Imagine Dragons Discuss Nerve-Racking Beatles Tribute Performance

2014-02-17

Story by Anne Erickson

Out of Imagine Dragons’ three latest high-stress performances, playing the CBS Beatles tribute special was the most nerve-racking

Between the Grammy Awards, “Saturday Night Live” and last weekend’s Beatles tribute special, the guys of Imagine Dragons have been busy. After all, they performed at all three of those events, and if you ask bass player Ben McKee, he’ll tell you it was pretty stressful.

“It’s crazy that the three most high-pressure gigs of our career all occurred in one week,” McKnee told Speaking to MTV, explaining that the Grammys, the CBS Beatles tribute show and the “Saturday Night Live” performance all happened within days of each other.

“Whatever gland in the human body that produces the chemical that makes you feel nervous, that gland has died in all of us,” drummer Dan Platzman said.

When asked which performance was the most nerve-racking, the guys picked the Beatles tribute, which had the band performing an acoustic rendition of the Beatles’ hit “Revolution.”

“That was the most nervous any of us have ever been, because you’re performing a Beatles song in front of Paul [McCartney] and Ringo [Starr]…and that’s just so intimidating,” lead vocalist Dan Reynolds said.

The “Saturday Night Live” appearance, in comparison, was a breeze. “‘SNL’ was a dream come true for all of us,” Platzman told MTV. “And when the moment came it was just so natural, and that freaked us out. Like, ‘This shouldn’t seem so natural!’”

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Anne Erickson

Meet the expert - Author, writer and editor Anne Erickson is a Detroit-based music reporter and radio host. She has written for the USA Today Network, Consequence.net, Blabbermouth.net, Loudwire.com and many more. Anne holds a master's degree from Michigan State University. Contact Anne at anne@audioinkradio.com.