More than 20 years after its release, The Killers’ “Mr Brightside” continues to break records and collect awards.
The American alternative rock act was this week presented with two Guinness World Records, for its extraordinary chart success in the United Kingdom.
With a total of 416 weeks — and counting — on the Official U.K. Singles Chart, “Mr Brightside” has the longest stay on the singles survey by a group and the most cumulative weeks on the U.K. tally for one song, according to GWR.
Earlier this year, “Mr Brightside” was crowned as the biggest-ever single in the U.K. which had never gone to No. 1.
Hailing from Las Vegas, the band was originally discovered by and signed to U.K. independent Lizard King, and were embraced by Brits as one of their own. “Mr Brightside” was initially released in 2003 with a limited-edition 500 CD run, and was reissued in May 2004, peaking at No. 10.
Now, after eight years on the national chart, the track is also recognized as one of the U.K.’s all-time top three singles for combined units (sales and streams) and among the top five most-streamed tracks.
“It’s infectious still to us, I know some people can’t wrap their head around it but you’ll see the response [when you see it live],” frontman Brandon Flowers tells GWR. “It’s tough not to be touched by it or be excited by it and there’s going to be people tonight who’ve never seen it live, there’ll be some people who’ve seen it 45 times. And we just don’t get tired of it.”
It would seem, no one has tired of the song. In recent weeks, The Killers were inducted with the SoundExchange Hall of Fame Award, recognition for their status as one of the most streamed acts in the organization’s 21-year history.
The Killers complete a six-night stand at London’s O2 arena tonight (July 11), part of a tour of the U.K. and Europe that runs through mid-July. The band returns to the U.S. for festival appearances at Lollapalooza and Outside Lands before kicking off an August Las Vegas residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace, and additional North American festival dates through September.
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