Brandon Flowers
Biography
Brandon Flowers is the vocalist and keyboardist in the American rock band The Killers. He was born on June 21, 1981 in Henderson, Nevada (outside Las Vegas), to parents of partial Scottish and Lithuanian ancestry. Brandon Richard Flowers is the youngest of six children, with one older brother and four older sisters. He and his family lived in Henderson until he was eight and then moved to Nephi, Utah, where he lived until his junior year in high school, when he moved back to Las Vegas. Having grown up in the small town of Nephi, in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, his best chance of getting into music was the cassettes he would inherit from his older brother, Shane. He was the only Smiths fan and never had a girlfriend while he lived there. Since Nephi was a little farm town of just 2,000 people, football was everything as Brandon played golf and listened to Elton John and The Cars. He grew up a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with four older sisters and an older brother. He attributes his fashion sense to his doting sisters. He begged his parents to return to Las Vegas and finally did at the age of fifteen, during Brandon's junior year in high school, to live with his aunt and attend Chaparral High School, at which point he wanted to be a professional golfer (his uncle, Craig Barlow, is a professional golfer on the PGA Tour). While listening to the radio in his car after his very first college class, Brandon Flowers heard the song "Changes" by David Bowie. Brandon Flowers fell in love with the piece and realized he wanted to be part of the music industry. Brandon 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 Brandon 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'. Brandon 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.
Although an active Mormon himself, Brandon Flowers smokes cigarettes, drinks alcohol, and wears makeup -- behavior not typical of the faith. However, Flowers belongs to a "very tolerant gathering". In an August 2005 interview with Rolling Stone, he mentioned trying to cut-back and eventually quit smoking and drinking. Ss of November 22, 2006, Brandon gave up smoking by using a chamomile concoction prescribed by a German doctor (Flowers says it's good for his voice)
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," Brandon Flowers' apparent metrosexuality, and the band's considerable gay following have all led to speculation and rumors that Brandon Flowers is either gay or bisexual. Brandon 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. Brandon 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. Brandon Flowers has also said "I'm not gay", 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.
