Undoubtedly the Kings of Leon
“I’ve been roaming around always
looking down at all I see, Painted faces fill the places I can’t reach,
You know that I could use somebody.”
 If you’ve heard the song, then you most certainly would know the
band. The hottest and happening rock band in the world music industry
right now are the Kings of Leon. So much so that the song “Use Somebody”
was sung by a guy called Sam who won the Onstage Soloist title when it
appeared on the official Sprite CD.
“Use Somebody” is the second single from ‘Only by the Night’, the
fourth studio album by Kings of Leon which came about when they had a
fall out, while touring in Glasgow before their concert December 3,
2007. This is when he said “Use Somebody” was written, crediting the
writing of the song to the city of Glasgow.
Thereafter, the song became a hit in Europe and U.S. and has remained
at number one on the Official Airplay Chart for six consecutive weeks.
In the U.S., it topped multiple airplay formats, and reached #4 on the
Hot 100 and the top of the Pop Songs chart.
The song received positive reviews as well and on December 2,2009, it
was announced that the song has been nominated for the 52nd Grammy
Awards in the categories of Song of the Year, Record of the Year, Best
Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal and Best Rock Song. In
case you’re still not on this planet, the Kings of Leon is an American
rock band that joined forces in Nashville, Tennessee in 1999 made 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 their middle name (second
given name) as opposed to their first given name. At the start, the
band’s music composed of an upbeat blend of southern rock and blues
influences but the band has evolved their present sound to infuse a
multitude of genres with a more alternative sound.
 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 September’ 2008
they finally achieved chart success in their native United States. The
singles “Sex on Fire”, “Use Somebody” and “Notion” all peaked at number
one on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks.
The album itself was their first ever platinum-selling album in the
United States and achieved 7x platinum certification in the United
Kingdom. Their first record, the Holy Roller Novocaine EP was released
on February 18, 2003. The band’s second album ‘Aha Shake Heartbreak’.
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. 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. The album was
officially named as the UK’s third-biggest selling album of 2008 and the
biggest selling album of 2008 in Australia.
The band has announced the release of a live DVD which they are
working on.
--- ND ---
|
