Ben McKee

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Benjamin Arthur "Ben" McKee (born April 7, 1985) is an American musician, best known as the bassist of the Las Vegas-based rock band Imagine Dragons.

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. While at Berklee, McKee played in a guitar performance ensemble with future Imagine Dragons bandmates Wayne Sermon and Daniel Platzman.

Career

Imagine Dragons

In 2008, 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), "Las Vegas' Newest Must See Live Act" (Las Vegas CityLife), and more sent the band on a positive trajectory. In November 2011 they signed with Interscope Records and began working with producer Alex da Kid.

Imagine Dragons

Imagine Dragons is an American rock band from Las Vegas, Nevada. Imagine Dragons' lineup consists of lead vocalist Dan Reynolds, guitarist Wayne "Wing" Sermon, bassist Ben McKee and drummer Daniel Platzman. The band gained exposure following the release of their debut studio album, Night Visions (2012) and first single "It's Time". The band's second studio album Smoke + Mirrors reached number one on the Billboard 200, Canadian Albums Chart, and UK Albums Chart.Night Visions peaked at number two on the weekly Billboard 200 and UK Albums Chart. According to Billboard, Imagine Dragons topped the year-end rock rankings for 2013;Billboard named them "The Breakthrough Band of 2013", and Rolling Stone named their single "Radioactive" "the biggest rock hit of the year".MTV called them "the year's biggest breakout band".

Imagine Dragons won two American Music Awards for Favorite Alternative Artist, a Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance, five Billboard Music Awards, and a World Music Award. In May 2014, the band was nominated for a total of fourteen different Billboard Music Awards, including Top Artist of the Year and a Milestone Award, recognizing innovation and creativity of different artists across different genres.

Ben

Ben is frequently used as a shortened version of the given name Benjamin (as well as Benedict, Bengt, Bennett, Benoit, Benvolio, or Ebenezer, among other names). It is also used as a given name in its own right.

Ben (in Hebrew: בֶּן‎, Son of) forms part of surnames, e.g. Abraham ben Abraham (Hebrew: אברהם בן אברהם‎). Bar-, "son of" in Aramaic, is also seen, e.g. Simon bar Kokhba (Hebrew: שמעון בר כוכבא‎). The Arabic "Bin" (بن) or "Ibn" (ابن), also meaning "son of" is an obvious cognate.

People with the given name Ben

Daniel Reynolds

Daniel Reynolds or Dan Reynolds may refer to:

Daniel Wayne Sermon

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Daniel Wayne "Wing" Sermon (born June 15, 1984) is an American musician, best known as the guitarist of the Las Vegas-based alternative rock band Imagine Dragons.

Early life

Sermon was born on June 15, 1984 in American Fork, Utah. He is one of five children and grew up a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

As a youth Sermon learned to play both cello and guitar. He was determined to be a guitarist even as a child. His dad had an audio-phile quality amplifier, a record player, and all of The Beatles albums on vinyl which Sermon loved to listen to. He also loved the sounds of Tom Scholz (of Boston) and his approach to solos. He attended Berklee School of Music where he double majored in guitar performance and composition, graduating in 2008. While at Berklee he was part of a five-guitar, jazz fusion ensemble called The Eclectic Electrics.

Career

Imagine Dragons

Wayne Sermon heard Dan Reynolds performing at a club in Utah and approached him afterwards about his musical interests. Reynolds invited him to join his band and to move to Las Vegas. Sermon then invited bassist Ben McKee to join the band in Las Vegas and drummer Daniel Platzman, also a friend of Wayne's from Berklee College of Music, finalized the group at the invitation of McKee. In Las Vegas, the band performed and honed their craft nearly nightly as a lounge act. Local accolades including "Best CD of 2011" (Vegas SEVEN), "Best Local Indie Band 2010" (Las Vegas Weekly), "Las Vegas' Newest Must See Live Act" (Las Vegas CityLife), Vegas Music Summit Headliner 2010, and more sent the band on a positive trajectory. In November 2011 they signed with Interscope Records and began working with producer Alex da Kid.