Imagine Dragons frontman Dan Reynolds said he has a "complicated" relationship with religion.
The rocker grew up in a "really conservative" Mormon family, attended Brigham Young University, and spent two years on a Mormon mission in Omaha, Nebraska, according to People. However, in his early 20s, his perspective shifted. Now, at 36, the frontman has been distanced from the Mormon faith for several years.
Since then he founded the LOVELOUD Foundation in support of the young LGBTQ+ community. He told People that there are parts of the Mormon religion that he feels are harmful, "especially to our gay youth."
"At times I feel pretty isolated from my family, but I also love them and am close to them and see them, and there's no animosity there. I'm on a different path. I have to love myself enough to follow my truth," he continued.
Growing up the seventh of nine children to parents Ronald and Christene Reynolds, Dan Reynolds admitted that religion is something he has always struggled with. Throughout his 20s and 30s, he felt "really angry" at religion, saying that he felt he'd "been duped."
"I saw a lot of the harm that came from it for me personally, but it also seemed to work 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."
As a father to four — daughters Arrow, 11, Gia and Coco, 7, and son Valentine, 4 — he and his ex-wife Aja Volkman have chosen not to raise their children in the church.
"My greatest goal every day is to not manipulate my kids. I really don't want to try to tell them what their spiritual path should be," he explained. "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."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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