Palestinian artists have honoured Imagine Dragons frontman Dan Reynolds with a mural painted on the remains of a destroyed building in Gaza city.
The artwork, created on the wall of a building damaged in Israeli attacks, depicts the American singer alongside a Palestinian flag. It was painted as a gesture of gratitude for what the artists described as Reynolds's support for Palestinians.
The mural was inspired by an incident during an Imagine Dragons concert in Milan on May 27 last year, when Reynolds was handed a Palestinian flag towards the end of the show. He held the flag aloft before wrapping it around his shoulders and kissing it, a moment that was captured on video and widely shared online.
Among those behind the artwork is Palestinian artist Anne Ridvan, 26, who has been using buildings damaged in Israeli attacks as spaces for her work.
Ridvan was already an artist before the war, but lost her tools and materials during the conflict. She subsequently began painting directly on damaged structures, using her work to bring colour to streets marked by destruction and to convey messages to the outside world.
"We wanted to say a simple thank you from Gaza and from the heart of the destruction to Dan Reynolds because he showed his solidarity to us and raised the Palestinian flag," she told the Anadolu Agency. "We always face challenges in finding our materials: colors and brushes, and to find a place where we can feel comfortable at. We want all people from the around the world to show solidarity to us because the siege is still happening, and we're always threatened to get hit by a strike while we paint."
Earlier this month, Ridvan also painted a mural of rapper Macklemore after he was kicked off Ed Sheeran's tour for calling for a “Free Palestine”.
The Reynolds mural comes months before he is due to return to the UAE with Imagine Dragons as one of the headliners of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after-race concerts at Etihad Park on December 5. It will mark the group's first performance in the UAE since their sold-out concert at Abu Dhabi's Etihad Arena in 2023.
Formed in Las Vegas in 2008, Imagine Dragons rose to international prominence with their 2012 debut album Night Visions and have since become one of the world's most commercially successful pop-rock bands. Their biggest songs include Radioactive, Demons, Believer and Thunder.
Reynolds' appearance with the Palestinian flag in Milan also attracted attention because of the band's previous decision to perform in Israel.
Imagine Dragons played to about 60,000 people at Yarkon Park in Tel Aviv in August 2023, despite calls from pro-Palestinian campaigners for the group to cancel the concert.
Reynolds subsequently addressed criticism of the decision in a 2024 interview with Rolling Stone, saying the band did not believe audiences should be denied the opportunity to see them perform because of the actions of their government.
