Ben McKee | |
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 McKee performing in 2013 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Benjamin Arthur McKee |
| Born | April 7, 1985 Forestville, California, U.S. |
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| Years active | 2009–present |
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| Member of | Imagine Dragons |
Benjamin Arthur McKee (born April 7, 1985) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is the bassist for the pop rock band Imagine Dragons.
McKee was raised in Forestville, California, and graduated from El Molino High School. [1] He grew up playing acoustic guitar and violin, before picking up acoustic bass in fifth grade. In high school, he continued learning bass guitar as a member of a jazz trio, which influenced his decision to attend Berklee College of Music. [2] [3] While at Berklee, McKee played in a guitar performance ensemble with future Imagine Dragons bandmates Wayne Sermon and Daniel Platzman. [4]
In 2009, McKee was invited by Wayne Sermon to join Imagine Dragons, based out of Las Vegas. McKee dropped out of his final semester at Berklee to join the band, inviting Daniel Platzman to play drums, completing the lineup. The band relocated to Las Vegas performing and honing their craft nearly nightly as a lounge act. [5] [6] [7] The band proceeded to earn a number of local accolades including "Best CD of 2011" (Vegas SEVEN), [8] "Best Local Indie Band 2010" (Las Vegas Weekly), [9] and "Las Vegas' Newest Must See Live Act" (Las Vegas CityLife). [10] In November 2011 they signed with Interscope Records and began working with producer Alex da Kid. [11]
In 2012 their debut album Night Visions brought the band mainstream success. It reached #2 on the Billboard 200 chart and won the Billboard Music Award for Best Rock Album (2014). Single "It's Time" became the band's first single reaching #15 Billboard Hot 100 and certified multi-platinum by the RIAA. Second single "Radioactive" reached #3 Billboard Hot 100 and was certified diamond by the RIAA, becoming the best selling rock song in the history of Nielsen SoundScan. Third single "Demons" reached #6 Billboard Hot 100 and was certified multi-platinum by the RIAA. Their album made the highest debut for a new rock band in six years (since 2006) and single Radioactive set a new record for longest time atop the Billboard Hot Rock Songs chart with 23 consecutive weeks. [12] Tracks from the album topped the Billboard Rock Songs, Billboard Alternative Songs, and Billboard Pop Songs charts. Radioactive was also nominated for two Grammy Awards, winning the Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance. [13] In 2015, Imagine Dragons' second album Smoke + Mirrors reached #1 on the Billboard 200, UK Albums Chart, and Canadian Albums Chart. [14] [15] Singles include "I Bet My Life", "Gold" and "Shots". [16] [17]
The band has contributed songs to several film soundtracks, including "Ready Aim Fire" for Iron Man 3 , "Who We Are" for Hunger Games: Catching Fire and "Battle Cry" for Transformers: Age of Extinction . In addition, in September 2014, "Warriors" was released by Riot Games along with an animated music video promoting the League of Legends World Championships. They also collaborated with Riot Games and J.I.D and in October 2021 released Enemy, the theme song of Arcane, the League of Legends animated TV series. In August 2023, a collaboration with Bethesda Softworks produced Children of the Sky, a song using the theme of and inspired by Starfield. [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23]
In February 2021, McKee pledged to donate $1,000 a day to worthy causes for a year. Some of his donations have been to causes that aid Latino families (UndocuFund), that mentor LGBTQIA+ youth (Positive Images), food providers (Redwood Empire Food Bank and Food for Thought), and wildlife rescue (Bird Rescue Center). [24]
The music in Nevada is often associated with the Rat Pack and lounge singers like Wayne Newton playing in Las Vegas, Reno, and Carson City. However, Nevada has launched many other notable artists and bands from a variety of genres.
Daniel Coulter Reynolds is an American singer. He is the lead vocalist and a founding member of the pop rock band Imagine Dragons, which formed in 2008. He is a recipient of the Songwriters Hall of Fame Hal David Starlight Award.
Imagine Dragons are an American pop rock band formed in 2008, based in Las Vegas, Nevada, and currently consisting of lead singer Dan Reynolds, guitarist Wayne Sermon, and bassist Ben McKee. The band first gained exposure with the release of their single "It's Time", followed by their debut album Night Visions (2012), which resulted in the chart-topping singles "Radioactive" and "Demons". Rolling Stone named "Radioactive", which held the record for most weeks charted on the Billboard Hot 100, the "biggest rock hit of the year". MTV called them "the year's biggest breakout band", and Billboard named them their "Breakthrough Band of 2013" and "Biggest Band of 2017", and placed them at the top of their "Year in Rock" rankings for 2013, 2017, and 2018. Imagine Dragons topped the Billboard Year-End "Top Artists – Duo/Group" category in 2018.
Continued Silence EP is the fifth extended play (EP) by American rock band Imagine Dragons, released on February 14, 2012 by KIDinaKORNER and Interscope Records. It was recorded at Westlake Recording Studios. All songs were written by Imagine Dragons and produced by Alex Da Kid, with mixing by engineer Manny Marroquin and engineer Rich Costey. The EP was mastered by mastering engineer Joe LaPorta. All of the songs on Continued Silence were featured on the band's debut album Night Visions except for "My Fault" and "Round and Round", which were later included on deluxe editions of Night Visions. Previous purchases of songs from the EP counted towards Night Visions and decreased its price.
Night Visions is the debut studio album by American pop rock band Imagine Dragons. It was released on September 4, 2012, through Kidinakorner and Interscope Records. The album was primarily produced by the band themselves, as well as English hip-hop producer Alex da Kid and Brandon Darner of The Envy Corps and formerly of the metal band Slipknot. According to frontman Dan Reynolds, the album took three years to finish, with six of the album's tracks being previously released on multiple EPs. Musically, Night Visions exhibits influences of folk, hip hop and pop.
"It's Time" is the debut single by American rock band Imagine Dragons, released on February 6, 2012, as the lead single from the band's first major label EP, Continued Silence. Later that year the song was included on the band's first full album Night Visions (2012). The song had already been included on the band's independently released EP It's Time (2011), and it had been available on YouTube since 2010.
"Radioactive" is a song by American pop rock band Imagine Dragons from their major-label debut EP Continued Silence and later on their debut studio album, Night Visions (2012), as the opening track. It was first sent to modern rock radio on October 29, 2012, and then released to contemporary hit radio on April 9, 2013. Musically, "Radioactive" is an electronic rock and alternative rock song with elements of dubstep.
"Demons" is a song by American pop rock band Imagine Dragons. It was written by Alex da Kid, Ben McKee, Dan Reynolds, Wayne Sermon, Josh Mosser and produced by Alex da Kid. The song appears on their major-label debut extended play, Continued Silence, and also makes an appearance on their debut studio album, Night Visions, as the fourth track. "Demons" was solicited to American triple-A radio stations on January 28, 2013, and to modern rock stations two months later, on April 1, 2013. It serves as the album's overall fifth single and was released as the third single from Night Visions in the United States, later released to US contemporary hit radio stations on 17 September 2013 as an official single. The lyrics portray the protagonist warning the significant other of his or her flaws.
Night Visions Live is the second live album by American rock band Imagine Dragons. Recorded during a live performance at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre on May 16, 2013, during the Night Visions Tour, the album was released by KIDinaKORNER and Interscope Records on February 25, 2014. Physical copies of the album and video include the 2012 documentary The Making of Night Visions, and the band's music videos produced during the Night Visions album cycle.
Daniel Wayne Sermon is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is the lead guitarist for the pop rock band Imagine Dragons.
"Battle Cry" is a song by American rock band Imagine Dragons. It was released on June 2, 2014, as a single promoting Transformers: Age of Extinction, a 2014 science fiction action film based on the Transformers franchise. The song, which appears in the end credits of the film, was also included on the super deluxe version of the band’s second studio album, Smoke + Mirrors (2015). It is the first theme song in the live-action Transformers film franchise not to be performed by Linkin Park, though the latter's "Until It's Gone" is included on the accompanying video game.
Daniel James Platzman is an American musician, songwriter, record producer and composer. He is best known as the former drummer for the pop rock band Imagine Dragons.
Smoke + Mirrors is the second studio album by American pop rock band Imagine Dragons. The album was recorded during 2014 at the band's home studio in Las Vegas, Nevada. Self-produced by members of the band along with English hip-hop producer Alex da Kid, the album was released by Interscope Records and Grant's Kidinakorner label on February 17, 2015, in the United States.
"Gold" is a song by American rock band Imagine Dragons, which bases itself on the story of the Midas Touch. The track was released as the second single from their second studio album Smoke + Mirrors on December 16, 2014. The track was written by band members Ben McKee, Daniel Platzman, Dan Reynolds and Wayne Sermon, as well as the producer of the song, Alex da Kid. The music video was released onto Vevo on January 21, 2015. The song was used by FX to promote their FX Now app, and by Discovery Channel to promote their show Gold Rush's season 6 premiere. The Jorgen Odegard remix of the song was featured on the soundtrack of the video game, NBA 2K17.
"Shots" is a song by American rock band Imagine Dragons. It was written by band members Ben McKee, Daniel Platzman, Dan Reynolds and Wayne Sermon and released as the third and final single from their second studio album Smoke + Mirrors (2015).
"Roots" is a song by American pop rock band Imagine Dragons. It was written by band members Ben McKee, Daniel Platzman, Dan Reynolds and Wayne Sermon along with producer Alex da Kid, and originally released as a non-album single, however it appears as a bonus track on the Japanese edition of their third studio album Evolve. They performed the song for the first time on September 2, 2015, at their Melbourne, Australia, show for the Smoke + Mirrors Tour. The music video was released on September 29, 2015, and was filmed in New Zealand. The song debuted atop the Billboard Rock Digital Songs chart.
"Machine" is a song by American pop rock band Imagine Dragons, who co-wrote it with their producer Alex da Kid. It is the third single from the band's fourth studio album Origins.
Mercury – Acts 1 & 2 is the full fifth studio album by American pop rock band Imagine Dragons, released through Kidinakorner and Interscope Records. It is a double album consisting of 32 tracks, with the first half, Mercury – Act 1, released separately on September 3, 2021, and Mercury – Act 2, the second half, released on July 1, 2022, as part of Mercury – Acts 1 & 2. Act 2 was only released separately on vinyl.
"Sharks" is a song by American pop rock band Imagine Dragons, released as the second single from the band's fifth studio album, Mercury – Acts 1 & 2 on June 24, 2022. The song was released through Interscope and Kidinakorner. It was written by Dan Reynolds, Wayne Sermon, Ben McKee, Daniel Platzman, and its producers Mattman & Robin. The song charted internationally and was certified gold in multiple countries, including Canada and the United States.
"Children of the Sky" (a Starfield song), or simply "Children of the Sky", is a song by American rock band Imagine Dragons released as the soundtrack song for the Bethesda video game Starfield. It was released through Interscope Records and Kidinakorner on August 30, 2023. It is the fourth song by the band based on a video game following "Warriors" for the 2014 League of Legends World Championship, "Monster" for Infinity Blade III, and "Enemy" featuring JID for Arcane. The song is featured on the Japanese edition of the band's sixth studio album Loom.
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| Authority control databases: Artists |
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