Kings Of Leon

Kings of Leon launched their recording career under the nickname "the Southern Strokes," a nod to the regional flavor they brought to rock & roll, before gradually developing into a bold arena rock unit across successive releases. Their first two albums, the 2003 debut Youth & Young Manhood and 2004's Aha Shake Heartbreak, leaned heavily on vintage influences; with Only by the Night in 2008 the group stepped beyond garage limitations onto expansive stages. That effort paired Coldplay's polished textures with Americana's reflective tone and delivered the anthemic worldwide smashes "Sex on Fire" and "Use Somebody," propelling the band to stardom. Follow-up projects Come Around Sundown, Mechanical Bull, When You See Yourself, and 2024's Can We Please Have Fun sustained their international reach.

The lineup consists of brothers Caleb on guitar, Nathan on drums, and Jared on bass, joined by cousin Matthew Followill on guitar; the quartet formed in 1999. The Followill brothers had passed their early years crisscrossing the American heartland alongside their evangelist father, stopping at Pentecostal churches and tent revivals for days before continuing onward. After their father left the ministry and ended his marriage in 1997, the siblings settled in Nashville and embraced the rock music and lifestyle previously forbidden to them. Matthew joined as the second guitarist, and a raw Southern garage rock style took shape. RCA noticed the band, signing them in 2001 and pairing them with Nashville producer Angelo Petraglia, who expanded their rock & roll knowledge and co-wrote songs for the 2003 Holy Roller Novicane EP.

North American and U.K. tours supported the full-length debut Youth & Young Manhood that summer. The single "Molly's Chambers" helped the record gain modest traction in Britain, yet it was the 2004 sophomore album Aha Shake Heartbreak that turned them into European headliners, placing three tracks on the U.K. charts. An American release arrived in February 2005, after which Kings of Leon supported U2 across the country before retreating to prepare their next record. The darker, wide-ranging Because of the Times appeared in 2007. Once again produced by Ethan Johns, who had overseen earlier projects, the album became their strongest seller to that point, entering the U.S. Billboard 200 at number 25 while reaching the top spot in the U.K., Ireland, and New Zealand.

Only by the Night arrived the following year and proved enormously successful; its opening single "Sex on Fire" supplied the band's first U.K. number one. The album itself topped the British charts on release and entered the American listings at number four. It eventually earned platinum certification in eight territories, among them the United States, enabling extensive touring through 2008 and 2009. Live at the O2 captured a midsummer London performance and surfaced late in 2009. The group briefly worked at Manhattan's Avatar Studios on a fifth album before returning to the road in summer 2010 to preview fresh songs live. When that run concluded in September, the new single "Radioactive" had already surfaced. Come Around Sundown followed in October and achieved global success, hitting number one in 15 countries including the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Australia.

A lengthy tour later that year was interrupted by a troubled Texas concert during which Caleb exited the stage without finishing the set. The brothers then chose a self-directed break in 2011, canceling remaining dates while they addressed personal and collective tensions. During the pause, Jared recorded with Mona vocalist Nick Brown as Smoke & Jackal, and Caleb achieved sobriety following the birth of his son and a relocation to New York. The band regrouped with fresh songs and completed their sixth album, Mechanical Bull, issued in September 2013. Powered by the single "Supersoaker," it reached number two on the Billboard 200 and earned a Best Rock Album nomination at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards.

After the 2014–2015 Mechanical Bull tour concluded, Kings of Leon announced they had already started work on new material. Their seventh studio album, WALLS, emerged in 2016. Recorded in Los Angeles with producer Markus Dravs, whose résumé includes Florence + the Machine, Arcade Fire, and Mumford & Sons, the record featured the single "Waste a Moment." Dravs remained behind the boards for the eighth album, When You See Yourself, tracked at Nashville's Blackbird Studios and released in March 2021 with the Grammy-nominated single "The Bandit." For their ninth full-length, the 2024 set Can We Please Have Fun, the Followills collaborated with Grammy-winning producer Kid Harpoon, known for work with Harry Styles and Florence + the Machine. Issued on Capitol Records, the twelve-track collection presented a confident, high-energy sequence of songs fronted by the propulsive single "Mustang."