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Rockband, the Killers got their start in Las Vegas and their album Sam’s Town expresses their love for the city that they once called home. Band members admit that the more time they spend away on tour, the more they fall in love with their hometown. The Killers first two albums combined have sold over 10 million copies worldwide. Although all from Vegas, all members of the group come from very different backgrounds. Keyboard player Brandon Powers worked as a bellhop at the GoldCoast Hotel and Casino shortly after dropping out of college. Guitarist Dave Keuning worked at a Banana Republic store, also in Las Vegas. Band members Ronnie Vannucci and Mark Stoermer were students at UNLV. Vannucci also used to work as a photographer at the famous Little Chapel of Flowers and as a bicycle cab driver in the Desert Passage Mall, which in now the Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood. Flowers was the one who originally came up with the idea for the band. He put out ads stating that he needed a bassist and a guitarist. When the band first came together Vannucci sold his house and they were left without even a garage to rehearse in. They were forced to sneak onto the campus of UNLV and use their music rooms in order to find practice space. After playing some small nightclubs in Vegas, including the Junkyard, they gained the attention of a representative from Warner Bros. UK. Warner Bros passed on the band but through his connections they were signed to an indie British label instead. Their first album, Hot Fuss was produced under the label Lizard King and released in the UK in 2004. Singles off this album include “Mr. Brightside” and “Somebody Told Me.” Their second album also went platinum. Sam’s Town was based mostly on the band’s love for Las Vegas. The album is named after a casino in Las Vegas of the same name. Sam’s Town is mostly popular among locals and it’s also owned by Sam Boyd who had great influence on the building of modern Vegas. The Killers have admitted that Las Vegas is a subject close to their heart and they thought it was only fair to dedicate an entire album to the glittering town that made them famous. The Killers have performed live on American television programs many times. They performed on Saturday Night Life. They were also one of the musical acts that performed live on MTV during the Launch Event for Xbox360. Since building up their record labels name, the band has started a rivalry with other bands on the same label, Fall out Boy and The Bravery. Lead vocalist, Flowers, made comments that these bands were just using the success of The Killers to gain fans of their own and noted that people should keep in mind that their band was the original. Flowers later took back his comments saying that he shouldn’t criticize other artists for gaining success and that he sometimes lets his jealousy get the best of him. Even though the band continues to have success with their music all over the world, the boys who make up The Killers do not brush off their Las Vegas roots and continue to make tour stops in Sin City whenever they can.
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