Brandon Flowers

Infobox musical artist
Name = Brandon Flowers


Img_size =
Landscape =
Background = solo_blower
Birth_name = Brandon Richard Flowers
Born = birth date and age|mf=yes|1981|6|21
Origin = Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
Real Home = Manchester, England, U.K.
Instrument = Vocals, keyboards/piano, bass guitar, guitar
Genre = Post-punk revival, alternative rock, Indie rock
Occupation = Musician, songwriter
Years_active = 2001–present
Associated_acts = The Killers
URL =
Notable_instruments = Clavia Nord Lead 2
microKORG
Korg Ms2000B
Alesis Ion

Brandon Richard Flowers (born June 21, 1981) is the American vocalist, keyboardist and occasional bassist 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 Belgian and Lithuanian ancestry. Interview [http://community.livejournal.com/_killmenow_/71160.html Interview] reprinted at Live Journal fan website.] He has one older brother and four older sisters. Flowers's family lived in Henderson until he was eight and then moved to Payson, Utah for a year and then to Nephi, Utah. [http://www.spin.com/features/magazine/2004/11/lady_killer_interview_killers_brandon_flowers/ "SPIN.com: The Lady Killer: An Interview with the Killers' Brandon Flowers"] . [http://www.spin.com/ Spin.com] . Published November 2004. Accessed March 3, 2008.] Brandon lived in Nephi until his junior year in high school, when he moved back to Las Vegas. His mother was a homemaker and his father worked for a grocery store. His parents raised Brandon and the rest of the family as active members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Flowers remains a devout member of the faith. He has since attributed his fashion sense to his doting sisters.Timmermans, Arjan (2005). [http://www.genremagazine.com/2005/6-1/magazine/content/str8dude.cfm "Arranging Flowers"] . "Genre Magazine".]

The person most responsible for Flowers's musical development is his brother Shane, 12 years his senior, who showed him Smiths videos and U2's "Rattle and Hum" movie. 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 the bands New Order, the Smiths, and Pet Shop Boys. He credits the latter's 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. [http://observer.guardian.co.uk/magazine/story/0,,1877578,00.html Craig McLean talks to the Killers' singer Brandon Flowers] . "The Guardian".] 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."

Flowers once used a Ouija board and gained a fear of the number 621, which relates to his birthday, June 21. Flowers is convinced he is going to die on that day. He said: "It's just stupid, it is not a way to live. Once I had to fly to Glastonbury on my birthday; that was a real mess."Flowers' Ouija death threat [http://europe.real.com/guide/bang/1/4180.html] ]

Career

Flowers, after dropping out of college, was a bellhop for a while at the Gold Coast Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.Fact|date=February 2008 In 2001, he was abandoned by the first band that he was in, a synth pop band known as The Blush Response, after he declined to move with the rest of them to Los Angeles, California.Fact|date=February 2008 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.Fact|date=February 2008 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' first performances in the band's early days.Fact|date=February 2007 Although primarily a vocalist and keyboardist, Flowers plays bass guitar live in concerts for the song "For Reasons Unknown".

Personal life

On August 2, 2005, Flowers married his girlfriend Tana Munblowsky in a private ceremony in Hawaii.No byline (2005). [http://www.vh1.com/news/articles/1507029/20050805/killers_the.jhtml "Killers Singer Brandon Flowers Marries Longtime Girlfriend"] VH1.com (accessed Oct. 14, 2006)] The two dated for approximately four years before they wed. On July 14, 2007, the Flowers' first child, a boy named Ammon Flowers, was born. [Wigney, James(July 29, 2007). [http://www.news.com.au/sundaymail/story/0,23739,22148918-5003421,00.html "More from The Killers"] Retrieved July 28, 2007.]

Flowers is a practicing Mormon. He has described his personal faith as a "very important" part of his life. He has joked that "I don't think the make-up would go down so well at church." Flowers has also stated that he does not oppose gay rights, saying "I think everybody should have equal rights." [ [http://www.arjanwrites.com/arjanwrites/2005/06/interview_with_.html "Interview with Brandon Flowers"] "ArjanWrites.com" (accessed April 12, 2006)]

He is also a golf fanatic and his cousin, Craig Barlow, is a professional golfer.

Controversies

In the past, Flowers initiated feuds between The Killers and other bands, such as The Bravery, Fall Out Boy, and Panic at the Disco. [cite web| url = http://www.nme.com/news/the-killers/21090| title = The Killers get a new feud| accessdate = 2008-08-28| date = September 27, 2005| publisher = "NME"] [cite web| url = http://www.mtv.com/bands/m/music_geek/indierock_sissyfights_050905/| title = The Killers Vs. The Bravery| accessdate = 2008-08-28| author = James Montgomery| publisher = "MTV"] On July 14, 2006, however, he apologized to the bands in an interview to AOL Music, saying "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, and sometimes jealous. It's not something I'm proud of." Frontman Sam Endicott of The Bravery and bassist/frontman Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy reportedly received, and accepted, telephone apologies prior to the article's publication. With regard to the criticisms leveled at Panic at the Disco, Flowers said "I don't even know what their music's like, or if I would even like it... That made me feel even worse, to think they could have been fans of ours and I hurt their feelings. That's just stupid." [ [http://www.aolmusicnewsblog.com/2006/07/25/killers-bury-the-hatchet-with-panic-fall-out-boy?ncid=AOLMUS00050000000034 Killers Bury Hatchet With Panic!, Fall Out Boy - PopEater Music Blog ] ] [http://www.buzznet.com/tags/brandon%20flowers/journals/57640] Flowers has also criticized Green Day for what he sees as exploitation of anti-Americanism. Specifically, Flowers found the video of Green Day performing the song "American Idiot" in the UK distasteful. The taping of the concert, featured on "Bullet in a Bible", shows thousands of Europeans singing along to "American Idiot". He 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."

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. [ [http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22328312-5006024,00.html http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22328312-5006024,00.html] "News.com.au" ]

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 GQawards.(2005). [http://www.nme.com/awards/news/19257 "Shockwave NME Awards - The Winners] "NME.com" (accessed April 12, 2006)]

References

External links

* [http://www.thekillersmusic.com/ The Killers official site] , from Island Records
* [http://www.thekillers.co.uk/ The Killers official site (U.K.)] , from the Vertigo label
* [http://www.spin.com/features/magazine/2005/11/051118_flowers/ "The Music That Changed My Life: Brandon Flowers"] , Interview by Kyle Anderson, from "Spin" magazine"
* [http://nn.byu.edu/story.cfm/57889 "Former BYU's student's brother is lead singer of the Killers"] , interview by Erin Pierce and Dan Monson about Flowers visiting his brother at college, from "The Daily Universe"
* [http://observer.guardian.co.uk/magazine/story/0,,1877578,00.html Songs of Praise] , Craig McLean talks to the Killers' singer about resisting temptation, from "The Observer"
* [http://www.killershotel.com] Indie Rock Fans Website]