Imagine Dragons’ Dan Reynolds: “Everyone needs to raise their voices for marginalised communities”

The frontman has spoken about the need to support those in need

Imagine Dragons’ Dan Reynolds has called on the world to “raise its voice” when it comes to issues like conversion therapy.

The frontman recently used his acceptance speech at the 2019 BBMAs to call for the ban of the practice, which claims to be able to change a person’s sexual orientation through psychological or spiritual tactics.

Speaking to NME ahead of Imagine Dragons’ performance at the UEFA Champions League final presented by Pepsi on Saturday (June 1), Reynolds said he believes bands can cause change, but “everyone needs to raise their voices, whether they’re at the [BBMAs] or not” and support marginalised communities.

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With many states in the US still allowing conversion therapy to continue and the implementation of anti-abortion laws in places like Alabama and Georgia, Reynolds said there was a war on individual freedom going on, but added it “felt like there’s been a war for years.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYqmX_123sQ

Reynolds will also appear on Avicii’s (whose real name was Tim Bergling) posthumous album, ‘Tim’. Speaking about working on the track ‘Heart Upon My Sleeve’, the musician said: “It was a beautiful thing but also a sad thing to complete that song. It’s a great cause and a great way to celebrate Tim.”

Proceeds from the album will go to the Tim Bergling Foundation, which aims to raise money for mental health services and suicide protection. The record is due for release on June 6.

Before that, Imagine Dragons warmed up the crowd at Madrid’s Metropolitano Stadium before Tottenham and Liverpool go head-to-head for the Champions League trophy this weekend. It’s not their first time performing at a football match after playing at a Bundesliga match between Bayern Munich and Köln in 2015.

“We’re not diehard fanatics,” Reynolds said of the band’s interest in football. “But I played football for about 10 years. I wasn’t very good at it.”

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Drummer Dan Platzman added they’d recently attended a match between Tottenham and Arsenal. “We saw Tottenham win, so that was a good introduction to Champions League football.” Despite that, they said they weren’t sure who would win this weekend and were hoping for “a 2-2 split into penalty kicks”.

The pre-show performance, meanwhile, is something they see as a “once in a lifetime opportunity”, with Reynolds calling it “the biggest stage we’ve ever been on.”

“We’re lucky to be in a position where we can try and fill out the stadium with pyrotechnics and fireworks, and lots of drummers,” he said of what to expect from the show. “We’re trying to bring the energy that the game deserves.”

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