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Dan Reynolds has responded to System of a Down's Serj Tankian harshly criticizing Imagine Dragons choice to play shows in Israel and Azerbaijan.
“I don’t believe in depriving our fans who want to see us play because of the acts of their leaders and their governments," the singer told Rolling Stone. "I think that’s a really slippery slope. I think the second you start to do that, there’s corrupt leaders and warmongers all over the world, and where do you draw the line?”
In response to Tankian's comments, Reynolds said: “I think I just said it. It’s a slippery slope, and I’m never going to deprive our fans of playing for them.”
“Look, I’m not a judge for people to tell bands where to play, or where not to play… I get that they’re doing it for money, that they’re artists, that they’re entertaining, all of that,” Tankian said last month. “But when there’s a government that’s about to commit ethnic cleansing, when Azerbaijan was starving the 120,000 Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh, and not allowing any food or medicine in… you know, as an artist, if I found that out, there is no f***ing way I could have gone and played that show. But some artists do. And I don’t know what to say about those artists. I don’t respect them as human beings. F** their art, they’re not good human beings, as far as I’m concerned.”
Imagine Dragons just released their sixth studio album LOOM and hit the road later this month for their "biggest North American headline tour to date."