2002-Brandon FlowersVocals, keyboards
Dave KeuningGuitar
Mark StoermerBass
Ronnie Vannucci JrDrums
Killers lead singer Brandon Flowers is a Mormon, but he said in 2004 that he does occasionally drink and smoke. The band kept their rock star decadence low key, with the drugs and groupies kept to a minimum, but Flowers did partake in lots of what Las Vegas had to offer, including the clubs - the Killers song "
Somebody Told Me" was inspired by their many nights out. He was a pretty heavy drinker around this time as well, sometimes downing a six-pack before shows. Around 2008 he quit drinking and recommitted to his Mormon faith. This coincided with him getting married and starting a family: his wedding was in 2005 and his first child was born in 2007.
Mark Stoermer, bassist of The Killers, worked as a medical courier before becoming a member of the band.
Before joining The Killers, Brandon Flowers was in a synth-pop called Blush Response.
Flowers has a fear of flying and of the number 621, coincidentally his birthday (June 21). As a kid, a Ouija board told him he was to die on this day.
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Suggestion credit:
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Concerning alcohol, the band had a strict daily schedule in their 2006 tour rider. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday were reserved for Maker's Mark whiskey and Absolut vodka. Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday for Jack Daniel's and gin, and Sunday was exclusively the province of tequila and Jameson Irish Whiskey.
Speaking to UK newspaper The Independent in 2015, Brandon Flowers revealed that he keeps his facial hair shavings in a bag. "I have a Ziploc bag full of hair. I'll grow five or six days growth, make sure that the sink is dry, use an electric razor, catch it in the sink, and then I'm able to just scoop it into the bag!"
Flowers added that he started collecting the hair after shaving off the beard and moustache that he sported during The Killers' Sam's Town tour in 2008. "It's a lot of hair!" he said. "But it's compacted. And it doesn't smell. It's all black but about half way up you start to see some greys. I don't know what to do with it yet. It means something."
Brandon Flowers told Mojo about his first encounter with music: "When I was five or six we inherited an upright piano from my great grandma Dixie, Dixie was her showbiz name," he said. "Her real name was Melinda. She wrote country songs and actually received royalty checks from one that ended up being recorded by Mel Tillis. No none else in my family was creative."
"I owe a lot to that handed-down piano," Flowers continued. "My mother took me to lessons from around age seven to 11. I still use the fundamental techniques I acquired in those tender years to this day."
The Killers are proud of their Las Vegas roots. Their second album,
Sam's Town, is named after one of the city's casinos. Brandon Flowers also titled a song on his first solo record "
Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas."
The Killers' first gig was back in 2002 at an open mic night at the Cafe Espresso Roma in Las Vegas. Brandon Flowers can still remember the nerves he felt ahead of the band's debut show.
"I've never been so terrified," he recalled to Q magazine in a 2017 interview. "The whole time I was looking for a spot to throw up on the ground as I didn't want to hit anyone. I can still remember looking down thinking, 'If it happens, then I'm going to the left.' After that I started to drink before we played."
In 2011 Brandon Flowers took part in an
advertising campaign for Mormonism intended to change people's perception of the religion. "I've definitely, as I've gotten older, been more cautious about lyrics," he says in the spot. "I want to be a positive force in the world and I want to uplift people."
The Killers were one of the headline acts at Glastonbury 2019. According to Martin Audio, the company behind the Pyramid Stage's speakers, their set hit 106 decibels for fans in front of the stage. This broke the record for the loudest performance in the festival's history. Said fans in the front row: "WHAT!"
Before he became a rock star, Brandon Flowers wanted to be a golf pro. One of his cousins is on the PGA Tour and his older brother is a scratch golfer, so Flowers saw it as an attainable goal. Though he never achieved his objective, his many hours on the fairways improved his singing voice. "I spent a lot of time alone on the golf course and I was obsessed with bands like The Smiths and The Cars," Flowers recalled to
American Songwriter. "I didn't realize it at the time, but I spent a lot of time out there singing to myself."
