach was to show all the progress that had been made and how others like him were encouraging and positive examples of a society-wide change of heart that’s happening, albeit too slowly.
He didn’t hide the fact that he’s become increasingly troubled by the antigay beliefs, implicitly and explicitly stated, of his faith, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints—and their seeming tie to a skyrocketing teen suicide rate in Utah. Alienating his family and jeopardizing some portion of his fanbase, Reynolds set out to make a statement, throwing a concert festival, called LoveLoud, in Provo, Utah, with themes of inclusion, acceptance, and, yes, pride
At the same time , in collaboration with film score composer Hans Zimmer, Reynolds released a single titled “Skipping Stones”. to correspond with the documentary, All proceeds from the song benefited LGBTQ charities.
In 2019, Reynolds used his band’s acceptance speech for the top rock artist award at the Billboard Music Awards to speak out against conversion therapy. Last year, he donated his childhood home to be converted into a youth center for vulnerable LGBTQ youth. And this year, his LoveLoud Fest returns after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic
P.S. Here is a link to watch the full Documentary FREE on YOUTUBE
