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. The band proceeded to earn a number of local accolades including "Best CD of 2011" (Vegas SEVEN), "Best Local Indie Band 2010" (
Las Vegas Weekly), and "Las Vegas' Newest Must See Live Act" (
Las Vegas CityLife). In November 2011 they signed with
Interscope Records and began working with producer
Alex da Kid. 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. 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. In 2015, Imagine Dragons' second album
Smoke + Mirrors reached #1 on the
Billboard 200,
UK Albums Chart, and
Canadian Albums Chart. Singles include "
I Bet My Life", "
Gold", and "
Shots". Since then, the band has released four more albums:
Evolve (2017),
Origins (2018),
Mercury - Acts 1 & 2 (2022), and
Loom (2024). Imagine Dragons has also 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. == Philanthropy ==