Brandon Flowers
Photo by Andrew Kendal
Brandon Flowers (born June 21 1981 in Las Vegas, Nevada) is the vocalist and keyboardist in the American rock band The Killers. He was raised in Nephi, Utah in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He later returned to Las Vegas.
While listening to the radio in his car after his very first college class, Flowers heard the song "Changes" by David Bowie. He fell in love with the piece and realized he wanted to be part of the music industry.
Flowers joined a band known as Blush Response, but the band booted Flowers in 2001 when he refused to move with the rest of them to Los Angeles, California.
The Killers were spawned shortly thereafter when Flowers responded to an ad placed by guitarist David Keuning in the Las Vegas Weekly looking for a vocalist in order to form a band. Mark Stoermer later became the bassist and Ronnie Vannucci became the drummer. They played some of their early gigs at a gay drag club in Las Vegas.
The name 'The Killers' came about from watching New Order's music video for 'Crystal', where New Order were a fictitious band of perfecto called 'The Killers'. Flowers was inspired and felt the desire to be as perfect as 'The Killers' by ultimately becoming 'The Killers'.
Flowers was married on August 2, 2005 to Tana Munblowsky, a manager of an Urban Outfitters store in Las Vegas. Munblowsky had previously converted to Mormonism. The small, private marriage ceremony was held in Hawaii.[1] Although an active Mormon himself, Flowers smokes cigarettes, drinks alcohol, and wears makeup -- behavior not typical of the faith. However, Flowers belongs to a "very tolerant gathering".[2] In an August 2005 interview with Rolling Stone, he mentioned trying to cut-back and eventually quit smoking and drinking.
The gigs in a drag club, the lyrics to "Andy, You're a Star" (about a crush on a male High School athlete) as well as the androgyny of "Somebody Told Me," Flowers' apparent metrosexuality, and the band's considerable gay following have all led to speculation and rumors that Flowers is either gay or bisexual. Flowers claims that "Andy You're a Star" is "free for people to interpret as their own," in a Genre 2005 interview. However in an earlier QLas Vegas interview during 2004 he said it was about his crush on a male athlete in high school. Flowers has stated that some confusion over his sexuality is "not a bad thing." He was also seen holding hands with a male outside of an early gig in Las Vegas. Flowers has also said "I'm not gay"[3], but has not yet responded to whether he is bisexual or not. The band is also known for boylove (suggestive homoerotic play between male bandmembers) onstage, something on par with the yaoi and slash fiction cultures.
