Bruce Springsteen and Brandon Flowers pick favourites of each others’ songs
In the music world, it’s always touching to see artists form intergenerational alliances built on mutual appreciation. When we see contemporary artists take the stage with rock legends of the 20th century, we can live out our dreams vicariously – once we’ve swallowed our acrid envy, of course. One such heartwarming alliance is that between The Killers’ frontman Brandon Flowers and Bruce Springsteen.
Flowers grew up in Las Vegas on a healthy diet of top-flight entertainment. “I’ve struggled with an identity sometimes,” Flowers once told GQ. “I don’t know what exactly I am. I love so many types of music, and I don’t want to commit to going down one road.” Indeed, Flowers has a rather diverse taste in music, with Kate Bush, Oasis, The Smiths, and The Eagles cited among his favourite artists.
However, Bruce Springsteen surfaces as one of Flowers’ most constant and crucial idols. It turns out Springsteen’s a big fan of The Killers in return, so much so that in 2021, Springsteen reached out to Flowers asking him to collaborate on a re-recorded version of the 2008 Day & Age cut ‘A Dustland Fairytale’. When Flowers received the text message, he initially thought someone was pulling his leg.
“After a new record, I want to get a new phone,” Flowers once told Consequence of Sound. “And so that’s why I had a new phone because we had finished Imploding the Mirage. I hadn’t put Bruce’s number on, so that’s why I didn’t know that [it was him texting].”
“It was just such a nice text… it was like, ‘We’ve got to do ‘Dustland’ one day.'” Flowers explained. “He talked about ‘Be Still’, which is sort of not a well-known song. But for real fans, it’s a real favourite. And so all of a sudden he’s talking about ‘Be Still’ and working on that one, and seeing us play with Johnny Marr and Pet Shop Boys.”
“I think he was watching [our set at] Glastonbury. And then it finishes off with just ‘Bruce,’ and so I really thought maybe it’s someone messing with me, like, ‘Who is this? Maybe it’s Bruce Hornsby,’ because I also had his number on my old phone. There was a lot going on, a lot of emotion.”
Springsteen and Flowers eventually met up to re-record Springsteen’s favourite Killers hit, ‘A Dustland Fairytale’, which was retitled ‘Dustland’. But what’s Flowers’ favourite Springsteen track?
In a 2012 conversation with Entertainment Weekly, Flowers revealed his overall favourite from the Springsteen canon after much deliberation. “I gotta say ‘Thunder Road.’ I got to go on stage with the E Street Band and do the song in France,” Flowers remembered. “So that’s always going to be something I always associate with the Boss, and it’s something I cherish. So that’s the one.”
