ABC/Image Group LAImagine Dragons are up for two awards at this Sunday night’s Grammys, but lead singer Dan Reynolds will be making an additional appearance during the show…in an anti-smoking ad.
As Billboard reports, Dan appears in an ad that will air during the Grammy telecast. It’s produced by truth, the largest youth smoking prevention campaign. The clip focuses on the fact that Big Tobacco specifically targets lower-income families, and genetically engineers tobacco to be addictive.
In the ad, Dan says, “They should be ashamed of themselves. It has to stop.”
Speaking to Billboard, Dan calls Big Tobacco’s methods “heartless,” noting, “They’re taking someone who is already set up to have a difficult life ahead of them, and putting them back even 10 steps further.”
Reynolds says he’s speaking out because he thinks musicians can make a big impact on their fans.
“I’m down for everything else with rock and roll — the spirit of it, the sex of it, I love everything about [it], except the drug use,” he tells Billboard. “And cigarettes seem to go hand in hand with rock and roll aesthetically, and this needs to change. This needs to stop.”
At Sunday night’s Grammys, Imagine Dragons are up for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group for “Thunder,” and Best Pop Vocal Album for their latest disc, Evolve. The show airs Sunday night at 7:30 p.m. ET, live on CBS.
Copyright © 2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
