Brandon Flowers

Vorlage:Otheruses4 Vorlage:Infobox musical artist Brandon Richard Flowers (born June 21, 1981) is the American vocalist, keyboardist and primary lyricist of the Las Vegas-based rock band The Killers. He was voted Hottest Rocker Alive for 3 consecutive years starting 2003.

Biography

Early life

Flowers, the youngest of six children, was born on June 21, 1981 in Henderson, Nevada (outside Las Vegas) to parents of partial Dutch, Scottish and Lithuanian ancestry. 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. 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 Mormon faith.

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, 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 The 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."

Brandon presented The Pet Shop Boys with an Outstanding Contribution to Music award at the 2009 Brit Awards. He and Lady Gaga then performed with The Pet Shop Boys as part of a medley of their hits.

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.Vorlage:Fact Although primarily a vocalist and keyboardist, Flowers plays bass guitar live in concerts for the song "For Reasons Unknown".

Personal life

Flowers is a practicing member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, more popularly known as Mormons. 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." He is also a golf fanatic and his cousin, Craig Barlow, is a professional golfer.

Flowers purchased the New Frontier casino sign before its demolition, with the intent to erect it in an area of desert that he owns. It shall reside next to a house that he will one day build there.

He is married to Tana Flowers with a baby son, Ammon.

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.

References

Vorlage:Reflist he won best international group at NME 2009

External links

Commons: Brandon Flowers – Sammlung von Bildern, Videos und Audiodateien

• 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
• [1] Indie Rock Fans Website]
• SPIN's Brandon Flowers Interview