The Killers

The Killers (formed 2002)

The Killers are an American indie-rock band. Hailing from Las Vegas, they rose to fame with the release of their debut album, Hot Fuss in 2004. The line-up of the band is Brandon Flowers on lead vocals and keyboards, Ronnie Vannucci Jr. on drums, Mark Stoermer on bass and vocals and Dave Keuning on guitar and vocals.

The Killers: The Early Years

Brandon Flowers and Keuning met after Flowers responded to an advert that Keuning had placed in The Sun newspaper, looking for new band members. They later recruited Stoermer and Vannucci Jr.

The Killers' first few gigs were in clubs in Las Vegas and they soon caught the eye of a British representative for Warner Brothers. He took their demo back to England and they later signed to British independent label, Lizard King.

The Killers: The Breakthrough

In 2004, Lizard King released The Killers' debut album Hot Fuss. Since its release, the album has been certified four times platinum. The album spawned the hit singles 'Mr Brightside' and 'All These Things That I've Done'. Their biggest chart success at that time, however, came with the re-release of 'Somebody Told Me.'

In 2004, the band appeared in an episode of The O.C. The next year, when they played at the Live 8 concert in London, Robbie Williams unexpectedly included their lyric "I've got soul but I'm not a soldier" into his one of his own songs, as did U2 and Coldplay.

The Killers' second studio album, Sam's Town, was released in 2006 by Island Def Jam Music Group. Four singles were released from the album, 'When You Were Young', 'Bones', 'Read My Mind' and 'For Reasons Unknown'.

In November 2006, they also recorded a live session, released as part of Live From Abbey Road.

In November 2007, the Killers released a B-side and rarities album entitled Sawdust. The album featured 'Tranquilize', a collaboration with Lou Reed. They also released covers of 'Shadowplay' by Joy Division and 'Rome and Juliet' by Dire Straits. The next month, the band released a Christmas single entitled 'A Great Big Sled'.

The Killers' third studio album proper was confirmed for release in November 2008 and the title was given as Day & Age. The first single from the album, 'Human' was released in September 2008. It has been reported that their 2008 Christmas single will be a duet with Elton John.