Brandon Flowers

This article is about the musician. For the American football player, see Brandon Flowers (American football).

Brandon Flowers

Brandon Richard Flowers (born June 21, 1981) is the American frontman, keyboardist and primary lyricist of the Las Vegas-based rock band The Killers.

Early life

Flowers, the youngest of six children, was born on June 21, 1981 in Henderson, Nevada (outside Las Vegas) to parents of partial Scottish and Lithuanian ancestry. Growing up, his mother was a homemaker and his father worked for a grocery store. His father joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when Flowers was five years old. They lived in Henderson until Flowers was eight, when they moved to Nephi, Utah. Flowers lived in Nephi until his junior year in Juab High School, when he moved back to Las Vegas to live with his aunt.

The person most responsible for Flowers' musical development is his brother Shane, 12 years his senior, who showed him Smiths videos and U2's Rattle and Hum movie, and even early videos of The Shazzman on Motown. His older brother also introduced him to The Cars, The Beatles, Morrissey, and The Cure. Musically, Flowers identifies as an Anglophile and also as a fan of British bands New Order, The Smiths, Pet Shop Boys, Depeche Mode and Oasis. He credits the Pet Shop Boys song "Being Boring", especially the lyrics "I never dreamt that I would get to be / The creature that I always meant to be", as a major life influence. He has stated that "It was really weird because other kids were buying Tool and Nirvana and I was buying The Cars and The Psychedelic Furs. I was pretty alienated as a kid."

Career

Flowers, after dropping out of college, was a bellhop for a while at the Gold Coast Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. In 2001, he was abandoned by the first band that he was in, a synth pop band known as Blush Response, after he declined to move with the rest of them to Los Angeles, California. Shortly thereafter, Flowers attended an Oasis concert, and realizing that he wanted to make the transition from a keyboard band to a true rock band, began searching for a guitarist. He responded to an ad that Dave Keuning had placed in the paper that listed, among other bands, The Cure and Oasis as influences. Keuning later stated that his first impression of Flowers was "I thought he had weird shoes... He had the same shoes Oasis had — Clarks!". After several short-lived bassists and drummers, Flowers and Keuning were joined by bassist Mark Stoermer and drummer Ronnie Vannucci and they became the Killers in August 2002. Vannucci later said that, even with songs like "little dwarf versions of what we have now, Brandon wasn't afraid to just get up there and just do it. You need that when you're trying to get something off the ground. As far as the drive goes, Brandon was never half-assed." According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, his parents have always supported his decision to become a rock singer, and were often the only people in the audience at The Killers' early performances.

Flowers has gotten in a number of controversies based on comments he has made to the media. In particular, he made statements that sparked feuds with the bands Fall Out Boy, The Bravery and Panic! At the Disco. However, he has since recanted, and told Spin magazine, "I'd like to take it all back. These people are just doing what they want to do, just like I am. I'm actually a nice person and I love people. I just am opinionated. It's not something I'm proud of." Flowers criticized Green Day for performing the song "American Idiot" in the United Kingdom. The concert, featured in Green Day's live DVD Bullet in a Bible, shows thousands of Europeans singing along to "American Idiot". Flowers said, "I just thought it was really cheap. To go to a place like England or Germany and sing that song—those kids aren't taking it the same way that he meant it." His assertion that Sam's Town would be the best album to come out in the preceding 20 years drew ridicule from critics. Flowers has expressed his desire to be less provocative. He told The Advocate magazine, "With people that I've put down, I understand now that they have their own ability and a gift for doing whatever they're doing."

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 in a bar in Tulsa, Oklahoma. According to Wainwright, Flowers was "very flattered and somewhat bashful" about this tribute.

Flowers presented the Pet Shop Boys with an Outstanding Contribution to Music award at the 2009 Brit Awards. He and Lady Gaga then performed with Pet Shop Boys as part of a medley of their hits. Kanye West recently cited The Killers as his favorite band and has collaborated with Flowers and Jared Leto on an untitled song, with Flowers playing keyboard. In April 2009 , Flowers accused Kurt Cobain of taking the fun out of Rock and Roll, he also stated in an interview with UK magazine NME that he wanted to "knock Nirvana and Led Zeppelin off their pedestal" accusing Americans of being too obsessed with them and not giving new bands a chance.

Personal life

Flowers married his long-time girlfriend, Tana Brooke Munblowsky, in a small, private ceremony on August 2, 2005 in Hawaii.. Brandon and his wife have a son, Ammon Flowers, born July 14,2007. [2] It was announced on May 29, 2009 on BBC One show Friday Night with Jonathan Ross that he and his wife are expecting their second child due November 2009. [3]Flowers is a keen golf fan and his cousin, Craig Barlow, is a professional golfer.

Flowers is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and his wife converted to the faith shortly before their wedding. He has said that his religion is "very important" to his life. After joining the Killers, Flowers began to drink, party and do other things frowned on by the Latter-day Saints faith. However, in 2006, he stopped, saying "I think I probably feel less guilt, and I'm also healthier than I've ever been. My wife being pregnant and all that really put things into perspective."

Flowers has gained significant fanship in the gay community, which has become a recurring topic in interviews articles about him in mainstream and gay media. Some commentators have even questioned Flowers's own sexuality. The lyrics to "Andy, You're a Star" and the hit-single "Somebody Told Me", both written by Flowers, feature sexual ambiguity. The band would play in a drag club early in their history and often sported androgynous costumes. Flowers has said he was "flattered" by the talk and that "it was fun for a while." Nevertheless, despite all the rumor mongering, Flowers says that he is straight and there is no evidence against this. Flowers has no stance towards his church's stance on gay rights issues. Despite this, some of his fans have held his church's stance against him in the aftermath of the Proposition 8 in California, which received large Mormon support. A spokesman for the LA Gay and Lesbian Centre has criticized this kind of blanket anti-Mormon backlash.

He is known for his elaborate and eccentric sense of style from the 'guyliner' phase of the 'Hot Fuss' era, to the moustache from the 'Sam's Town' era. His current phase is blazers with gathered pheasant feathers on the shoulder pads.

Awards

Flowers won NME magazine awards in 2005 for "Best Dressed" and "Sexiest Man." He also won the award for "Most Stylish Man" at the 2008 GQ awards. In the 2008 awards the Killers won "best band in America" and "best track in America" at the NME Awards. The Killers won Best International band at the NME Awards in 2009.

External links

• The Killers official site, from Island Records
• The Killers official site (U.K.), from the Vertigo label
• "The Music That Changed My Life: Brandon Flowers", Interview by Kyle Anderson, from Spin magazine
• [4] Indie Rock Fans Website]
• SPIN's Brandon Flowers Interview