Songfacts®:

• Imagine Dragons lead vocalist Dan Reynolds wrote this emotional rock ballad shortly after losing his sister-in-law, Alisha Durtschi Reynolds, to cancer. She'd always been there for him, even sending him supportive messages despite being ill after Reynolds separated from his wife, Aja. The singer considered Alisha his best friend and is now an emotional "wreck" because of her passing.
• Reynolds was with Alisha and his brother when she died. The brothers were both raised in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and he watched his sibling's faith bring him hope that they will be reconciled in heaven. The Imagine Dragons frontman sings of his hopes that he too will meet his beloved sister-in-law again.
  
  I'll see you again, my loved one
  
  As Reynolds struggled with the loss, he took shelter in song. He said "Wrecked" was his "way of dealing with it all, as music has always been my refuge."
  
  "No longer being a man of fervent faith, I can only hope that she hears it somewhere in a place where she is healed and no longer in pain," he added. "This song is my wish for an eternity with those that I love."
• Imagine Dragons released "Wrecked" as the third single from Mercury - Act 1 on July 2, 2021. The first two songs made available from the album – "Follow You" and "Cutthroat" - are both based on the time when Reynolds and Aja broke up then decided to marry again.
• Imagine Dragons recorded the song along with the rest of the album at Rick Rubin's Shangri-La Recording Studio. Speaking to Hanuman Welch on Apple Music 1's ALT CTRL Radio, Reynolds said any track that made Mercury - Act 1 had to pass the Rick Rubin honesty test. This ensured that honesty was at the core of everything, especially "Wrecked," which is a really vulnerable and authentic song.
  
  Reynolds explained that Rubin would say to him, "I don't believe that," or "I don't believe you when you say that," or "I don't believe you when you sing that." It took the Imagine Dragons frontman a while to understand what Rubin was saying until he recognized that "even if you write a song and it makes you feel something that doesn't mean that it's going to translate to somebody else."
• Matt Eastin directed the emotional video, which like the song itself is centered around a grieving Dan Reynolds. Other Imagine Dragons clips directed by Eastin include the ones for "Believer," "Whatever It Takes," "Follow You" and "Cutthroat."