Imagine Dragons

Four friends started Imagine Dragons in Las Vegas in 2008, playing covers in casino lounges before they had songs of their own. By 2012 the debut album Night Visions had turned them into one of the biggest rock-adjacent acts on the planet: first “It’s Time,” then “Radioactive,” a crossover that camped on the Billboard Hot 100 for an almost comic run of weeks and became a defining alt-rock single of the decade. They have always sat on a seam, too pop for rock purists, too rock for pop radio, and they have spent their albums leaning straight into that tension. Dan Reynolds out front, Wayne Sermon on guitar, Ben McKee on bass, Daniel Platzman on drums. Their third record, Evolve, pushed further toward stadium-sized hooks and electronic sheen, and gave them the single that may outlast everything else they have made. Start there.