Why Imagine Dragons singer Dan Reynolds doesn’t want to mess with Mormonism

Daniel ReynoldsLead singer of the rock band Imagine Dragons, spoke about his decision to leave the Mormon order.

Speak with People In an interview published on Sunday, July 7, Reynolds, 36, spoke candidly about growing up in a “very conservative” Mormon family and discussed his “complicated” relationship with the religion.

“There are obviously parts of the Mormon religion that I firmly believe are harmful, especially to our gay youth,” Reynolds, who founded the LGBTQ+-focused nonprofit LOVELOUD Foundation in 2017, told People“Sometimes I feel quite isolated from my family, but I also love them, am close to them and see them, and there is no animosity. I am on a different path. I have to love myself enough to follow my truth.”

Although the “Radioactive” singer said he “always had problems” with religion, Reynolds didn’t decide to leave the church until he was in his twenties. By then, Reynolds had attended Brigham Young University and even served as a missionary in Nebraska for two years.

“I’ve seen a lot of the damage it’s done to me personally, but it also seemed to work incredibly well for my family, and they’re all healthy, happy people,” he said People“As I’ve gotten older, I don’t get upset about it anymore. When something works for someone, it’s really wonderful and rare, and I don’t want to mess it up.”

Although Reynolds’ family remains active in the church, he has chosen not to raise his children – daughters Arrow (11), Gia and Coco (7) and son Valentine (4) – as Mormons. (Reynolds has his four children with his ex-wife Aja Volkman.)

“My biggest goal every day is not to manipulate my children,” he explained. “I really don’t want to tell them what spiritual path to take. I share my thoughts with them and of course try to protect and care for them while making sure they have the freedom and agency to choose what they want.”

Reynolds and Volkman announced their separation in April 2018 after 7 years of marriage. Two months later, he told exclusively We weekly that the couple were “doing well” after going their separate ways. “I think life goes on and we’re doing well,” he told us at the time.

Imagine Dragons will kick off the Loom World Tour later this month, their biggest North American headlining tour to date.

“I think this will be our best record to play live. It has a lot of tempo, a lot of different emotions,” said Reynolds People. “We’re already in rehearsals for this tour and I just know – we’ve been doing this long enough that I think, ‘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 way, heavy in the right way, happy in the right way. It’s going to be a really fun record to tour.”