Kings Of Leon Biography

news-detailsGathering a mass of fans within 7 years itself is pretty hard to imagine for such young rock act swimming in music industry, let alone ruling the chart for two consecutive weeks. So mind frying that Kings of Leon has continuously impressed its U.K. fans with 'Because of the Times'. The third effort was recorded as the highest selling album of the week on April 8, 2007 and subsequently entitled to #1 spot in U.K. chart. The following week, the album held strong to the position, showing the probability that the LP was indeed well received. The Tennessee-based band said publicly that they were worn out celebrating the success of the album and thanking U.K. fans for placing them atop. The album also brought the band fame by entering U.S. Billboard chart at #25 which later on led them being invited to perform at several festivals there. With sterling members and total commitment, Kings of Leon are giving the garage rock fans the shake-up they have been dying for.

Kings of Leon is a 'family' band comprised of the Followill brothers Nathan, Caleb, Jared and their cousin Matthew. Before wrapping the band, the three brothers had been playing music particularly in country stream due to the influence from traveling with their evangelist father to churches. Later on, Nathan the oldest and Caleb the second child worked with Label Pistol Creek Production to sing at rodeos while juggling time with their newly formed band in 2000. Caleb who has a distinctive voice took the role of the vocalist while Nathan found comfort behind the drum set. Jared and Matthew meanwhile, took the position of bass guitarist and lead guitarist respectively. They were soon discovered by producer Angelo Petraglia who immediately saw the potential and introduced them to RCA. Later on Petraglia will play a lot of roles in the rise of the band including co-writing their music, directing them to rock vibe and also producing the band's albums. Under RCA wing, the band released a mini album in 2003 titled 'Holy Roller Novocaine [EP]' which contained the hits that catapulted them to success later on.

With the release of the EP, a star quality was in the making. That was why they did not wait another year to release debut album 'Youth & Young Manhood'. The album did receive praise for the mixture of Southern rock and indie sound but at the same time it also channeled critics mainly due to Caleb's voice that was close to 'muttering'. All in all, the band managed to pull it through with the strong blend of music that was sometimes topped with blues vibe. They instantaneously were in sight of budding bands that U2 and The Strokes selected them among others to tour along and open the acts. Immediately after that, the band hit the studio again in Los Angeles for sophomore effort that resulted in 'Aha Shake Heartbreak' (2005). In this record, the band changed their style slightly into garage rock that actually accentuated Caleb's characteristic vocal. If the previous album only received a moderate circulation, this album reached out to U.K. and U.S. more widely.

It took them one year to bake the third album 'Because of the Times', but the LP was not released until April 3, 2007. Upon the name Caleb explained that it came from a saying that if an album does well it's "Because of the Times". The album rhetorically was worth the name. While enjoying the success of the third, they were right away in full speed to gear up the fourth installment. Jared hinted that the album will "rock harder" and there may be sounds like Wham!'s. "We've broaden our musical tastes in the past couple of years and feel we're ready to tackle our southern roots again" said Jared. The album is expected to be released in the second half of 2008.