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| Background = group_or_band
| Background = group_or_band
| Origin = [[Las Vegas, Nevada]], United States
| Origin = [[Las Vegas, Nevada]], United States
| Genre = [[Alternative rock]], [[post-punk revival]], [[New Wave music|New Wave]],<ref>{{cite news| url=http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/6031887 | work=Billboard/MSNBC | title=New wave is back — in hot new bands | date=2004-09-17 | accessdate=2010-09-11}}</ref>
| Genre =[[Indie Rock]], [[Alternative rock]], [[post-punk revival]], [[New Wave music|New Wave]],<ref>{{cite news| url=http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/6031887 | work=Billboard/MSNBC | title=New wave is back — in hot new bands | date=2004-09-17 | accessdate=2010-09-11}}</ref>
| Years_active = 2002–present
| Years_active = 2002–present
| Label = [[Island Records|Island]], [[Vertigo Records|Vertigo]], [[Marrakesh Records|Marrakesh]]
| Label = [[Island Records|Island]], [[Vertigo Records|Vertigo]], [[Marrakesh Records|Marrakesh]]

Revision as of 12:23, 11 November 2010

Not to be confused with The Kills.

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The Killers

The Killers are an American rock band from Las Vegas, Nevada that was formed in 2001. The band consists of Brandon Flowers (vocals, keyboards), Dave Keuning (guitar, backing vocals), Mark Stoermer (bass guitar, backing vocals) and Ronnie Vannucci Jr. (drums, percussion).

As an alternative rock band, The Killers draw some of their influences from the music styles of the 1980s. The group's debut album, Hot Fuss (2004) brought the band mainstream success. The Killers' second album, Sam's Town, was released in 2006, and compilation album Sawdust containing B-sides, rarities, and new material, was released in 2007. Their third studio album, Day & Age, produced by Stuart Price, was released in 2008.

The band has sold over 6 million albums in the United States, over 5 million albums in the United Kingdom and over 15 million worldwide.[2]

History

Formation (2001-2002)

In 2001, Brandon Flowers was abandoned by his first band, a synthpop band known as Blush Response,[3] after he declined to move with the rest of them to Los Angeles, California. After seeing Oasis play at the Hard Rock Hotel, Flowers decided he wanted to be in a rock band and began searching for a guitar player, he eventually came across an ad posted in a Vegas newspaper by Dave Keuning who shared similar musical influences. They began playing together and by the end of 2001 they had recorded a demo tape (which featured an early version of Mr. Brightside). Keuning and Flowers played their first live show together at the Cafe Espresso Roma in Las Vegas in early 2002. By the fall of 2002, bass player Mark Stoermer and drummer Ronnie Vannucci Jr. who had both befriended Keuning and Flowers while playing with other bands on the live circuit in Las Vegas had joined the official line up.[4][5] The name "The Killers" comes from the bass drum of a fictional band in the music video for the New Order song "Crystal".[3]

Getting Signed (2003)

Initially, The Killers played at small clubs in Las Vegas, Nevada, where they often played at drag shows. They began to send demo tapes to major record labels in the US, all the record labels turned them down but the band caught the eye of Niall Norbury, a British representative for Warner Bros. Though Warner did not like the band, Norbury took the demo back with him, showing it to friend Ben Durling, who worked at UK indie label Lizard King Records. When label head Martin Heath was asked in an interview with HitQuarters what appealed to him about the band he said, "Great and interesting original-sounding songs. When we met Brandon Flowers for the first time it was very clear to me that he was a major star. He had huge charisma. He completely believed in what he was doing. He just stood out and carried the music."[6] The Killers signed with the British label in July 2003.[7]

On the 19 August 2003 , "Mr. Brightside" premiered on DJ Zane Lowe's BBC Radio 1 show in the UK.[8] The Killers then travelled to London and began to play shows in bars and clubs, the crowds grew every night through word of mouth and critical reviews were extremely positive, soon after returning to the US they were signed by Island Def Jam.[5]

Hot Fuss (2004–2006)

The Killers performing in 2006 on the Sam's Town Tour 2006.

The Killers released their album Hot Fuss in June 2004 in the United Kingdom on Marrakesh Records and in the United States on Island Records.[9] Hot Fuss reached Number 1 in the UK and has been classified 6x Platinum by the BPI.[10] It reached the top spot in Australia, where it was certified 3x Platinum, and has also been certified 3x Platinum in the United States and Canada.[11] The band also had chart success with its singles "Mr. Brightside," which reached the Top 10 in the UK and US,[12] "All These Things That I've Done,"[13] "Somebody Told Me," and "Smile Like You Mean It." [9]

In July 2005, The Killers performed on the London stage of the Live 8 concert, playing "All These Things That I've Done." Robbie Williams incorporated the song's refrain "I've got soul but I'm not a soldier" into his own performance.[14] Coldplay and U2 followed suit and, at their separate concerts played in Las Vegas, with The Killers in the crowd, incorporated the line into their songs "God Put a Smile Upon Your Face" and "Beautiful Day," respectively.[15]

Sam's Town (2006–2007)

The Killers' second album, Sam's Town, was released in October 2006 under Island Def Jam Music Group.[16] Brandon Flowers said that Sam's Town would be "one of the best albums people would remember 20 years from now",[17] though the album received a mixed response from critics and fans.[18] The album sold over 706,000 copies worldwide in the first week of release, with a number two debut on the Billboard chart.[19] The record has been certified 4x Platinum in the United Kingdom and Platinum in the United States. The album produced four singles: "When You Were Young" released in September 2006, "Bones" which was released in November 2006, "Read My Mind" which was released in February 2007, and "For Reasons Unknown" which was released in June 2007.

The Killers recorded a live session at Abbey Road Studios for Live from Abbey Road on November 29, 2006.[20] They performed an almost totally unplugged set, which included a rendition of the Dire Straits hit "Romeo and Juliet". In December 2006 the band released a Christmas charity song, "A Great Big Sled", which benefited Product Red. In February 2007, The Killers attended the BRIT Awards in the United Kingdom, where they performed "When You Were Young". The band won two awards — Best International Group & International Album.[21] In 2007, The Killers headlined the iconic Madison Square Garden for the first time as well as Glastonbury Festival.[22]

Sawdust (2007–2008)

The band released a compilation album called Sawdust, containing B-sides, rarities, and some new material, in November 2007. Sawdust has been classified Platinum by the BPI.[23] The album's first single "Tranquilize", a collaboration with Lou Reed, was released in October 2007.[23] The album also contains the songs "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town", (a Kenny Rogers and The First Edition cover), "Romeo and Juliet", (a Dire Straits cover), and "Daddy's Eyes", a B-side from "Bones"/Best Buy Bonus Track to Sam's Town. The first pressing of Sawdust contained a rare demo version of "Move Away" which Brandon Flowers later stated was a mistake on the part of the band's record label; the proper version the group intended to put on the album was previously available on the Spider-Man 3 soundtrack is included on later pressings of Sawdust.[24] The band released a cover version of Joy Division's "Shadowplay" on the American iTunes Store that same month.[25] In a Rolling Stone magazine article, Sawdust was compared to the classic Smiths album Hatful of Hollow , they also released a second Christmas single titled "Don't Shoot Me Santa" this was again in aid of Product Red.

Day & Age (2008–2010)

The Killers performing in September 2009 in the United States.

The Killers finished working on a third album, which was released on November 24, 2008 in the UK and November 25, 2008 in North America. Brandon Flowers confirmed the album's title as Day & Age in an interview with NME.[26] They worked with Stuart Price who did the Thin White Duke remix of "Mr Brightside" and produced "Leave the Bourbon on the Shelf" and "Sweet Talk". The first single from the album was "Human", although originally planned for Sawdust, it was released on September 22, with the music video released on iTunes on October 16.[27] Day & Age became the band's third studio album to reach number one in both the UK and Ireland, it reached number six on the Billboard 200 album chart.[28] The band released a third Christmas single in December 2008, "Joseph, Better You Than Me". It features Elton John and Neil Tennant of Pet Shop Boys. Proceeds from the downloads will benefit Product Red.[29][30]

During the summer of 2009 The Killers headlined a number of festivals across Europe including the Friday night show of 2009's Hard Rock Calling in Hyde Park, London , they also headlined American festivals Lollapalooza and Coachella for the first time. On July 5–6 at the Royal Albert Hall, London The Killers recorded their first live DVD. It was released in November.

UNICEF, MTV EXIT (End Exploitation and Trafficking) and the US Agency for International Development used a shortened version of the song "Goodnight, Travel Well" in a video to promote awareness of sex trafficking.[31] The Killers also released a Christmas single in December 2009 called "Happy Birthday Guadalupe", and in November 2009 their song "A White Demon Love Song" was added to the New Moon soundtrack.

In late February 2010, The Sun (a British newspaper) published the story that Flowers' mother had died after a two year fight with brain cancer. This meant a premature closing of their Day and Age tour cancelling the Asian dates. Two Australian dates in Sydney and Perth were cancelled; however, both the Gold Coast and Melbourne concerts went ahead, with the Day & Age tour finally coming to a close in Melbourne on February 21 as the headline act at the Good Vibrations Festival at Flemington Racecourse.[32]

Hiatus and fourth studio album (2010–present)

In January 2010, the band announced that they will take a short break after being on the road for the better part of six years.[33][34]

The band, invited by US President Barack Obama, played on the White House South Lawn on July 4, 2010 for the second annual "Salute To The Military" United Service Organizations concert as part of Independence Day celebrations, which Flowers described as a "monumental honour".[35] Despite their hiatus, the band got together to play "Human", "Somebody Told Me", "Mr. Brightside", "A Dustland Fairytale", "God Bless America/Read My Mind" and "When You Were Young".[36]

As of June 15, 2010, Flowers has confirmed that The Killers have set a date to return to the studio and work on a follow-up album to Day & Age.[37]

In an interview in August 2010, Brandon Flowers was quoted as saying that he had "saved an ace" in regards to a song he had written for his solo album Flamingo, but later decided he would save it for the next Killers album.[citation needed] In an interview with Zane Lowe for BBC Radio 1, Brandon said The Killers would get back together to work on the next record "as soon as possible in 2011."[citation needed] Also in an interview with Q Magazine, Flowers said he expected the new Killers album to be out around 2012.[citation needed]

Brandon Flowers has also suggested that the fourth album will be a mixture of their last two albums' styles, saying, "I'm planning on making our next album a revisit to our last two albums."[citation needed]

Collaborations and solo work

In April 2010, it was announced that Ronnie Vannucci Jr featured with members of Keane and Mumford & Sons in a new band called Mt. Desolation. The debut album of country songs titled Mt. Desolation arrived on Oct 18 (UK) & 19 (US) and features Ronnie Vannucci Jr on drums on Track #7. He also features as a guitarist.

On September 3rd, 2010 Brandon Flowers released a solo album, entitled Flamingo. Flamingo reached Number 1 in the UK.[38] Featuring 10 tracks, the album was released on September 6 in the United Kingdom and September 14 in the United States.[39] The first single from the album, "Crossfire", was released on June 21, 2010, via iTunes in the United States and Canada.[40] It was released in the United Kingdom on August 23, 2010.[39]

The Killers also own Battle Born Studios where members recorded Day & Age and Flamingo. Other artists who have recorded there include members of Motley Crue, Elton John, Third Eye Blind, Aerosmith, Kansas, Jerry Lee Lewis, BB King, and Wayne Newton.

Reception

Awards and nominations

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by The Killers

The Killers have won four NME Awards: 2008 and 2009 and Best Video for "Bones" in 2006. They have also picked up two awards in the first NME Awards USA in 2008 for Best Band and Best Track for "Tranquilize". The Killers have also been nominated for seven Grammy Awards, but have yet to win. In 2006 the band won the BRIT Award for Best International Band and the album Sam's Town won Best International Album.

Opinion polls and sales charts

Hot Fuss was the 26th best-selling album of the decade in the United Kingdom. It spent 173 weeks on the UK Albums Chart, more than any other album. Sam's Town was the 70th best-selling album of the decade in the UK and The Killers were the 21st Best-Selling Artist of the decade in the UK.[41]

The Killers were #4 in the MTV Greatest Superstars poll which was run throughout August 2009 on MTV: the poll included all genres of music.[42]

In November 2009, "Mr. Brightside" was voted the best song of the decade by the listeners of the British alternative rock station XFM.[43] Over 14,000 individual votes were cast by XFM listeners via the station's official website. "Somebody Told Me" was ranked #9[43] and "All These Things That I've Done" was ranked #22.[44] "When You Were Young" was also ranked #31[45] and "Read My Mind" at #86,[46] and "Human" at #94.[47][48]

Absolute Radio listeners also voted "Mr. Brightside" as the best song of the decade.

The readers of the American music magazine Rolling Stone, in December 2009, voted Sam's Town the most underrated album of the decade.[49] The magazine also ranked Hot Fuss as the 43rd best album in their 100 Best Albums of the Decade list.[50] and Mr. Brightside was ranked the 48th Best Song Of The Decade.[51]

The Killers were at #2 on the Last.fm "Best of 2009" list with 12,471,571 album scrobbles.[52]

Amazon.com UK released their lists of the best-selling artists and albums of the decade,[53] with The Killers coming in at #3 in Top 10 best-selling artists of the decade and their Day & Age album coming in at #10 in Top 10 best-selling albums of the decade.

Spin voted The Killers among the 30 Biggest Concerts of 2009[54] for their January 19 show at Magness Arena in Denver, Colorado. Spin's Tim Dwenger wrote about the show saying, "The production quality of the show was top notch, and it was immediately clear why The Killers are on the arena circuit."[55]

In December 2009, "Mr. Brightside" was voted the second-best song of the decade (and the best song by a non-British act) on the UK Channel 4 TV show Greatest Songs of the Noughties.[56]

Controversy

Since going platinum, the band has incited a few rivalries, most notably with The Bravery and Fall Out Boy, who are both labelmates (Island Records), as well as Green Day, after the release of their Bullet in a Bible DVD in 2005 which Flowers thought should've been filmed in the US. [57] Flowers claimed that The Bravery were riding on the coattails of their success, to which Bravery frontman Sam Endicott replied by calling Flowers "a little girl" and a "kid in a wheelchair".[58]

Additionally, in an article of NME, Flowers claimed Fall Out Boy was hogging the A&R man both bands share, setting off Fall Out Boy's bassist Pete Wentz.[59] However, after Wentz commented on the rivalry on his blog in September 2005, he offered a virtual cease-fire.[59] Flowers has since apologized to The Bravery, Fall Out Boy and Panic! at the Disco, saying "I'd like to take it all back — these people are just doing what they want to do, just like I am", and said that he was "not proud of" his actions.[60]

After the band fired former manager Braden Merrick in May 2005, he filed a $16 million breach of contract suit in federal court in Los Angeles against the band in February 2006. His suit claimed that the band simply stopped paying him his reported 25% service fee (from the band's annual gross income) for a contract that Merrick claimed ran through 2007. The Killers swiftly filed their own breach-of-contract counter suit, alleging Merrick's poor management had cost the band millions. The lawsuits were dismissed on October 9, 2009 following a settlement reached by both parties.

Discography

Main article: The Killers discography

Studio albums

Other albums

See also

References

  1. ^ "New wave is back — in hot new bands". Billboard/MSNBC. 2004-09-17. Retrieved 2010-09-11.
  2. ^ "Brandon Flowers of The Killers confirms solo album". The Independent. London. 2010-04-30. Retrieved 2010-05-25.
  3. ^ a b Binelli, Mark (2005-06-16). "Hit Men". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2008-04-26.
  4. ^ "Almost Famous". Las Vegas Weekly. Las Vegas. 2010-04-15. Retrieved 2010-10-11.
  5. ^ a b "being signed". Review Journal. 2005-06-16. Retrieved 2008-04-26.
  6. ^ "Interview With Martin Heath". HitQuarters. Dec 12, 2005. Retrieved Jun 20, 2010.
  7. ^ Sculley, Alan (2004-09-14). "And you can dance to it". Kansas City Star. Retrieved 2008-04-26.
  8. ^ "Radio 1 - Zane Lowe - Tracklisting". BBC. Retrieved 2010-09-06.
  9. ^ a b "Let's-start-a-band ad in newspaper created Killers". The Seattle Times. 2005-04-24. Retrieved 2008-04-26.
  10. ^ Nixon, Chris (2007-04-05). "Can Killers regain form at UCSD? Stay tuned". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved 2008-05-02.
  11. ^ "Hot Issue Hits and Misses: The Killers and the Cooper Temple Clause". Rolling Stone. 2006-10-08. Retrieved 2008-05-02.
  12. ^ Loundras, Alexia (2004-06-25). "Rock & Pop: Shooting from the hip". The Independent.
  13. ^ Begbie, Scott (2006-10-31). "Top rockers add Granite City to UK tour schedule". Evening Express. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  14. ^ "Music". Channel 4. Retrieved 2010-09-06.
  15. ^ "Event Listings". Manchester Evening News Arena. Retrieved 2008-04-26.
  16. ^ Cohen, Jonathan (2006-07-25). "The Killers Debut 'Sam's Town' In New York". Billboard. Retrieved 2008-05-02. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  17. ^ "Monday News: Killers, Paul McCartney, Ben Kweller, Sufjan Stevens, Elton John, Broken Social Scene". Rolling Stone. 2006-07-10. Retrieved 2008-04-26.
  18. ^ "New CD's". The New York Times. 2006-10-02. Retrieved 2008-05-02.
  19. ^ Bracelin, Jason (2006-10-12). "Killers' second album strikes higher chord". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved 2008-12-09. [dead link‍]
  20. ^ "EMI cues up feast of fresh albums". Music Week. 2005-10-01.
  21. ^ Akbar, Arifa (2007-02-15). "Arctic Monkeys scoop two Brits but shun 'mainstream' show". London: The Independent. Retrieved 2008-04-26.
  22. ^ "Killers headline Glastonbury". NME. 2007-02-15. Retrieved 2007. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  23. ^ a b "Smoking Section: Fiona Apple, Kanye West, The Killers and Tom Petty". Rolling Stone. 2007-09-06. Retrieved 2008-04-26.
  24. ^ "Celine takes a chance". Toronto Star. 2007-11-13. Retrieved 2008-05-02.
  25. ^ "Killers' Joy Division Cover Hits the Web, M.I.A. Helps Jailed Aussie Kids Rhyme, Jadakiss Free From Gun and Drug Charges". Rolling Stone. 2007-10-04. Retrieved 2008-05-02.
  26. ^ "News Ticker: The Killers, Jonas Brothers, "American Idol"". Rolling Stone. 2008-08-05. Retrieved 2008-08-05.
  27. ^ "The Killers". The Killers. Retrieved 2008-10-25.
  28. ^ "Day & Age — The Killers". Billboard. 9 December 2009.
  29. ^ "Coldplay, The Killers Get (RED) For AIDS Relief". andPOP. 2008-11-26. Retrieved 2010-09-06.
  30. ^ Ankeny, Jason. "Pet Shop Boys Biography - Yahoo! Music". Music.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2010-09-06.
  31. ^ "Killers Clip Exposes Sex Trafficking". Spin Magazine. 9 April 2010.
  32. ^ "The Killers frontman Brandon Flowers loses mum, 64 | The Sun |Showbiz|Bizarre". The Sun. 2010-02-20. Retrieved 2010-09-06.
  33. ^ "The Killers hose down reports of hiatus after Good Vibrations on". Inthemix.com.au. 2010-01-19. Retrieved 2010-09-06.
  34. ^ "The Killers | News Story". Thekillersmusic.com. 2010-01-21. Retrieved 2010-09-06.
  35. ^ "The Killers to play special July 4 concert at the White House". NME. July 3, 2010. Retrieved July 6, 2010.
  36. ^ Larson, Jeremy (July 5, 2010). "Watch: The Killers play The White House". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved July 6, 2010.
  37. ^ "The Killers star Brandon Flowers: 'It was lonely making a solo album'". NME. Retrieved 22 June 2010.
  38. ^ "The Killers' Brandon Flowers confirms solo album release". NME. 29 April 2010.
  39. ^ a b "The Killers' Brandon Flowers announces solo album 'Flamingo' release date". NME. 24 June 2010. Retrieved 25 June 2010.
  40. ^ "Brandon Flowers - Crossfire (Discography)". The Island Def Jam Music Group. Retrieved 30 June 2010.
  41. ^ "The Killers | News Story". Thekillersmusic.com. 2010-01-27. Retrieved 2010-09-06.
  42. ^ "MTV Greatest Superstars Revealed". MTV. 9 December 2009.
  43. ^ a b "Xfm's songs of the decade 10-1". Xfm London. 2 October 2009. Retrieved 7 December 2009.
  44. ^ "Xfm's songs of the decade 30-21". Xfm London. 2 October 2009. Retrieved 7 December 2009.
  45. ^ "Xfm's songs of the decade 40-31". Xfm London. 2 October 2009. Retrieved 7 December 2009.
  46. ^ "Xfm's songs of the decade 90-81". Xfm London. 2 October 2009. Retrieved 7 December 2009.
  47. ^ "Xfm's songs of the decade 100-91". Xfm London. 2 October 2009. Retrieved 7 December 2009.
  48. ^ "Xfm's songs of the decade". Xfm London. 2 October 2009. Retrieved 7 December 2009.
  49. ^ "Music News, Videos, Photos, Artists, Playlists and More". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2010-09-06.
  50. ^ "Search Articles, Artists, Reviews, Videos, Music and Movies". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2010-09-06.
  51. ^ "Search Articles, Artists, Reviews, Videos, Music and Movies". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2010-09-06.
  52. ^ "Best of 2009 –". Last.fm. 2008-11-21. Retrieved 2010-09-06.
  53. ^ Liew, Jonathan (2009-12-16). "Amazon: top 10 best-selling albums of decade". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 2010-05-25.
  54. ^ 01.04.10 4:48 pm. "30 Biggest Concerts of 2009 | KILLERS". SPIN.com. Retrieved 2010-09-06.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  55. ^ "The Killers Kick Off U.S. Tour". SPIN.com. 2009-01-19. Retrieved 2010-09-06.
  56. ^ "The Greatest Songs and TV of the Noughties - Series 1 - Episode 2 - The Greatest Songs Of The Noughties". Channel 4. Retrieved 2010-09-06.
  57. ^ "Q&A". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2010-10-01.
  58. ^ "Lean Beef: The Killers Vs. The Bravery". MTV News. Retrieved 2008-04-26.
  59. ^ a b Montgomery, James (2005-10-07). "Fall Out Boy/ Killers Beef Gives Birth To A Song". MTV News. Retrieved 2008-04-26. [dead link‍]
  60. ^ Lash, Jolie (2006-07-25). "Killers Bury Hatchet With Panic, Fall Out Boy". Pop Eater. Retrieved 2008-04-26.
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