50 Fun Facts About Kings of Leon

A 2010 Kings of Leon show near St. Louis was abandoned after three songs over droppings from which birds?

Pigeons pelted the band from above the stage at the Missouri amphitheatre, and the set ended after three songs. The cancelled show made headlines for the tour.

Kings of Leon, Slash and Foo Fighters all refused to let which hit TV musical series use their songs?

Glee creator Ryan Murphy publicly criticised the artists who turned the show down, which set off a war of words in the press.

Kings of Leon took their name from a man called Leon, who was which relative of the three Followill brothers?

Grandfather Leon gave the band its name, and the brothers' father, Ivan, carries Leon as a middle name too.

Use Somebody won Kings of Leon which Grammy in 2010, beating songs by Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift?

Record of the Year went to Use Somebody ahead of Poker Face, I Gotta Feeling and You Belong with Me, and the song took two rock Grammys at the same ceremony.

Which pop superstar covered Kings of Leon's Sex on Fire during her headline festival set in England in 2011?

Beyoncé worked the song into her headlining set to much acclaim, three years after it gave the band a first UK number one.

Kings of Leon's Followill brothers grew up on the road across the American South while their father did which job?

Preacher Ivan Followill led Pentecostal services at churches and tent revivals across the Deep South, with the family camping for a week or two at each stop.

Kings of Leon say they wrote their first songs during a month locked away in which part of the family home?

The basement sessions lasted a month, with Nathan's mother bringing food down, and ended with Molly's Chambers and three more songs ready to play for RCA.

Kings of Leon's lead guitarist Matthew Followill is what relation to the three brothers who complete the band's line-up?

Cousin Matthew joined after the brothers told his mother he would visit for just a week; they never let him go home.

Which Victoria's Secret Angel did Kings of Leon frontman Caleb Followill marry at a California ranch in 2011?

Lily Aldridge is said to have inspired Sex on Fire, and the couple married in Montecito in May 2011.

In 2021 Kings of Leon's When You See Yourself was billed as the first new album sold in which digital format?

An NFT series called NFT Yourself offered the album in three token packages, and it became the first of its kind displayed at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Nathan Followill, who sings backing vocals for Kings of Leon, plays which instrument in the band?

Drums were Nathan's job from the start: when RCA wanted to build a group around him and Caleb, he volunteered for the kit while Caleb taught himself guitar.

Which famous English festival did Kings of Leon headline in 2008, months before Sex on Fire topped the charts?

Glastonbury put the band on the same 2008 bill as Jay-Z, the first major hip-hop artist to headline the festival.

Which 2008 Kings of Leon album, made in Nashville, contains both Sex on Fire and Use Somebody?

Only by the Night was the band's first platinum album in America and went on to sell more than six million copies worldwide.

Which country star featured Kings of Leon on his 2025 single Bowery and had them open his MetLife Stadium shows?

Zach Bryan trades verses with Caleb Followill on Bowery, a song described as part folk ballad and part rock anthem.

Kings of Leon's retro look and gritty debut drew early comparisons to Lynyrd Skynyrd and which New York band?

The Strokes and Skynyrd were both invoked by Rolling Stone, while The Guardian called the Followills the authentic, hairy rebels the Rolling Stones longed to be.

Kings of Leon toured with U2 and Pearl Jam in 2005 and 2006, as well as which veteran American songwriter?

Bob Dylan took the young band on the road as his support act, and Elvis Costello was among the rock peers who praised them.

In 2009 Kings of Leon's fourth album became the UK's biggest-selling digital album, overtaking an album by which singer?

Amy Winehouse's Back to Black held the digital sales crown until February 2009, by which point the Kings of Leon album had passed a million UK sales.

Three members of Kings of Leon made a cameo in a 2011 high school reunion episode of which sitcom?

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia cast Caleb Followill as a man at the bar and two of his brothers as bartenders in its seventh season.

Kings of Leon played at Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2021 as part of which sporting event's festivities?

The NFL Draft festivities followed the March 2021 release of the band's eighth album, When You See Yourself.

Kings of Leon's debut single Molly's Chambers took its title from which Irish band's version of Whiskey in the Jar?

Thin Lizzy were among the bands the brothers' Nashville songwriting mentor introduced them to, along with the Rolling Stones and the Clash.

The annual Followill family reunion filmed for Kings of Leon's documentary Talihina Sky takes place in which US state?

Oklahoma is where the Followills have family roots: the reunion is held in the small town of Talihina, which also gave an early song its name.

Kings of Leon's single The Bucket is about which band member struggling with sudden fame at the age of 17?

Jared, the band's bassist and youngest member, was still a teenager when the group took off; the song became a top 20 hit in Britain.

Kings of Leon's fourth album was the best-selling album of 2008 in which country?

Australia took to the band in a big way: listeners of the Triple J radio station also voted Sex on Fire the top song of 2008.

Kings of Leon's 2016 album Walls became the band's first to reach number one on which chart?

Billboard 200 glory had narrowly escaped the band twice: Mechanical Bull and Come Around Sundown both stalled at number two.

Kings of Leon cancelled the rest of a 2011 US tour after Caleb Followill walked off stage in which Texas city?

Dallas saw the singer leave mid-set promising to return for three more songs; he never did, and the band began a hiatus within months.

What is the title of Kings of Leon's 2003 debut album, which reached number three in the UK?

Youth & Young Manhood sold far better abroad than at home, moving 750,000 copies overseas against 100,000 in the United States.

Kings of Leon cancelled 2025 UK and European shows after Caleb Followill suffered which injury in a freak accident?

A broken foot kept the singer off the road for eight weeks, and he explained the cancellations to ticket holders in a video message.

Which music magazine declared Kings of Leon's first album one of the best debut albums of the last 10 years?

NME gave the album nine out of ten and later ranked it the seventh best album of 2003.

Kings of Leon filmed their first live DVD in June 2009 at which London venue, in front of more than 18,000 people?

The O2 Arena show ran to 22 songs, and Nathan Followill said the band chose England as the first place they broke.

Which flower appears on both the UK and US covers of Kings of Leon's second album, Aha Shake Heartbreak?

An orchid fronts both sleeves: a white bloom on black for the UK and Ireland, and a different variety on a white background for America.

Talihina Sky, which gave Kings of Leon's 2011 documentary its name, appeared as what on the band's debut album?

A hidden track tucked after Holy Roller Novocaine, the song starts more than four minutes after the closing number ends.

Kings of Leon singer Caleb Followill met his future wife, a model, at which American music festival in 2007?

Coachella 2007 began a romance that led to a wedding four years later and to two children.

Which song was the lead single from Kings of Leon's 2013 album Mechanical Bull?

Supersoaker came with a love-story video set in the 1950s and reached number one on Canada's rock chart.

Which Kings of Leon single has a sepia video showing the band at a barbecue with a children's gospel choir?

Radioactive was the lead single from Come Around Sundown in 2010 and earned two Grammy nominations, though one magazine later ranked its video among the worst ever made.

Three songs from Kings of Leon's debut EP feature in which 2003 Farrelly brothers comedy starring Matt Damon?

Stuck on You, about conjoined twins played by Damon and Greg Kinnear, used California Waiting, Molly's Chambers and Holy Roller Novocaine.

Kings of Leon's Sex on Fire got its title as a running joke after whose passing remark in the studio?

A sound mixer walked in while the band played and misheard the working title, Set Us on Fire; Caleb Followill at first thought the song was terrible.

Which 2007 Kings of Leon single pays homage to Britain, where the band found success before America did?

Fans reached number 13 in the UK, the band's highest singles placing until Sex on Fire went to number one in 2008.

Which British pop singer took a cover of Kings of Leon's Use Somebody into the UK singles chart as a B-side?

Pixie Lott's version charted in 2009 thanks to its place on the flip side of her number one single Mama Do.

Kings of Leon's early single Molly's Chambers reached American living rooms through a commercial for which car maker?

Volkswagen used the song to sell its Jetta, while the EP's title song closed an episode of the police drama The Shield.

Which music video director shot both Sex on Fire and Use Somebody for Kings of Leon?

Sophie Muller filmed Caleb Followill tied to a mattress for the first and singing on a sofa above the New York skyline for the second.

Which songwriter mentored Kings of Leon's Caleb and Nathan Followill in Nashville and co-wrote their first EP?

Angelo Petraglia, once of the new wave band Face to Face, also produced the EP and was still producing the band a decade later.

Kings of Leon's album Can We Please Have Fun was produced by which Grammy winner behind Harry Styles's Harry's House?

Kid Harpoon, born Thomas Hull in England, recorded the album with the band at Dark Horse Recording in Franklin, Tennessee.

After two decades with RCA, Kings of Leon released Can We Please Have Fun in 2024 through which major label?

Capitol issued the album jointly with LoveTap Records, making it the first Kings of Leon album not released on RCA.

Which 2007 release, led by the single On Call, was the first Kings of Leon album to top the UK chart?

Because of the Times entered at number one in both Britain and Ireland in April 2007, selling about 70,000 copies in its first week.

Kings of Leon's bassist formed Smoke & Jackal in 2012 with Nick Brown, the singer of which Nashville-based band?

Mona had opened for the Kings on tour, and the two men finished the duo's first songs at Brown's home within a week.

Kings of Leon founded which label of their own in 2009, signing bands such as The Features and Turbo Fruits?

Serpents and Snakes Records also released music by Snowden and The Weeks.

Kings of Leon's documentary Talihina Sky had its premiere in April 2011 at which American film festival?

Tribeca screened the 87-minute film, directed by Stephen C. Mitchell, and its European premiere followed in Edinburgh that June.

Kings of Leon say they kidnapped lead guitarist Matthew Followill from his home town in which Southern state?

Mississippi was where Matthew was born and raised; he had played guitar since the age of 10 when the brothers recruited him.

Which Kings of Leon single topped the US alternative chart yet became the band's first to miss the UK top 100?

Notion peaked at number 107 in Britain despite heavy Radio 1 airplay, and its video was filmed among crumbling, fiery brick walls.

Kings of Leon recorded Walls at Henson Studios in which city, where the band also made its first two albums?

Los Angeles was a deliberate change of scenery: Caleb Followill said the band hoped a return there would inspire them, with their Nashville studio as a fallback.