With “Thrasher,” Brandon Flowers returns home

November 8, 2026 / 10:24 AM EST / CBS News

The year was 2002, in Henderson, Nevada, and no one at the bar that night realized they were watching what would become one of the biggest bands in the world: The Killers. No one, that is, except maybe Brandon Flowers, who was barely 23 years old when The Killers shot to stardom with their first single, "Mr. Brightside," a story about being cheated on ripped from Flowers' own life, which became the anthem for a generation.

"I noticed early on, people would talk about the storytelling in Killers music, that they didn't always associate with young rock bands," Flowers said. "And I think that was when it first started to maybe dawn on me, where was I getting this from?"

Where he was getting it from turns out is Nephi, Utah, an hour and a half south of Salt Lake. It has one stoplight, and feels about as far away from rock & roll stardom as you could get. The family moved there from Las Vegas when Flowers was eight. "It's funny to look at it now, to say it was a culture shock," he said. "It really was, even…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/entertainment/