Wayne Sermon

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 enjoyed listening to. He also loved the sounds of Tom Scholz (of Boston) and his approach to solos. He attended Berklee College 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.

Imagine Dragons

Wayne Sermon first met Dan Reynolds after hearing him perform at a club in Utah and approaching him afterwards about his musical interests. Reynolds invited him to join his band and move to Las Vegas. Sermon then invited Ben McKee to join the band on bass, and drummer Daniel Platzman, also a friend of Wayne's from Berklee College of Music, became the last member to join 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.

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 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" and "Shots".

Sermon has chronic insomnia and will often record songs during the middle of the night, sleeping only a couple of hours a day.

Electric Guitars

Acoustic Guitars

Sound equipment

Playing style

Sermon has described his playing style as textual.

Personal life

Sermon married Alexandra Hall, a ballerina and Brigham Young University graduate, in California on February 18, 2011. On July 26, 2014, Sermon and Hall welcomed their first child, a son, River James Sermon. On January 21, 2016, they welcomed their second child, another son, Wolfgang Alexander Sermon.