Research - Biography of The Killers

So, A world Famous band which has produced many chart topping Albums and a songs which have spent longer than any other album in the official album chart, been nominated for many NME and Grammy awards and has to be renowned for being on ethe biggest all time great songs which everyone knows. not bad for a band who met through an article in the paper and were once called The Genius Sex Poets'.

Meeting in 2001 the lead singer Brandon flowers met through a article in his local Las Vegas Newspaper that Dave Keuning was looking for a singer for him to form a group with. before long the pair were writing sons in Keunings apartment.

They soon recorded a demo tape with 4 tracks where Matt Norcross a local Las Vegas Drummer played for them and Keunings house mate at the time Dell Neal. The First live show, an open mic night at cafe espresso roma in Las Vegas in 2002. here they grew with popularity playing more venues around the city.
2 drummers fired and 1 bassiest leaving led to the band back to the original boys who persuaded the bands other current members Mark Stoermer and Ronnie Vannucci, completing the band.

Timeline

As the bands popularity grew in the Nevada city they were noticed by warner records who invited them to a showcase, they did not impress any record labels but did catch the eye of Niall Norbury from the UK who played his friend at lizard king records 5 of their songs. including the songs 'Jenny Was a Friend of mine', 'Glamourous Indie Rock and roll', 'Mr Brightside', 'Somebody told me' and 'On Top' which resulted in the label signing the band in 2003.

In august 2003 On Zane Lowes radio 1 show 'Mr Brightside' premier was played to the UK and the song which was once almost lost was released. little did they know it would become such a smash hit. After some Really positive reviews from critics the band had a buzz about them. They then played in New york at the ASCAP CMJ music marathon where they generated a lot of interested for record companies. they were finally picked up by Island Def Jam Records.

With this company the Band Recorded the rest of the Hot fuss album even though the earlier demos were not re recorded as they thought the songs had a spontinaity about them that would of not been captured in the re recording. Hot fuss was finally released in June 2004 on lizard king in the UK and Island Def Jam in the United States. the album 7 months later reached number 1 in the UK as the popularity grew as 3 songs got Grammy nominations. their popularity was growing at a substantial rate.

On top of the music they had been recognised for their flamboyant style in fashion and their song interesting many other artists. Jay Z famously said that 'the killers take something old and make it sound new again'. with such high profile recognition the bands exposure grew further.

The band released 3 more albums, 'Sams town', 'Sawdust' and 'Day & Age' in 2006 and 2008 whilst touring and performing at many northern Europe and American festivals including Glastonbury in the UK and Day & Age resulting in a World Tour. after this the band took a break from performing and writing and returned in 2011 with battleborn, their fourth album. The bands success has continued with the band still remaining a tight knit group with little between them and a background lifestyle which remains very private.

To this day in 2013 the band released Direct hits which featured new songs along side an original demo of Mr Brightside and a Calvin Hariis remix of When You Were Young alongside some of their most loved classics. the bands recent activity has been a christmas song where proceeds went to charity which was named 'joel the Lump of Coal'. the band continue to perform at many world famous concerts and write the awaited 5th coming studio album which is promised to turn heads.
by Josh Graham