The Killers Biography
The Killers began their saga in 2001, when singer Brandon Flowers dropped out of his first band, synthpop artists Blush Response after refusing to migrate to LA. Browsing through The Sun, a major Vegas newspaper, Flowers came across an ad posted by guitarist Dave Keuning. Together they sought out drummer Ronnie Vannucci Jr. and bassist Mark Stoermer to join the band, whose namesake happens to be printed on the drumset of a New Order video.
The Killers concerts were starting to become popular around the Vegas area in 2002 and with a stockpile of tracks developing, this post-punk revival group caught the eye of British Warner Bros rep Alex Gilbert. Although Warner brothers gave The Killers the cold shoulder (a move they would soon regret) Gilbert passed the record onto a Lizard King rep (a British label).
It would be two years before The Killers released their first studio album, Hot Fuss, in 2004 on Island Records in the US and Lizard King Recordsin the UK. The album reached multi platinum status almost instantly and garnered the attention and praise of Coldplay, U2 and Radiohead, who incorporated their lyrics into their Vegas concerts. “Mr. Brightside,” “All These Things I’ve Done” and “Somebody Told Me” injected pure synthpop into the world of mainstream, shedding light on the rock world with something new, yet dripping with classic rock dignity.
While on The Killers tour, the band developed a reputation for sporting an ego- who could pull off fur, leather and eyeliner while still mananging to be cool without one? This became evident at Coachella, when The Killers were backed by a full gospel choir in 2004 driving the demand for The Killers tickets through the roof. The band further increased circulation with a touch of drama in the form of spats between labelmates The Bravery and Fall Out Boy.
“Sam’s Town,” The Killer’s second album, experienced worldwide success with only moderate interest in the US, Flowers hocked the album up to be “one of the best albums of the past twenty years,” Rolling Stone said -”On Sam’s Town they seem like they’re trying to make a big statement, except they have nothing to say – and who thought a band as shrewd as the Killers would fall into such an obvious trap? “ We beg to differ, although the album was a change in speed from Hot Fuss, comparisons to Springsteen seem like a compliment and the Brit Awards thought so too- The Killers walked away with two awards for International Group and International Album in 2007.
“Sawdust,” a B-sides album mixed with a few new tracks, was certified gold and received mixed reviews. It was Day & Age however, that propelled The Killers right back into the mainstream circuit in the US. Released in 2008, the album combined new wave flare with rock-opera type style- the single “Human” would become a widely quoted song. The Killers tickets went on sale in 2008 and The Killers tour received a flux of fans craving to jiggle to the mantra “Are we human, or are we dancers?” If you’d like more information of The Killers 2009 tour, check out The Killers Schedule page.