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Roots (song)

2015 single by Imagine Dragons

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionOct 19, 2025
Entity authorityQ20899562 ↗
Source-derived summary

"Roots" is a song by American pop rock band Imagine Dragons. It was written by band members Ben McKee, Daniel Platzman, Dan Reynolds and Wayne Sermon along with producer Alex da Kid, and originally released as a non-album single, however it appears as a bonus track on the Japanese edition of their third studio album Evolve. They performed the song for the first time on September 2, 2015, at their Melbourne, Australia, show for the Smoke + Mirrors Tour. The music video was released on September 29, 2015, and was filmed in New Zealand. The song debuted atop the Billboard Rock Digital Songs chart.

Composition

Guitarist Wayne Sermon stated that the song was written on the road during their Smoke + Mirrors Tour, and that it talks about the highs and lows of their lives as musicians. The short track features a distorted drum beat over a prominent piano riff. The track is dedicated to the support they have received from their fanbase.

Music video

The music video for "Roots" was released on September 29, 2015. It was filmed in New Zealand, and directed by Matt Eastin, who previously directed the video for "On Top of the World" and the Broiler remix of "Shots".

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Roots (song)” as 2015 single by Imagine Dragons. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Roots, song and single.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2015—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 2015-08-27. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Roots, song and single providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Roots (song)”, the useful work is to connect “2015 single by Imagine Dragons” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Oct 19, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q20899562. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2015.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

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Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Roots (song)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.