The Killers

The Killers are a US rock band who formed in Las Vegas, Navada in 2001. The band, which is comprised of Brandon Flowers (vocals), Dave Keuning (guitar), Mark Stoermer (bass) and Ronnie Vannuci (drums), have released four studio albums. Their most recent effort, ‘Battle Born’, was released in 2012.

Flowers originally performed with the synth band Blush Response but was fired from the group as he refused to move to Los Angeles. Instead, he stayed in Las Vegas and soon met Keuning; they begin to write songs together and within two weeks had written the future hit single ‘Mr Brightside’. Flowers and Keuning then recruited Stoermer and Vannuci to join The Killers’ line-up.

The band released their debut album, ‘Hot Fuss’, in 2004: the record was a UK Number One and is estimated to have sold more than seven million copies worldwide. The record’s success, in part, was due to containing a clutch of hit singles including ‘Mr Brightside’, ‘Smile Like You Mean It’, ‘Somebody Told Me’ and ‘All These Things That I’ve Done’.

For the next album, The Killers hired producers Alan Moulder and Flood – known for his work with the likes of U2, Nine Inch Nails, PJ Harvey and Smashing Pumpkins – and swapped the British synthpop influences of their debut for a more Americana-tinged sound. The album, ‘Sam’s Town’, was released in 2006 and included the lead single ‘When You Were Young’.

The Killers’ third album, ‘Day & Age’, was released in 2008 and sold over three million copies worldwide. They went on to win the Best International Band prize at the NME Awards in 2009 for the third year, but announced that they would be taking a break in 2010: during their hiatus, Flowers, Vannuci and Stoermer all released solo albums.

The band returned in 2012 with their fourth album, ‘Battle Born’. The album debuted at Number One on the UK Official Albums Chart and received a 7/10 review from NME. They are scheduled to headline V Festival 2014 in August of this year.