Brandon Flowers | |
Number of songs: 5 | Total weeks on charts: 106
Appearing in a total number of: 15 charts | Total period running: 198 days
Appearing in a total number of: 15 charts | Total period running: 198 days
Biography
Brandon Richard Flowers (born June 21, 1981) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and lyricist. He is a principal songwriter and lead singer of the Las Vegas-based rock band the Killers. Due to his prolific nature, Flowers launched a solo career, releasing Flamingo (2010) and forthcoming The Desired Effect (2015). He has topped the UK Albums Chart five times, including work by the Killers and is a recipient of the Q Idol Award.
Brandon Flowers, the youngest of six children, was born on June 21, 1981, in Henderson, Nevada, to Jean Yvonne (née Barlow) and Terry Austin Flowers. His older siblings are his brother Shane and four sisters April, Shelly, Amy and Stephanie. His family lived in Henderson until Flowers was eight, when they moved to Payson, Utah, for two years before moving to Nephi, Utah, at which time he was in the 6th grade. Flowers lived in Nephi until his junior year at Juab High School. He moved to Las Vegas to live with his aunt and graduated from Chaparral High School in 1999.
Brandon Flowers responded to an ad that Dave Keuning had placed in the Las Vegas Weekly in late 2001 whereupon they became the Killers. After several short-lived bassists and drummers, Flowers and Keuning were joined by bassist Mark Stoermer and drummer Ronnie Vannucci and the line-up became official in August 2002. Between 2003 and 2013 they released four consecutive chart-topping albums and sold more than 25 million albums worldwide. Flowers wrote the lyrics to the single "All These Things That I've Done" and its popular refrain "I Got Soul, But I'm Not A Soldier" that numbered among the "100 Greatest Songs of All Time" by The Daily Telegraph and earned one of the band's seven Grammy nominations.
On July 4, 2010, the Killers headlined the "Salute to the Military" USO Concert at the White House. They performed 'God Bless America' and other favorites from their catalogue.
On June 22, 2013, the Killers headlined the 90,000 capacity Wembley Stadium, their biggest solo show to date.
Canadian-American singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright wrote a song about Flowers called "Tulsa" for his fifth album Release the Stars. Wainwright has stated in numerous interviews that it was inspired by their first meeting at a bar in Tulsa, Oklahoma. According to Wainwright, Flowers was "very flattered and somewhat bashful" about this tribute. Sir Elton John has listed Flowers as one of his top-five heroes while editing The Independent's World Aids Day special edition. U2's Bono described Flowers' voice to The Globe and Mail saying, “We need him on the radio...His voice!†Flowers possesses a tenor vocal range when he sings.
Debut solo album Flamingo was released worldwide and charted in the top ten albums in ten countries including the UK where it charted at number one. The album drew heavy influence from Flowers' hometown of Las Vegas, Nevada, and earned Flowers a Q Award nomination for Best Male Artist (2010). The first single from Flamingo, "Crossfire", was released on June 21 (Flowers' birthday). It became Flowers' fifth top ten single in the UK, including work by the Killers. The video for "Crossfire" featured actress Charlize Theron and was nominated for Best Video at the NME Awards. Flamingo was Flower's fourth consecutive studio album to reach No. 1 on the UK charts, including work by the Killers, who subsequently earned another consecutive UK No. 1.
SPIN named Brandon Flowers one of "The 15 Best Shows of the Summer" in 2010 for his performance at the Shimmer Showroom in Las Vegas. SPIN also listed him as one of "The 25 Best Fall Tours"/"Must-See Fall Tours". While on tour Flowers had special guests including Andy Summers (of the Police), Fran Healy (of Travis), and Stuart Price.
Flowers will release his second solo album, The Desired Effect on May 18, 2015. It was produced by Ariel Rechtshaid (Vampire Weekend, HAIM, Charli XCX). Flowers stated that this album is "definitely going to be different" than his last album and referred to Rechtshaid as his "co-captain". Lead single "Can't Deny My Love" became available March 24, 2015 and received very positive reviews. It also serves as an instant download for pre-orders for the album. A music video for second single "Still Want You" premiered on April 13, 2015. "Still Want You" serves as a second instant download for pre-orders for the album.
Flowers lists the Beatles, David Bowie, the Cars, Morrissey, Pet Shop Boys (to whom Flowers presented the BRIT Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music) and U2 among his musical influences.
Flowers is married. He has three sons. Flowers' parents met as teenagers, he wrote the song "A Dustland Fairytale" as a tribute to their romance and lifelong marriage. Flowers's grandmother hailed from Lithuania.
Flowers is a member of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He and his family are featured in a promotional video on the church's website.
Discography:
The Killers
Hot Fuss (2004)
Sam's Town (2006)
Day & Age (2008)
Battle Born (2012)
Solo
Flamingo (2010)
The Desired Effect (2015)
Sources: Wikipedia, Top40-Charts.com Editorial team
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