Did You Know? ☆ The Killers

The Killers are an American Rock band formed in Las Vegas, Nevada, in 2001 by members Brandon Flowers (lead vocals, keyboards, bass), Dave Keuning (guitar, backing vocals). Mark Stoermer (bass, guitar, backing vocals) and Ronnie Vannucci, Jr (drums, percussion) would complete the lineup in 2002. After getting together the four of them would get together in Vannucci’s garage to work on song ideas. They would also sneak into the band room at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, at night to practice as Vannucci was studying classical percussion. It was during this period that the band wrote much of their debut album “Hot Fuss” including hit singles “Somebody Told Me” and “Smile Like You Mean It”.

They continued playing at small venues around their hometown and it wasn’t long before they caught the attention of Braden Merrick, A&R rep for Warner Bros. Records why had come across their demos on a website for unsigned bands. After seeing them play live he offered to help the band find a record deal and eventually became their manager. He took them to California to record demos with former green day manager, Jeff Saltzman then sent out the demos to labels across the US. They were also invited to perform at a number of showcases but still not signed to any label. Alex Gilbert, an A&R rep from the UK saw one of their shows and after taking one of their demos back to UK, he played it for his friend Ben Durling who worked at independent record label, Lizard King Records. Despite not yet meeting the band in person, the label was quick to offer the band a deal based on the five songs they heard from their demo so they signed with the British label in July 2003.

Since this the band has released five chart topping studio albums: “Hot
Fuss” (2004), “Sam’s Town” (2006), “Day & Age” (2008), “Battle Born (2012) and “Wonderful Wonderful” (2017). Their debut album “Hot fuss” received generally favourable reviews form critics and reached number one in the UK in January 2005 thanks to Grammy Award nominated singles “Somebody Told Me”, “All These Things That I’ve Done” and “Mr Brightside”. This album became a huge commercial success for the band and has been certified 7x Platinum in UK and Ireland and earned them the title as one of the biggest selling rock bands of the 21st century having sold an estimated 22 million record worldwide.

Article by Candice Eastman.