Benjamin Arthur McKee (born April 7, 1985) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is the bassist for the
pop rock
Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...
band
Imagine Dragons
Imagine Dragons are an American pop rock band formed in 2008, based in Las Vegas, Nevada. The band currently consists of lead singer Dan Reynolds, guitarist Wayne Sermon, and bassist Ben McKee. They first gained exposure with the release of ...
.
Early life
McKee was raised in
Forestville, California, and graduated from
El Molino High School. 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
Berklee College of Music () is a Private university, private music college in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern Music of the United ...
.
While at Berklee, McKee played in a guitar performance ensemble with future Imagine Dragons bandmates
Wayne Sermon and
Daniel Platzman.
Career
In 2009, McKee was invited by
Wayne Sermon to join Imagine Dragons, based out of
Las Vegas
Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...
. 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
''Las Vegas Weekly'' is a free alternative weekly newspaper based in Henderson, Nevada
Henderson is a city in Clark County, Nevada, United States, about southeast of downtown Las Vegas. It is the List of cities in Nevada, 2nd most populous ...
), and "Las Vegas' Newest Must See Live Act" (
Las Vegas CityLife).
In November 2011 they signed with
Interscope Records
Interscope Records is an American record label based in Santa Monica, California, owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture ...
and began working with producer
Alex da Kid
Alexander Junior Grant (born 27 August 1983), professionally known as Alex da Kid or by.ALEXANDER, is a British music producer from Wood Green, London. He has gained recognition for producing several hit singles for artists of multiple music g ...
.
In 2012 their debut album ''
Night Visions
''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 Engli ...
'' brought the band mainstream success. It reached #2 on the
''Billboard'' 200 chart and won the
Billboard Music Award
The ''Billboard'' Music Awards are honors given out annually by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'', a publication covering the music business and a Billboard charts, music popularity chart. The ''Billboard'' Music Awards show has been held annu ...
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
Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation. A material containing unstable nuclei is conside ...
" reached #3 Billboard Hot 100 and was certified diamond by the RIAA, becoming the best selling rock song in the history of
Nielsen SoundScan
Luminate Data, LLC (formerly MRC Data and P-MRC Data) is a provider of music and entertainment data. Established as a joint-venture in 2020, it brought together Nielsen Music, Alpha Data (formerly BuzzAngle Music) and Variety Business Intellige ...
. Third single "
Demons
A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in folklore, mythology, religion, occultism, and literature; these beliefs are reflected in media including
fiction, comics, film, t ...
" 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
The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...
, winning the
Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance.
In 2015, Imagine Dragons' second album ''
Smoke + Mirrors
''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 produce ...
'' reached #1 on the
''Billboard'' 200,
UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...
, and
Canadian Albums Chart
The ''Billboard'' Canadian Albums is the official record chart
A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music according to certain criteria during a given ...
. Singles include "
I Bet My Life", "
Gold
Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...
", and "
Shots".
Since then, the band has released four more albums: ''
Evolve'' (2017), ''
Origins
Origin(s) or The Origin may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Comics and manga
* ''Origin'' (comics), a Wolverine comic book mini-series published by Marvel Comics in 2002
* ''The Origin'' (Buffy comic), a 1999 ''Buffy the Vampire Sl ...
'' (2018),
''Mercury - Acts 1 & 2'' (2022), and ''
Loom
A loom is a device used to weaving, weave cloth and tapestry. The basic purpose of any loom is to hold the Warp (weaving), warp threads under tension (mechanics), tension to facilitate the interweaving of the weft threads. The precise shape of ...
'' (2024). Imagine Dragons has also contributed songs to several film soundtracks, including "Ready Aim Fire" for ''
Iron Man 3
''Iron Man 3'' is a 2013 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Iron Man, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is the sequel to ''Iron Man (2008 film), Iron Man'' (2008) an ...
'', "Who We Are" for ''
Hunger Games: Catching Fire'' and "Battle Cry" for ''
Transformers: Age of Extinction''. In addition, in September 2014, "
Warriors
A warrior is a guardian specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracy, class, or caste.
History
Warriors seem to have been p ...
" was released by
Riot Games
Riot Games, Inc. is an American video game developer, publisher, and esports tournament organizer based in Los Angeles. It was founded in September 2006 by Brandon Beck and Marc Merrill to develop ''League of Legends'' and went on to develop ...
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
An enemy or a foe is an individual or a group that is considered as forcefully adverse or threatening. The concept of an enemy has been observed to be "basic for both individuals and communities". The term "enemy" serves the social function of d ...
, the theme song of
Arcane
Arcane may refer to:
Comics and literature
* Anton Arcane, a DC Comics character
* Arcane Jill Watson, a fictional character in ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' franchise
* Arcane literature, fictional literature in the Cthulhu Mythos
...
, the League of Legends animated TV series. In August 2023, a collaboration with
Bethesda Softworks
Bethesda Softworks LLC is an American video game publisher based in Rockville, Maryland. The company was founded by Christopher Weaver in 1986 as a Division (business), division of Media Technology Limited. In 1999, it became a subsidiary of Z ...
produced
Children of the Sky, a song using the theme of and inspired by
Starfield.
Philanthropy
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).
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:McKee, Ben
Living people
American alternative rock musicians
American indie rock musicians
American male singers
Musicians from Las Vegas
Imagine Dragons members
1985 births
People from Forestville, California
Interscope Records artists
American male bass guitarists
21st-century American singers
Santa Rosa Junior College alumni
21st-century American bass guitarists