Mega Music Talent

After years of making music, it should come as no surprise that the kings of alt-rock have finally made it big in their home country. The southern rockers have long achieved massive stardom in the UK and Europe, selling out arenas, headlining tours and attending music festivals, but with their most recent album, and subsequent tour, they have finally made some headlines in their home, the good ol’ U.S. of A. Have you been a long time fan of the kings and want to prove to other reluctant fans that they haven’t “sold out?”

Talking to Tennessean, drummer Nathan Followill said “It’s our fourth record, and with every record you put out, the label and management say, ‘This is the one. This is the one that’s going to crack America,’ so each time we had one that didn’t, it wasn’t a letdown, you get used to it. But it was a little tough playing huge arena shows in the U.K. and Europe, and coming home and having to play smaller places. But man, this record [2008's Only the Night] kinda snuck up on us. You always hope for the best and expect the worst, so we’re pretty stoked. But now we’re realizing how much work you have to do if your record is actually popular.”

Now after a highlighted month that included a performance on Saturday Night Live, a cover on Spin Magazine and a documented New York visit thanks to Rolling Stone, the boys of Kings of Leon have finally found “the one” with Only the Night. The album, which appeared in September, debuted at the fourth spot on The Billboard 200 chart thanks to singles like “Sex on Fire” and “Use Somebody.” Though the boys spent most of 2008 touring, they plan on spending a lot more time at home in the next year with a few US tour dates before they kick off their previously scheduled European and Australian romp. “This kind of feels like our honeymoon with American now,” Followill continued. “Pop culture does play a big part in it. We’ve caught flack from fans saying we’ve sold out, we did this or that, but for such a long time, I think we were like their best kept secret.” And the cat has just been let out of the bag, so to say, as the Tennessee rockers, who tend to mix indie with classic Southern rock and blues, has since embraced their title as the Southern version of the Strokes to more audiences around the world.

For many bands, having an international audience is something to brag about, but after four albums and almost a decade together the brothers (made up of three Followill brothers and a Followill cousin) were ready to see headlines in their own country. The group began their international reign after traveling the nation with their evangelist father, who divorced their mother in the late ’90s and left the boys in search for something a little more adventurous. When Caleb (guitar), Nathan (drums), Jared (bass) and cousin Matthew (guitar) relocated to Nashville, they enjoyed their newfound freedom and took in years of musical genres they had previously been denied. RCA signed them in 2001 and since then the guys have released four full length albums, loads of EPs and toured North America and the UK with their inventive sound.

Author Bio: This article is sponsored by StubHub and was written by Meaghan Clark. StubHub.com is a leader in the business of selling Kings of Leon tickets, as well as sports tickets, concert tickets, theater tickets and special events tickets