100 Fun Facts About The Killers

In which city were the Killers formed?

Las Vegas had a rock scene full of rap-rock and nu metal when the band started out, and their first record deal came from a little label in Britain instead.

On which teen drama did the Killers appear as themselves in 2004, playing a club called the Bait Shop?

The O.C. had invented the Bait Shop that season as a way to put real bands on screen. Modest Mouse and Death Cab for Cutie played the same fictional stage.

Whose newspaper ad did Brandon Flowers answer in 2001, starting the Killers?

Dave Keuning had arrived from Iowa a year earlier, and his ad listed the bands he loved. Flowers says he skipped past the nu metal fans until he saw the Beatles and Smashing Pumpkins named.

Who is the Killers' drummer?

Ronnie Vannucci Jr. was a music student specialising in classical percussion when he joined, and he sneaked the band into his college's music building at night to rehearse. He went back and finished the degree in 2011.

Who is the Killers' bassist?

Mark Stoermer was the lead guitarist of another local band, the Negative Ponies, when he filled in on bass for a single show. It took the others a good deal of persuading before he agreed to switch for good.

The Killers took their name from a fictional band in a music video by which group?

New Order's video for "Crystal" is fronted by a made-up young band called the Killers. Flowers loved the clip and asked his first bandmates whether they could simply take the name.

A concert by which band convinced Brandon Flowers that he belonged in a rock group?

Oasis played a hotel venue in his home city, and Flowers, who had been set on synth-pop, came away wanting to form a rock band.

Which British festival did the Killers headline in both 2007 and 2019?

Glastonbury first booked them in 2004 for its New Bands tent, where one reviewer thought they already sounded too big for it. Three years later they were topping the bill on the main stage.

What is the title of the Killers' debut album?

Hot Fuss kept several songs as the band's original demos. Its cover shows buildings on the edge of Beijing, and the photographer says the then-unknown band told him they expected to sell 5,000 copies.

Whose murder do the Killers recount in their three-song "Murder Trilogy"?

Jenny's story is told back to front: the debut album opens with the final chapter, a police interrogation, and keeps the second for later. The first was left off and surfaced three years on, on a rarities compilation.

What was the Killers' first single, released in the UK in September 2003?

Mr. Brightside peaked at a modest No. 10 in Britain, yet it holds the record for the most weeks in the UK Top 100: 408 and counting by May 2024. No bigger-selling song has ever missed No. 1 there.

The Killers recorded "A White Demon Love Song" for the soundtrack of which 2009 film?

New Moon, the second Twilight film, filled its soundtrack with indie rock instead of chart pop. Death Cab for Cutie wrote the lead single specially for it, and Lykke Li contributed a song too.

Which talk-show host co-wrote and guests on the Killers' 2014 Christmas single, "Joel the Lump of Coal"?

Jimmy Kimmel helped write the tale of Joel, a lump of coal Santa hands a naughty boy as a punishment. The twist is Joel's: he turns himself into a diamond to make the boy happy.

Which Oscar-winning actress keeps rescuing a captive Brandon Flowers in the video for his solo single "Crossfire"?

Charlize Theron fights off his masked captors while the singer sits tied up, turning the usual damsel-in-distress plot on its head. It was his first single away from the band, in 2010.

The Killers' marquee-sign logo was inspired by a compilation by which artist?

Elvis Presley's then-new hits collection caught Flowers's eye in a record shop in 2002, and its cover gave him the idea of a name spelled out in marquee lights. The drummer's flatmate's girlfriend drew the logo.

The Killers played before and after which sport's Grand Final in Melbourne in 2017?

Aussie rules football's biggest day drew about 100,000 people. At the free concert after the match, Jack Riewoldt, who had just won the title with Richmond, climbed on stage and sang with the band.

Which actress, a veteran of Tim Burton's films, plays the waxwork that comes to life in the Killers' "Here with Me" video?

Winona Ryder plays the star a lonely young man adores so much that he steals her wax double. Burton filmed it in the English seaside resort of Blackpool on a gap in the band's tour.

Which MTV Video Music Award did the Killers win in 2005?

Best New Artist came three days after Hurricane Katrina struck South Florida and forced MTV to call off pre-show events. The ceremony itself went ahead on schedule in Miami.

Which song did the Killers play at Live 8 in London in 2005?

All These Things That I've Done was their whole set that day: one song. Flowers has said its gospel choir was his attempt at what U2 do, and U2 had opened the same concert a few hours earlier.

What is the title of the Killers' second album?

Sam's Town is a real place, a hotel whose giant sign one of the band could see from his bedroom window as a boy. In 2016 they marked the album's tenth birthday by playing it in full there, two nights running.

Which Glee actress plays Brandon Flowers in the Killers' "Just Another Girl" video?

Dianna Agron strides through remakes of the band's best-known videos dressed as the singer, feathered jacket included. The song was written to round off a tenth-anniversary hits collection, so the video looks back too.

What was the lead single from the Killers' second album, in 2006?

When You Were Young announced a change of direction, from the debut's new-wave sound towards American heartland rock. It brought the band two more Grammy nominations, one for the song and one for its video.

Tim Burton directed his first music video for which Killers single?

Bones gave the director of Corpse Bride an obvious way in: he filled the video with skeletons, a trademark of his films.

The Killers filmed their "Read My Mind" video in which city?

Tokyo was a stop on the way to an Australian tour, and the band spent it cycling round the city for the camera. Flowers called the song "kind of our favorite".

What is the Killers' 2007 compilation of B-sides and rarities called?

Sawdust was modelled on the odds-and-ends albums the band had grown up with, such as Nirvana's Incesticide and Smashing Pumpkins' Pisces Iscariot. It sweeps up B-sides, covers and leftovers from their first five years.

The Killers' cover of "Shadowplay" for the film Control was originally by which band?

Joy Division were the film's subject: Control tells the story of their singer, Ian Curtis, and the Killers' version plays over its closing credits.

The Killers' 2007 single "Tranquilize" was a duet with which rock legend?

Lou Reed recorded it with them in New York. Flowers has said the band were so in awe that the first day was stiff with nerves, and that one visitor lasted two minutes in the room before fleeing.

Which Madonna producer made the Killers' third album, Day & Age?

Stuart Price had remixed the band before he ever met them. Much of the album was then made an ocean apart: the band sent demos from home over the internet, and Price phoned back from London with his notes.

Brandon Flowers described the Killers' "Human" as "Johnny Cash meets" which group?

Pet Shop Boys were more than a reference point. The duo had already remixed one Killers single, and a few months after "Human" came out their singer, Neil Tennant, joined the band on a Christmas record.

The much-debated chorus of the Killers' "Human" was inspired by a remark from which writer?

Hunter S. Thompson had grumbled that America was raising "a generation of dancers", afraid to step out of line. Flowers borrowed the word, and listeners spent months arguing over whether he was singing "dancer" or "denser".

The Killers recorded a cover of "Romeo and Juliet", a song first released by which British band?

Dire Straits wrote it, and the Killers played it live at Abbey Road for a television music show. Flowers called it "one of the finest songs ever" and praised its "brilliant melodies".

Where did the Killers record their first live DVD in July 2009?

The Royal Albert Hall was a thank-you to London, which Flowers said had opened its arms to the band before anybody else did. He had grown up watching Morrissey concert videos filmed in the same hall.

Which Killers album, their fourth, shares its name with the band's own recording studio?

Battle Born are the words on their home state's flag, a nod to its joining the Union in the middle of the Civil War. The band had already given the name to its own studio.

Johnny Marr joined the Killers on stage in 2019 to play "This Charming Man", a hit for which band he co-founded?

The Smiths had broken up more than thirty years earlier. Their guitarist walked on unannounced near the end of a headline set, played his old band's song, then stayed to add guitar to the Killers' own closing number.

Where did the Killers play what was then their biggest-ever show, in June 2013?

Wembley Stadium got a song of its own that night. The band wrote one specially, telling their story so far, name-checking stars who had headlined there before them and saluting England's 1966 World Cup win.

The Killers teased their 2013 single "Shot at the Night" on Twitter using what?

Morse code, six lines of it, spelled out the band's name and the song's title for any fan patient enough to decode the dots and dashes. The same message became the single's cover.

Which pop legend sings with Brandon Flowers on the Killers' 2008 Christmas single, "Joseph, Better You Than Me"?

Elton John trades verses with Flowers on a carol with an unusual hero: Joseph, the man left to raise a son who was not his own, with the whole town staring.

Which university's football fans have made a stadium tradition of singing along to the Killers' biggest hit?

Michigan plays the song late in home games at its stadium, known as the Big House, and a crowd of more than 100,000 shouts every word back.

What was the lead single from the Killers' fifth album, in 2017?

The Man is the band laughing at their younger selves. Their drummer said the words are about how invincible they felt in their twenties: chest out, sure that nothing could stop them.

Which 2017 album was the Killers' first to top the US Billboard 200?

Wonderful Wonderful finally did at home what the band had long managed abroad. All four of their earlier studio albums had reached No. 1 in Britain, yet none had topped the American chart.

Who directed the video for the Killers' 2019 single "Land of the Free"?

Spike Lee took his cameras to the US–Mexico border and filmed migrant families there, some of them being tear-gassed by border agents. The song takes aim at the border wall, gun violence and mass imprisonment.

Which former Fleetwood Mac guitarist plays the solo on the Killers' "Caution"?

Lindsey Buckingham was a free agent when the call came: Fleetwood Mac had fired him two years earlier. He said the Killers' songs were so well crafted that they cut across generations.

Which Killers album is about the Utah town where Brandon Flowers spent part of his childhood?

Pressure Machine was written because the pandemic had halted the band's tour and sent everyone home. Between the songs you hear recordings of the town's own residents talking about it.

Which artist joined the Killers for "Dustland", their 2021 remake of an earlier single?

Bruce Springsteen gave the secret away himself, mentioning the recording in an interview before the band had said a word. Their announcement that evening began: "Looks like the cat's out of the bag."

Why were the Killers booed at a 2023 concert in the country of Georgia?

They brought a Russian fan on stage to join in on one song, and Flowers told the crowd they were all "brothers". Russian troops occupy part of Georgia, and the band apologised that same night.

What is the Killers' second best-of compilation, released in December 2023, called?

Rebel Diamonds doubles as a salvage job. Flowers had scrapped the band's eighth album part-way through, unhappy with its direction, and three of the songs he rescued from it ended up here.

What is the title of Brandon Flowers's first solo album?

Flamingo arrived in 2010 while the Killers were on a break, and was announced by a mystery countdown clock on the band's own website. It went straight to No. 1 in Britain.

The Killers' annual Christmas singles, begun in 2006, raised money for which charity?

Product Red is the campaign against AIDS co-founded by U2's Bono. The band gave it a new Christmas song every December for ten years, then bowed out, saying they hoped another group would pick up the tradition.

Which president invited the Killers to play a Fourth of July concert on the White House lawn?

Barack Obama's guests that day in 2010 were troops and their families, at a "Salute to the Military" show. The band were supposed to be on a year's break, but Flowers called the invitation a "monumental honor".

Which singer-songwriter duets with Brandon Flowers on "Runaway Horses", from the Killers' 2021 album?

Phoebe Bridgers got the call because Flowers wanted a woman's voice on the song. He still remembered the first time he heard her, when her early single "Funeral" came on a college radio station.

Before the Killers took off, the band's drummer worked as a photographer at what kind of business?

A wedding chapel employed him in the months when the band, most of whom still had day jobs, rehearsed from midnight to four in the morning.

Which boxer's shock 1990 defeat inspired a Killers song about what it is like to watch a hero fall?

Mike Tyson had been undefeated until Buster Douglas beat him, and the band played "Tyson vs Douglas" at multiple shows on their 2017 and 2018 world tour.

Which band's album Is This It so depressed Brandon Flowers that the Killers scrapped nearly all their songs?

The Strokes had made a record that sounded so perfect, Flowers said, that only one of the songs his own band had been working on survived the clear-out.

Which animal, the state mammal of the Killers' home state, appears on the cover of the band's second album?

A bighorn sheep shares the cover with model and singer Felice LaZae, and the animal turns up again on the sleeve of the album's fourth single.

Brandon Flowers of the Killers says growing up in which faith prepared him for the lion's den of rock and roll?

Mormonism still shapes his life: he and his family appear in a promotional video on the website of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Which Zoolander star plays a struggling actor in the video for the Killers' 2013 single "Christmas in L.A."?

Owen Wilson mopes through a Los Angeles Christmas in a video that students and alumni of Brigham Young University filmed and animated.

Which figure from Brandon Flowers's past sings on the Killers' 2016 recording of "I'll Be Home for Christmas"?

His old teacher Ned Humphrey Hansen, a Korean War veteran who taught Flowers in elementary school, sings on the cover, which was added to a compilation of the band's charity Christmas singles.

On the Scandinavian talk show Skavlan, Brandon Flowers of the Killers debated religion with which scientist?

Richard Dawkins, the atheist author of The God Delusion, was a fellow guest, so the singer ended up defending his beliefs on television.

The Killers' 2017 single "Run for Cover", a track about domestic violence, borrows from which Bob Marley classic?

Redemption Song is echoed in a track that sat unfinished for nine years because Brandon Flowers could not complete its second verse.

The buildings on the cover of the Killers' debut album were photographed in the suburbs of which Asian capital?

Beijing's southern suburbs were shot by Matthias Clamer in 2000, and the characters on top of the buildings translate as "construction material development".

Which "Danke Schoen" crooner joined the Killers on stage at the opening night of T-Mobile Arena in 2016?

Wayne Newton was one of several guests that night, along with the Blue Man Group, as the band headlined the first concert at the new arena.

The Killers and Rhythms del Mundo covered which Eagles classic to raise money for climate and disaster relief?

Hotel California was reworked with Afro-Cuban music for the 2009 Artists' Project Earth charity and appeared on the album Rhythms del Mundo Classics.

Which magazine gave the Killers' second album two stars, only for its readers to vote it the decade's most underrated?

Rolling Stone had scoffed at the record's glockenspiel solos and road anthems in 2006, and its own readers delivered the reversal in a December 2009 poll.

The Killers won International Group and International Album in 2007 at which ceremony, where they also performed?

The BRIT Awards handed the band both of its international prizes that February, on the night they played the lead single from their second album.

Which Killers hit did Brandon Flowers call the story of trying to meet someone in a club?

Somebody Told Me became the band's first UK top 40 hit in March 2004, then climbed to number three when it was reissued the following January.

The Killers' "Shot at the Night" was the musical backdrop for 2014 television coverage of which sporting event?

March Madness coverage on CBS and Turner ran the song throughout the tournament, using a special video the band shot at the Skywalk over the Grand Canyon.

Brandon Flowers wrote the Killers' song "Rut" about whose struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder?

His wife, Tana, lives with PTSD, and Flowers said that writing the song helped him understand better what she goes through.

While the Killers were on hiatus in 2011, the band's drummer went back and finished what?

His college degree was completed in May 2011, at the university whose fine arts building he had once sneaked the band into at night to rehearse.

Which actor, who found fame as a bartender on Cheers, reads a Bible verse on the Killers' song "The Calling"?

Woody Harrelson's reading appears on the band's 2017 album, whose lyrics Brandon Flowers called the most personal and bare he had ever written.

Before the Killers took off, their guitarist worked at which clothing chain's store in the Venetian casino?

Banana Republic gave him work after he moved to the city in 2000, a year before the band formed; back home, his parents ran a plumbing business.

Which British pop star's 2016 album includes "Mixed Signals", a song co-written and played by all four Killers?

Robbie Williams put the track on The Heavy Entertainment Show with the band playing all the instruments, then released it as a single in February 2017.

Which "Sultans of Swing" guitarist plays on "Have All the Songs Been Written?", from the Killers' fifth album?

Mark Knopfler's guest spot came on an album the band partly worked up in rented houses in Joshua Tree and San Diego.

Which actor directed the puppet-filled video for the Killers' 2007 Christmas single "Don't Shoot Me Santa"?

Matthew Gray Gubler, best known for the crime drama Criminal Minds, also edited and co-produced the video, in which Santa keeps Brandon Flowers tied to a chair.

The Killers' original four members reunited in 2024 for a debut-album anniversary residency at which casino resort?

Caesars Palace hosted the shows in its Colosseum, where the band played their debut album in full each night to mark its twentieth anniversary.

The Killers made a video for "Goodnight, Travel Well" with UNICEF and MTV to raise awareness of what?

Human trafficking was the campaign's subject, though the song itself was written about the death of the mother of the band's guitarist.

The lead single from the Killers' fifth album drew on "Spirit of the Boogie" by which funk group?

Kool & the Gang's 1975 disco hit fed the groove, while the band's drummer modelled his part on "Peek-a-Boo" by Siouxsie and the Banshees.

What is the name of the side project, fronted by the Killers' drummer, that released its first album in 2011?

Big Talk put him out front on vocals and guitar, and its name pokes fun at how much music labels release before it is properly ready.

The Killers' lead guitarist was born and raised in the town of Pella in which Midwestern state?

Iowa is where he played in a high school jazz band that won a state championship in his senior year, before he headed west in 2000.

At which famous London studio did the Killers record an almost totally unplugged television session in November 2006?

Abbey Road hosted the session for the television series named after the studio, and the set included stripped-back versions of songs from the band's second album.

Brandon Flowers's email to which singer had a subject line that became a Killers song title?

Bono got the message during Flowers's bout of writer's block and replied that its subject line, "Have All the Songs Been Written?", would make an excellent song title.

Brandon Flowers long believed which producer had turned down the Killers' second album, until the producer denied it?

Brian Eno told him, when the two finally worked together on the band's fifth album, that he had never been offered the project in the first place.

Anthony Gonzalez, who produced the Killers' 2013 single "Shot at the Night", leads which French electronic group?

M83 had supported the band on a world tour, and the label suggested Gonzalez as a producer after the success of the album Hurry Up, We're Dreaming.

Which song, the lead single from the Killers' fourth album, marked the band's return in 2012 after a long hiatus?

Runaways was the turning point of strained reunion sessions that began, Brandon Flowers said, with the members eyeballing each other in a room for about a week.

Which song from the Killers' debut album do the band say they wrote in just eight minutes?

Smile Like You Mean It, written by Brandon Flowers and the band's bassist, first appeared as a B-side before reaching number 11 in the UK as a single.

On which Killers song does Brandon Flowers play bass guitar, both on the studio recording and in concert?

For Reasons Unknown turns the line-up around: the band's regular bassist switches to guitar while the singer takes over the bass.

Which small London label signed the Killers in 2003, after American labels had turned the band down?

Lizard King offered a deal on the strength of a five-song demo, without having met the band in person.

What is the title of Brandon Flowers's second solo album, a UK number one made with producer Ariel Rechtshaid?

The Desired Effect arrived in 2015 during a break from the Killers, with Flowers calling Rechtshaid his "co-captain" on the record.

The Killers played at a 2010 re-election rally for which Senate Majority Leader from their home state?

Harry Reid heard three of the four members play an acoustic set that included a folk rendition of the official state song.

The Killers played "Lawyers, Guns and Money" at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to honour which late songwriter?

Warren Zevon was inducted in 2025, and the band's guitarist played the tribute on a guitar that Zevon had once given to David Letterman.

Brandon Flowers was fired from which synth-pop trio shortly before he co-founded the Killers?

Blush Response let him go in 2001, and within months he had answered a newspaper ad and begun writing songs in his new bandmate's apartment.

Soon after finishing their debut album in 2003, the Killers were invited to open for which group on a UK tour?

British Sea Power, now known simply as Sea Power, took the newcomers around the country months before the band's own first headline tour began in May 2004.

Which Australian musician co-wrote five tracks on the Killers' fifth album and then supported the band on tour?

Alex Cameron also had Brandon Flowers sing on his own album Forced Witness, and he returned to co-write songs on the band's next record.

Jeff Saltzman, who produced the Killers' debut album in the city of Berkeley, had earlier managed which punk band?

Green Day's former manager first recorded demos with the group, and many of those takes were kept on the finished album for their spontaneity.

In 2018 the Killers' drummer also joined which band, led by former Weezer bassist Matt Sharp?

The Rentals became a trio of Sharp, Nick Zinner and the drummer, who had earlier recruited Sharp to play on his own solo record.

The Killers' drummer has played with Mt. Desolation, a side project of two members of which British band?

Keane's Tim Rice-Oxley is one of the pair behind Mt. Desolation, and the drummer recorded with them during his own band's long break from touring.

Adam Granduciel, who plays on the Killers' 2020 track "Blowback", is the frontman of which American rock band?

The War on Drugs' leader was one of several guests who helped out on an album the band made without its founding guitarist.

The spoken-word interludes between songs on the Killers' seventh album were inspired by which public radio show?

This American Life shaped the interludes on a record whose words Brandon Flowers wrote in full before any of the music existed.

The lyrics of the Killers' seventh album were influenced by The Pastures of Heaven, a book by which novelist?

John Steinbeck's book fed a concept album about small-town life, which the band chose to record to tape using analog methods.

Which 2024 single was the first Killers recording since 2017 to feature all four original members?

Bright Lights was released to coincide with a run of anniversary concerts for the band's debut album, and it was played at all fifteen shows.

Which band first recorded "Ultraviolet (Light My Way)", which the Killers reworked for a 2011 tribute album?

U2 are the Irish band behind the original, and proceeds from the cover went to help famine-stricken areas.