| Imagine Dragons Become Ambassadors for Ukraine’s UNITED24 Platform GRAMMY® Award Winning Group Meet & Discuss the Commitment with President Zelenskyy Citing their Connection to the Country and People The First UNITED24 Project Imagine Dragons will Support as Part of This Collaboration will be a Fundraiser for Ambulance Vehicles Launched by the First Lady of Ukraine to Save Thousands of Lives Imagine Dragons Become Ambassadors for Ukraine’s UNITED24 Platform GRAMMY® Award Winning Group Meet & Discuss the Commitment with President Zelenskyy Citing their Connection to the Country and People The First UNITED24 Project Imagine Dragons will Support as Part of This Collaboration will be a Fundraiser for Ambulance Vehicles Launched by the First Lady of Ukraine to Save Thousands of Lives  Imagine Dragons, one of the world’s most popular bands, will promote the Medical Aid direction of UNITED24. On Friday, July 22nd, the group members met and discussed the future collaboration with the fundraising platform during a call with the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, which has become a traditional introduction for new UNITED24 ambassadors. The Grammy® Award winners have had a long, heartfelt connection with their Ukrainian audience. In 2018, they visited Ukraine for the first time: tickets to the largest concert venue — the Olympic Stadium in Kyiv — sold out in the first few days. The group was supposed to return on June 3, 2022, but the event had to be canceled due to the Russian invasion. The artists immediately canceled their planned performance in the Russian Federation as well and banned the release of their discography there. Additionally, the American band supported Ukraine by performing at the Save Ukraine telethon, and during this year’s European tour, the group’s lead singer, Dan Reynolds, was rarely seen without the Ukrainian flag, dedicating songs to the country. Imagine Dragons frontman Dan Reynold said during an online conference with the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy,“We love the people of Ukraine and want to help in any way possible. Injustices like this can only be conquered when people around the world come together. We stand by the beautiful people of Ukraine and their courageous leader President Zelenskyy. We will work with UNITED24 and local leaders to continually find ways to raise awareness and funds for the people until this unjust war ends. We look forward to the day when we can play a concert again in Kyiv and celebrate freedom, life and music with the resilient and strong people of Ukraine.” “In 2018, you visited our country for the first time. In 2022, you are still doing your best so that the voice of Ukraine continues to be heard throughout the world. Thank you for this!” said Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The first project the band will support as part of this collaboration is a fundraiser for Ambulance Vehicles launched by the First Lady of Ukraine to save thousands of lives. Such vehicles are equipped with everything required to transport the severely injured to a hospital: oxygen tanks, cardio monitors, defibrillators, electrocardiographs, and ALV devices. The approximate cost of one C-type ambulance is EUR 100,000. Imagine Dragons are the latest to join legendary footballer Andriy Shevchenko, outstanding tennis player Elina Svitolina, and American actor Liev Schreiber, who are all already helping the fundraising platform raise funds for Ukraine. The next ambassador will be announced in the upcoming week. ABOUT IMAGINE DRAGONS With over 66 million album equivalents and 55 million digital songs sold, not to mention over 110 billion combined streams, Imagine Dragons are one of rock’s biggest bands of the past decade, and they’ve fully reinvented the genre in that time. In short, they own Billboard‘s Top 3 rock songs of the 2010s — “Believer,” “Thunder,” and “Radioactive”. Formed in 2009, Imagine Dragons developed grassroots following with a series of independent EPs before making their major-label debut on KIDinaKORNER/Interscope with 2012’s Continued Silence EP. That same year, their LP debut NIGHT VISIONS entered the Billboard 200 at No. 2, while lead track “Radioactive” topped Billboard‘s Hot Rock Songs, won a GRAMMY® for Best Rock Performance, and achieved RIAA Diamond status. After achieving their first #1 at Alt Radio with “Radioactive,” the band immediately repeated this feat with “Demons,” marking the first back-to-back #1’s for the band, with both songs in the Top 5 simultaneously. NIGHT VISIONS is now 7x platinum in the US alone. 2015’s platinum selling Smoke + Mirrors debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.The 3x platinum selling album EVOLVE followed in 2017, earning a GRAMMY® nomination for Best Pop Vocal Album and unleashing three No. 1 Alternative radio hits: “Believer,” GRAMMY®-nominated “Thunder,” and “Whatever It Takes.” All three songs were also top 5 hits at Alternative radio. “Believer” was the quickest song to reach #1 for Imagine Dragons, taking only 8 weeks to reach the top of the charts, with “Thunder” following closely in its rise to the #1 spot. With these singles, it marked the second time Imagine Dragons had back-to-back #1s, making Imagine Dragons one of only four bands to ever achieve simultaneous Top 5 singles and the only band to repeat this feat. The band’s fourth album and platinum selling, ORIGINS, debuted atop Billboard‘s Top Alternative Albums and Top Rock Albums charts, while its lead single “Natural” spent nine weeks at No. 1 at alternative radio. For their fifth studio album—Imagine Dragons’ first new music since 2018—the band teamed up with esteemed producer Rick Rubin. 2021’s Mercury — Act 1 debuted in the Billboard 200 top 10, and at No. 2 on Billboard‘s Top Alternative Albums and Top Rock Albums charts. It also launched the singles “Wrecked,” “Cutthroat,” and “Follow You,” with the latter reaching No. 1 on both Mediabase’s Alternative Radio and Billboard’s Alternative Airplay charts. “Follow You” marked the band’s quickest ascent to the top of that Billboard chart, surpassing the respective seven- and eight-week climbs for “Natural” (2018) and “Believer” (2017). Then came “Enemy.” Originally released as the theme to Netflix’s Arcane, the hit racked up more than 4.6 billion combined global streams across two versions (including a collaboration with GRAMMY®-nominated, Atlanta-based rapper J.I.D), helping make Imagine Dragons the highest streaming American band in the US in 2021. In 2022, they expanded the world of Mercury with a double album, Mercury – Acts 1 & 2, including the single “Bones,” which has gathered over 380 million streams to date and the accompanying music video has scored 38 million-plus YouTube views. Sorting through personal loss and the biggest existential questions of their career, singer/songwriter Dan Reynolds says the two-part release is about learning to “accept the unknown” and “let go,” healing feelings Imagine Dragons are hoping to share with fans as they embark on some of their biggest shows ever this summer. Check out the full itinerary HERE. |
