Daniel Platzman, Dan Reynolds, Daniel Wayne Sermon and Ben McKee of Imagine Dragons attend Variety’s 2022 Hitmakers Brunch at City Market Social House on December 3, 2022 in Los Angeles, California (Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Variety’s sixth annual Hitmakers Brunch, which honored the artists, writers, producers and music executives behind the 25 greatest singles of 2022, was held Saturday at the City Market Social House in Los Angeles and among the honorees was Elton John and Dua Lipa (Hitmakers of the Year), Sam Smith and Kim Petras (Innovators of the Year), and Selena Gomez (Movie Song of the Year). Imagine Dragons also won Group of the Year, and frontman Dan Reynolds’ acceptance speech was definitely the funniest moment of the event. The singer spent much of his time on the podium cheekily taunting attending executives from Atlantic Records — which, ironically, Variety had just named Label of the Year — for signing Imagine Dragons a decade ago.
After beginning his speech by saying that being a Mormon growing up in Las Vegas he “had a strange path” and then thanking Brigham Young University for his expulsion, Reynolds quipped, “Call Atlantic Records. They passed us. Call you. But you took us to Disneyland. Remember it? You brought us to Disneyland for free! That was great! [Former Atlantic A&R rep] Mollie [Lehman], if you’re here, you tried to sign us, but people didn’t believe us. But Atlantic, we celebrate you. It’s good to have healthy competition.”
Reynolds went on to declare Imagine Dragons’ actual label, Interscope Records, “the best in the world,” though he admitted, “Our president isn’t here. He doesn’t care enough. But that’s okay. Everything is good. Don’t worry. Everything is good. We will keep making you money.”
To put Reynolds’ comments about Atlantic’s huge missed opportunity into context, Imagine Dragons have sold more than 75 million records worldwide as of 2012, making them one of the best-selling artists of all time. They’re also the first rock act with four songs — “Radioactive,” “Demons,” “Believer,” and “Thunder” — each topping 1 billion streams.
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Reynolds kept Hitmakers’ room busy with all-star attendees – including Jack Harlow, HER, Rita Wilson, Kara DioGuardi, Caroline Polachek, Justin Tranter and DJ Cassidy – as he then reminisced about Imagine Dragons’ humble beginnings in Vegas O’Shea’s Irish Pub – home of “the cheapest beer on the Strip” – says: “It’s terrible. It’s the worst. It’s hell on earth. We played six-hour gigs there for three years. They let us do half covers and half originals. We played Britney Spears’ Toxic. We played Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy. It was terrible. It was really, really awful. But they made us money, and then we could buy Taco Bell. And here we are. So, many thanks to O’Shea’s. Thank you Atlantic But most of all thanks to Interscope.”
Reynolds ended his hilarious speech by noting that his Mormon parents never wanted him to be a musician and chuckled, “I have seven brothers. They are all doctors and lawyers. But I’m the richest now!” After Reynolds and his bandmates – guitarist Wayne Sermon, bassist Ben McKee and drummer Daniel Platzman – left the stage, Variety’s clearly amused music editor-in-chief Shirley Halperin thanked him for “making the room.” woke up”.
Watch Reynolds’ full speech below:
Other 2022 Hitmakers honorees included Lizzo’s About Damn Time for Record of the Year, Latto for Breakthrough Artist, Future for Collaborator Award, Omar Apollo for TikTok Future Icon Award, DioGuardi for A&R Award, Kid Harpoon and Tyler Johnson for Songwriter of the Year, Jesse Collins for Executive of the Year, Ebonie Ward for Manager of the Year, Ricky Reed for Producer of the Year and Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” for Sync of the Year.
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