[14] Reynolds wrote the song "I Bet My Life" celebrating and reflecting on his enduring relationship with his parents.

[15] Following his graduation from Bonanza High School, he attended University of Nevada, Las Vegas (after losing his ecclesiastical endorsement for Brigham Young University (BYU)) and then transferred to BYU after serving an LDS mission, where he studied communications, marketing, and music and excelled academically.

[16][17] While at BYU, he formed Imagine Dragons and won the school's Battle of the Bands competition before leaving to pursue music full-time.

[20] After he began attending Brigham Young University, Reynolds found that he could not "do anything else" and committed fully to a professional music career.

[21] With Reynolds as lead vocalist, Imagine Dragons won BYU's "Battle of the Bands" and other local competitions.

[22] Bassist Ben McKee joined the band in Las Vegas and after Tolman's departure 2011 invited Daniel Platzman, also a friend of Wayne's from Berklee College of Music, to play drums, thus completing the group's longest-standing lineup.

[10][23][24] It was there in 2009 that they caught their first big break when Train's frontman, Pat Monahan, fell sick just prior to the Bite of Las Vegas Festival.

[25] In November 2011, they signed with Interscope Records and began working with Grammy award-winning producer Alex da Kid.

"Radioactive" set the all-time record for the longest reign at the top of the Billboard Rock Songs chart, with 23 consecutive weeks.

[31][32] It is the best-selling rock song in digital history, with sales of more than 7.5 million copies in the United States, and was certified diamond by the RIAA.

6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and is the eighth best-selling rock song in digital history with sales in excess of 5 million copies in the United States.

[46] Reynolds was invited to perform an opening set for Nico Vega in 2010; this was when he met Aja Volkman, the group's lead singer.

[54] He organized the charity festival Loveloud, held August 26, 2017, in Orem, to "fight against teen suicide and to bring communities [...] and encourage acceptance" of LGBTQ youth.

Performing acts included Imagine Dragons, Neon Trees, Krewella, Joshua James, and Nicholas Petricca (of Walk the Moon).

[56][57][58] The film Believer, centering on LGBTQ youth suicides in Utah, and the Loveloud concert, premiered at Sundance on January 20, 2018, and on HBO on June 25, 2018.

[59] Acts included Imagine Dragons, Zedd, Mike Shinoda (of Linkin Park), Grace VanderWaal, Tyler Glenn (of Neon Trees), Vagabon, A.W., and Cameron Esposito.

In addition to Reynolds, featured performers included Kesha, Daya, Tegan & Sara, Pvris, and K.

Other notable speakers included Reynolds' ex-wife Aja Volkman, Shannon Beveridge and X González.

Reynolds cites Arcade Fire, Nirvana, Muse, The Beatles, Paul Simon, Coldplay, Linkin Park,[70] Harry Nilsson, and U2 as some of his and the band's artistic influences.

He credits bands like Foster the People and Mumford & Sons for bringing alternative pop music to a new level of commercial success in recent years.

[78] Reynolds suffers from ankylosing spondylitis, which he announced during a concert at the First Direct Arena in Leeds in 2015 during the band's Smoke + Mirrors tour.

[106] Imagine Dragons have also partnered with Do The Write Thing: National Campaign to Stop Violence (presided over by Reynolds' uncle),[107] Amnesty International's "Bringing Human Rights Home",[108] OneOrlando Fund's "All Is One Orlando Unity Concert",[109] and Crackle's "Playing It Forward" (S1 E2).

[110] In 2015, Imagine Dragons released the track "I Was Me" with all proceeds going to the One4 project to help fleeing refugees, particularly in the Middle East.