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If you like The Fray, Mat Kearney and Parachute then you need to get to know more about Kings of Leon. I first heard about them a few months ago through my local Top 40 radio station when I heard their current single “Use Somebody.” Then last month they were on the cover of Relevant Magazine and I learned a little more about them. Now, they are showing up on VH1′s Top 20 Countdown.
If you don’t know anything about Kings of Leon or their music then take a few minutes today to learn more about this band of who are made up of Caleb Followill on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Nathan Followill on the drums and Jared Followill on Bass who are brothers along with their cousin Matthew Followill who holds down lead guitar. Everyone goes by their middle name as opposed to their first name.
The three brothers spent much of their youth traveling around the South with their father, Ivan “Leon” Followill, a traveling Pentecostal Church preacher and their mother, Betty-Ann, who taught them when they were not in school. Jared and Caleb were born in Tennessee, while Nathan and Matthew were born in Oklahoma. The group’s name is derived from Nathan, Caleb, and Jared’s father and grandfather, who were both named Leon. According to Rolling Stone magazine…
While Leon preached at churches and tent revivals throughout the Deep South, the boys attended services and were occasionally enlisted to bang on some drums. They were home-schooled or enrolled in small parochial schools. Except for a five-year stretch when they settled in Jackson, Tennessee, the Followills spent their childhoods driving through the South in a purple 1988 Oldsmobile, decamping for a week or two wherever Leon was scheduled to preach.
Kings of Leon have released four projects to date “Youth and Young Manhood” in 2003, “Aha Shake Heartbreak” in 2005, “Because Of The Times” in April 2007 and their current project “Only By The Night” which was released in September of last year. That’s a lot of music from a band of brothers that got their start
Kings of Leon have toured the country alongside U2, but their biggest fan base by far is the U.K. where their “Because of the Times” project proved to be the band’s biggest release that topped the album charts in the U.K., Ireland, and New Zealand. Kings of Leon have now returned to the US and are currently touring the country in support of their current project “Only By The Night.”
![BECAUSE OF THE TIMES [Vinyl]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51AvgoU3IDL._SL75_.jpg "BECAUSE OF THE TIMES [Vinyl]")
![Only By The Night [Vinyl]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51pFHJEvQjL._SL75_.jpg "Only By The Night [Vinyl]")
Don’t get me wrong, I love their sound and have really enjoyed “Only By the Night” – but I don’t really get how you can be promoting this band in the same breath as Mat Kearney and The Fray when their past albums have both explicit and graphic lyrics. I know about their upbringing, and wish it would have a greater effect on their music, but unfortunately the stuff they’ve put out is not as wholesome as we’d like to imagine.
Hey Kraig
My foul language or sins during the years I was away from the Lord don’t have any bearing on my life in Christ today. I pray the same is true for Kings of Leon and their music in the future. It would be easy for me to ignore them or their music because o f their past music, but I feel God is calling me to share their musical roots and then pray for them instead of judging them.
Rodney Miller
Editor
Stereotruth.net
I’m not intending to judge them, but I would warn against promoting them without further investigation into how they are living and what their music represents now. Are they in any way standing up for the Lord either through their music or when asked about it? I just know that when I look into a band, I usually attempt to read lyrics from multiple albums, and I’d hate to lead someone attempting to find wholesome, faith-based artists to some of the stuff on KOL’s past albums. That is my concern.
I indeed agree that praying for them now and hoping their music takes that path in the future are our best options.
Hey Kraig
I’m not concerned if they are or aren’t standing up for the Lord with their music today. In fact, I’m not sure it’s even my place to be concerned because they all have their own personal relationship with the Lord. Again, by sharing their musical story (or any other mainstream band) my prayer is to not only encourage them as artists, but my daily readers who may also relate to their songs that talk about past pain and hurt. I feel it’s in these songs of truth the Lord does His best work in all music fans.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Rodney Miller
Editor
I guess I misunderstood your purpose for this site.