Dan Reynolds, lead singer of the rock band Imagine Dragons, recently opened up about his decision to leave Mormonism. In a candid interview, Reynolds, 36, discussed his upbringing in a “really conservative” Mormon family and his complex relationship with religion.
“There are parts of the Mormon religion that I feel pretty strongly are harmful, especially to our gay youth,” said Reynolds, who founded the LGBTQ+ focused non-profit LOVELOUD Foundation in 2017. “At times I feel pretty isolated from my family, but I also love them and am close to them. There’s no animosity. I’m on a different path. I have to love myself enough to follow my truth.”
The “Radioactive” singer shared that he “always struggled” with religion but it wasn’t until his 20s that he chose to leave the church. Before making this decision, Reynolds attended Brigham Young University and served a two-year mission in Nebraska.
“I saw a lot of the harm that came from it for me personally, but it also worked incredibly well for my family, and they’re all healthy, happy individuals,” he said. “As I’ve gotten older, I’m not angry about it anymore. If something works for someone, that’s really wonderful and rare, and I don’t want to mess with it.”
While his family remains active in the church, Reynolds has chosen not to raise his children — daughters Arrow, 11, Gia and Coco, 7, and son Valentine, 4 — as Mormons. Reynolds shares his four children with his ex-wife Aja Volkman.
“My greatest goal every day is to not manipulate my kids,” he explained. “I really don’t want to try to tell them what their spiritual path should be. I give them my thoughts and obviously try to protect them and take care of them, while also making sure they have freedom and agency to choose whatever they want.”
Reynolds and Volkman announced their split in April 2018 after seven years of marriage. Two months later, he told Us Weekly that the pair were “doing good” after going their separate ways.
Imagine Dragons will kick off the Loom World Tour, their largest headlining North American tour ever, at the end of this month.
“I think this will be our best record to play live. It has a lot of tempo, a lot of different emotions,” Reynolds told People. “We’re already in rehearsals for this tour, and I just know — we’ve done this long enough that I’m like, ‘Oh, this is going to be a party, but it’s also going to be cathartic.’ It’s going to be sad in the right ways, heavy in the right ways, happy in the right ways. It’s going to be a really fun record to tour.”
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