Saturday's second annual LoveLoud Music
Festival more than doubled its attendance over its inaugural concert.
Imagine Dragons frontman Dan Reynolds
helped organize LoveLoud, which raises money for several LGBT
organizations, including the Trevor Project and GLAAD.
According to LoveLoud's Facebook page,
it is dedicated to igniting “the vital conversation about what it
means to unconditionally love, understand, accept and support LGBTQ+
youth in our communities.”
At a press conference before the
festival, Reynolds said that he hopes for the day when LoveLoud
doesn't have to exist.
“To me, the LGBTQ youth that I've
spent time with say their biggest desire is for this not to be a
thing. To not to continually have to explain why they love who they
love,” Reynolds
said.
Last year's debut festival drew 17,000.
This year, more than 35,000 people filled Rice-Eccles Stadium on the
University of Utah's campus.
The lineup included Zedd, Linkin Park's
Mike Shinoda, Grace Vanderwaal, Neon Trees' Tyler Glenn, Vegabon,
Tegan and Sara and others.
Imagine Dragons was introduced by Apple
CEO Tim Cook, who told the crowd that LGBT youth are a “gift to the
world.”
(Related: At
LoveLoud in Utah, Apple's Tim Cook tells LGBT youth they are a “gift
to the world.”)
Reynolds told the crowd: “I wish you
could see how much we care about you, how much we love you, how much
we support you.”
“I accept you. I see you. I stand
with you. I fight with you until the end. May Utah go down as being
the first state to be the absolute lowest suicide rate,” he added.
Reynolds, who was raised Mormon, stars
in Believe, a documentary that looks into how the Mormon
Church treats its LGBT members. HBO has acquired U.S. television
rights to Believe.
In Utah, suicide is the leading cause
of death for people ages 10 to 24, higher than the national average.
Lesbian, gay and bisexual youth are almost five times as likely to
have attempted suicide compared to heterosexual youth, according to
the Trevor Project.