As a teenager, Glenn attended Chaparral High School in Temecula, California. He is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. After high school, he served a Mormon mission in Nebraska.

Neon Trees’ origins lay in Southern California in 2004 after Glenn’s father suggested he play music with guitarist Chris Allen, the son of one of Glenn’s father’s friends. In 2005, they moved to Provo, Utah and formally founded Neon Trees, adding bassist Branden Campbell (Previous Guest in The Cultural Hall) and drummer/backing vocalist Elaine Doty (who is now Elaine Bradley, who has also been in a gues in The Cultural Hall) in 2007. The band became well known in the music scene around Provo and Salt Lake City.

In the March 25 2014 issue of Rolling Stone, Glenn came out as gay, and discussed keeping his sexuality a secret throughout his life.

Although some fans had speculated that Glenn is gay, Glenn had previously stated that he was not and had spoken about a girl that he dated for two years and nearly married (their breakup is the subject of the song “Our War” on the Habits album). Glenn had stated that misperceptions about his sexuality prompted the song “Teenage Sounds” from the Picture Show album; the song contains the lyric “I’m sick of being called a fag because I’m queer.”

With respect to his Mormon faith, Glenn stated in a 2012 interview: “The way I was raised and being a questioner, and getting a lot of my curiosities out early with drugs and alcohol, I think it’s helped me maintain a more even keel where I’m not out of control.” It has been widely reported that Glenn and the other members of Neon Trees do not drink alcohol or use drugs.

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