Biography
Kings of Leon
is an American rock band that formed in Nashville, Tennessee, United
States in 1999, consisting of brothers Anthony “Caleb” Followill (lead
vocals, rhythm guitar), Ivan “Nathan” Followill (drums, percussion,
backing vocals) and Michael “Jared” Followill (bass guitar, backing
vocals), with their cousin Cameron “Matthew” Followill (lead guitar,
backing vocals). Each member of the family group is known by his middle
name (second given name) as opposed to their first given name.
The band’s early music was an upbeat blend of
southern rock and
blues influences but the band has gradually expanded their sound to include a variety of genres, including
alternative rock.
Kings of Leon achieved initial success in the United Kingdom with nine
Top 40 singles, two BRIT Awards in 2008, and all three of the band’s
albums at the time peaking in the top five of the UK Albums Chart.
Their third album
Because Of The Times also reached the number one spot. After the release of
Only By The Night in 2008 they finally achieved chart success in their native United States. The singles
Sex On Fire,
Use Somebody and
Notion
peaked at number one on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks, while the album
itself was their first ever platinum-selling album in the US.
Early years (1999–2002)
The three Followill brothers spent much of their youth traveling around
the Southern United States with their father, Ivan “Leon” Followill, a
traveling Pentecostal Church preacher and their mother, Betty-Ann, who
taught them when they were not in school. Caleb and Jared were both
born in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, while Nathan and Matthew were born in
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. According to Rolling Stone magazine, “While
Leon preached at churches and tent revivals throughout the Deep South,
the boys attended services and were occasionally enlisted to bang on
some drums. They were either home-schooled or enrolled in small
parochial schools at this time. Except for a five-year period when they
settled in Jackson, Tennessee, the Followill’s childhoods were spent
driving through the south in a purple 1988 Oldsmobile, decamping for a
week or two wherever Leon was scheduled to preach.”
When the boys’ father resigned from the church and divorced his wife in
1997, the boys relocated to Nashville and embraced the rock music and
lifestyle they had previously been denied. While there, they met
songwriter Angelo Petraglia, who helped the siblings hone their
songwriting skills and introduced them to the musical influences of the
Rolling Stones,
The Clash, and
Thin Lizzy in particular. Six months later, Nathan and Caleb signed with
RCA Records,
who insisted that the duo recruit more members for the band before
launching their career. The band was formed when cousin Matthew and
younger brother Jared were asked to join. They named themselves Kings
of Leon in honor of Nathan, Caleb, and Jared’s father and grandfather,
who were both named Leon.
In an interview, Caleb admitted to “kidnapping” their cousin Matthew
from his hometown in Mississippi in order for him to join the band.
They told his mother that he was just staying for a week, but they
consequently never allowed him to return home. Drummer Nathan added,
“When we signed the deal with RCA, it was just me and Caleb. The label
told us they were going to put a band together, but we said, ‘We’re
going to buy our little brother a bass, he’s a freshman in high school.
Caleb will teach himself the guitar. Our cousin Matthew played guitar
when he was 10 and I’ll play drums.’ The record label agreed,”.
Youth and Young Manhood and Aha Shake Heartbreak (2003 - 2005)
Their first record, the
Holy Roller Novocaine EP
was released on February 18, 2003. At this stage, Jared was only 16
years old and had not yet learned to play the bass guitar. The release
of Holy Roller Novocaine gave the Kings of Leon a significant amount of
exposure prior to the release of their debut album,
Youth And Young Manhood,
receiving a 4/5 star rating from Rolling Stone magazine. Four of the
five songs would later be released on Youth and Young Manhood, however
the versions of
Wasted Time and
California Waiting
on the EP differ, with the first having a more tense riff and different
vocal style than the same track off Youth and Young Manhood, and the
latter being recorded in a rush to finish the record. The EP contains
the B-side
Wicker Chair while another track titled
Andrea,
was discarded prior to its release. All the songs released on the EP
were co-written by Angelo Petraglia who also produced the record.
The band’s debut studio album, Youth and Young Manhood was released in
the UK in July 2003, and in the United States in August of the same
year. The album was recorded between Sound City Studios in Los Angeles
and Shangri-La Studios in Malibu, California, with producer Ethan Johns
(son of producer Glyn Johns who most notably worked with the Rolling
Stones and the Eagles). The album received some critical notice
domestically, but became a sensation in the UK and Ireland, where NME
declared it “one of the best debut album of the last 10 years”.
Following the release of the album, Kings of Leon was chosen to tour
with fellow American rock band
The Strokes and
U2.
The band’s second album
Aha Shake Heartbreak
was released in the UK in October 2004 and in the United States in
February 2005. Building on the southern-infused garage rock of their
first album, the album broadened the band’s domestic and international
audience. The album was again produced by Angelo Petraglia and Ethan
Johns.
The Bucket,
Four Kicks, and
King Of The Rodeo were all released as singles, with the “The Bucket” rising into the Top 20 in Britain.
Taper Jean Girl
was also used in the 2007 movie Disturbia and the movie Cloverfield in
2008. The band garnered accolades from several of their rock peers,
including
Elvis Costello, and also toured with
Bob Dylan and
Pearl Jam during 2005 and 2006.
Because of the Times (2006–07)
In March 2006, Kings of Leon were back in the studio with their
producers Angelo Petraglia and Ethan Johns, working on their third
album. Guitarist Matthew told NME: “Man, we’re sitting on a bunch of
songs right now that we wish we could let the world hear”. The band’s
third album was titled
Because Of The Times,
which may be a reference to a church ministers conference of the same
name held at The Pentecostals of Alexandria church in Alexandria,
Louisiana that the brothers often attended. The album showed a clear
evolution from Kings of Leon’s previous work, as the band’s trademark
dirty, southern-fried swagger was replaced with a more polished,
clean-cut sound.
The album was released on April 2, 2007 in the UK, and a day later in the United States, preceded by the single
On Call,
which became a hit in Britain and Ireland. It debuted at number one in
Britain and Ireland and entered the European charts at number
twenty-five, selling approximately 70,000 copies in its first week of
release. NME said that the album “cements Kings of Leon as one of the
great American bands of our times.” and Entertainment Weekly called
Because of the Times “an epic wide-screen movie of a CD and the band’s
best to date.” However, some critics found the album inferior to their
previous efforts. Stylus Magazine rated it a C- and noted “If they
wanted us to take them serious this time around, they’d at least try to
be right honest about their ascent into minor celebrity and not keep on
with the yokel façade. Without cautionary yarns regarding life on the
tour bus or banging supermodels, the bright-eyed, legs-stretched mood
of the music rings just as hollow.” Dave Hood of Artrocker gave the
album one star out of five, finding that “Kings of Leon are
experimenting, learning, and getting a bit lost.” Pitchfork Media
contended that “Because of the Times sounds suspiciously like a
counterattack on womankind, launched from somewhere in the mid-1990s,
deep inside a bruised, stadium-sized ego.”
In spite of the mixed recognition, the album spawned a number of hit singles in Europe, including
Charmer and
Fans, along with a number of crowd favorites such as
Knocked Up and
My Party.
Only by the Night (2008–09)
After recording throughout most of 2008, “the all American long haired rockers” (The Times), released their fourth studio album
Only By The Night
on September 19, which subsequently entered the UK Albums Chart at
number one and remained there for one more week. Only By The Night also
had two single week stints as the UK #1 album in 2009, one directly
after the BRIT Awards. In the United States, the album reached number 5
on the Billboard Charts. Reception to the album was the most polarized
yet, with the British press granting the album glowing reviews. Q
Magazine named Only by the Night “Album of the Year” for 2008. In the
United States, reactions to the album were more mixed. Spin, Rolling
Stone, and All Music Guide gave the album positive reviews, while
Pitchfork Media gave the album a virtual equivalent of 2 stars. The
album was officially named as the UK’s third biggest selling album of
2008 and the biggest selling album of 2008 in Australia.
Sex On Fire
was the first single released for download in the UK on 8 September.
The song became their most successful ever as it peaked at number one
in the UK and in Ireland. It was also their first song to chart number
one on the Billboard Hot Modern Rock chart. The second single to be
released from the album on December 8, 2008 was
Use Somebody
which achieved worldwide chart success and consistency, such as peaking
at number two in the UK Singles Chart, and also reaching top ten chart
positions in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand and the United States. The
album’s popularity in Australia was confirmed with a total of four
singles being voted into the world’s largest online music poll, the
“Triple J Hottest 100”. The song
Crawl came in at number 70,
Closer
was voted number 24 and “Use Somebody” finished number 3 in the poll.
However, their biggest success from Only By The Night was “Sex on Fire”
which was voted number 1 in the Hottest 100 poll for 2008 and number 90
in the Triple J Hottest 100 of All Time, 2009 poll. “Sex on Fire” also
won the band a Grammy Award at the 51st Grammy Awards held at the
Staples Center in Los Angeles on February 8, 2009. They won Best
International Band and Best International Album at the Brit Awards in
2009, where they also performed “Use Somebody” live. Kings of Leon also
performed on 14 March 2009 at Sound Relief, a benefit concert, for the
Victorian Bushfire Crisis. The song “Crawl” from this album was
released as a free download on the band’s website on July 28. The third
and fourth singles were
Revelry, which peaked at number 19 in New Zealand and
Notion,
which peaked at number 24 in Belgian charts. Only By The Night was
certified platinum in the United States by the RIAA for selling one
million copies in less than a year after its release.
In 2009, the band headlined a number of music festivals, including
Reading & Leeds, Rock Werchter, Oxegen, T In The Park,
Gurtenfestival and Open’er Festival in Europe, along with Sasquatch,
Lollapalooza, and Austin City Limits in the United States. That same
year, the band won their first Grammy Award for the single “Sex on
Fire”, as well as two BRIT Awards for “Best International Group” and
“Best International Album.” The album Only by the Night also won an NME
Award for “Album of the Year.”
Future projects (2009-present)
The band has announced the release of a live DVD on November 10, 2009
and a remix album due for release in the coming months, though the
latter is untitled and unscheduled at the moment. The DVD was filmed at
London’s O2 Arena in July 2009. In an interview with Billboard.com
drummer Nathan stated, “England is really the first place we broke … We
figured what better place to make a live DVD than where the fans have
been the craziest for the longest?” The show featured some choice
rarities, and Nathan continued by saying “we just put the cameras in
the back of our minds and acted like they weren’t even there.” The
remix album came to life after Kings of Leon learned that other artists
had started working on revisions of the band’s songs.
Mark Ronson,
Kenna,
Lykke Li with her cover of “Knocked Up”, and
Linkin Park are also contributing a remix to the album.
On October 17, 2009, the night of the final show of the US tour in
Nashville, Tennessee, Nathan Followill posted “Now it’s time to start
creating the next musical chapter in the novel that is Kings of Leon.
Thanks again to all. Boomer fucking Sooner.” on his personal Twitter
page.
Controversy
Kings of Leon caused controversy at the 2009 Reading Festival when
Caleb Followill tried to get the crowd going by asking “I thought this
was supposed to be the loudest crowd in the world?” Picking up on a
perceived hostility towards the band, he announced “we know you’re sick
of Kings of Leon, so for all those who don’t give a fuck about us, I
understand. But we’ve worked fucking hard to get here. So anyone that
has anything to say to us, fuck you. We’re the goddamn Kings of Leon.”
The band later smashed their guitars in anger and made rude gestures
before leaving the stage. Nathan Followill further criticized the
Reading crowd on his twitter page, declaring “Zero love for the kings.
I know it was cold but holy shit, y’all were frozen. I can only hope
Leeds is in better form.”. At the Leeds Festival Caleb again
bad-mouthed Reading while complimenting the Leeds crowd declaring
“We’re only five songs in and you’ve blown Reading to hell”, while
complimenting UK crowds in general stating “It was the UK that made us
feel like we could take on the world.”
Discography
* Youth and Young Manhood (2003)
* Aha Shake Heartbreak (2004)
* Because of the Times (2007)
* Only by the Night (2008)
* Come Around Sundown (2010)