Imagine Dragons recounts journey from local band to Pop Rock mainstay

Since they first hit the charts with "It's Time" in 2012, Imagine Dragons' potent lyrics and forceful melodies have captivated listeners around the world.

Later hits include fiery ballad "Believer" and the electro-pop infused "Thunder." They've racked up a slew of awards, including a Grammy for "Radioactive" in 2014. Their 2017 album "Evolve" went double-platinum, sending the band on a world tour that sold more than 1.7 million tickets.

Lead singer Dan Reynolds, drummer Daniel Platzman, bassist Ben McKee and longtime guitarist Wayne Sermon sat down with ABC News' Ashan Singh to talk about their rise from a local Utah band to one of the biggest names in their genre.

Reynolds started the band when he was a student at Brigham Young University. They later moved to Las Vegas to raise their profile. From the beginning, the band set their sights on achieving global stardom.

"I remember sitting in the tiny home that we'd rented out together in Las Vegas. We had a whiteboard that we purchased, and we were writing down band goals, and this was over a decade ago. And one of the first goals was to be a global band," Reynolds told ABC News.

It was a dream they'd go on to reach within just a few years. And they've managed to stay relevant ever since — a feat they attribute, in part, to staying consistent and turning a blind eye to the trends.

"Music's a language that's constantly evolving and that world has absolutely changed from 10 years ago to now. I think it's a really dangerous strategy if you try to change your process and your target to whatever is trending right now, because whatever is trending right now isn't going to be trending very soon," Platzman said.

Recently, Imagine Dragons headlined the inaugural Lollapalooza India festival with over 60,000 attendees.

"It's amazing to go to a place you've never been to after being a band for a decade. And then finding fans there that are passionate and know all the words to all the songs," Reynolds said.

Several philanthropic causes help keep the band grounded. They launched the Tyler Robinson Foundation, named after a terminally ill 16-year-old fan, which raises money for pediatric cancer research.

"You see these kids who are fighting the ultimate fight and then suddenly your problems are nothing," Reynolds said.

Every year, they also put on the LoveLoud Festival in Utah in support of LGBTQ youth who live in unaccepting homes and communities.

"In a lot of these communities, we find that the suicide rate is higher, drug use is higher for these kids," Reynolds said.

This year is the first year the LoveLoud festival will go on tour, with shows in Austin, Texas, and Washington, D.C.

The band's current lineup has been together for over a decade. McKee said that "having the foundation of respect" is what has kept them together for so long.

"We've been through loss, we've been through deaths in the families, together. We've been through illness and babies, relationships and the end of relationships. And you can either see all that and then hate each other through or you can see it and say, 'Damn, we really love each other," Reynolds said.