ABC/Mitch HaasethFoster the People frontman Mark Foster is apologizing to Dan Reynolds after shading Imagine Dragons.
In a radio interview last fall, Foster was asked what the band does with songs that don't make it onto their albums. He replied, "We give it to Imagine Dragons."
"I would like to apologize to Dan Reynolds and his band Imagine Dragons," Foster wrote in a statement Wednesday. "In a passing moment last year I let some words come out of my mouth that don't reflect who I am, or what I stand for."
Foster said that he was moved to apologize after Reynolds posted an open letter earlier this year calling out artists who "feel a need to talk badly about my band for whatever reason," and specifically named Foster the People, as well as Slipknot, The Smashing Pumpkins and The 1975.
"When Dan posted his open letter speaking from the heart about how the negative words from other artists have affected him, it convicted me," Foster wrote. "He's right. As people with platforms there comes a responsibility to lead by example."
Foster then went on to highlight Reynolds' efforts as a humanitarian and an artist.
"Anybody who is trying to make the world more beautiful opens themselves up to criticism," Foster wrote. "The one who leads the charge catches the most arrows in the chest. I have always thought of myself as being shoulder to shoulder on that front line, but I think along the way I lost some of my focus."
Reynolds then responded to Foster's apology, saying that it "means quite a lot" to him.
"I was probably being overly sensitive to begin with to be honest," Reynolds wrote. "I have always loved FtP's music and will continue to jam to it and try to have less hurt feelings over people's opinions."
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